Learning to regulate my emotions and my anxiety has been key in both my physical healing and maintaining camaraderie with a body I was at odds with for decades. Especially in the last three years, as I’ve overcome ED and fought chronic illness, I’ve seen my body transform a few times (right along with my mind). This has been a beautiful process, and I’m so grateful for my progress, but it’s not without discomfort and challenge.
In order to make decisions and take action from a place of peace and reason rather than emotion, numbing, and dissociation, I’ve learned that I need to constantly ground myself and reconnect with my body.
Here are my 5 favorite ways to do so:
1) Breathwork: I LOVE @stevielwright_ and the @balance app.
2) Walks: I started going for walks to replace the workouts that weren’t serving me on my weight gain journey, and now I’ve discovered their healing power! They also get this indoor cat outside into nature here an there, and that is a powerful antidote to anxiety and disconnection in and of itself.
3) Defusion: This is a powerful tool is used in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to detach ourselves from our thoughts. I use the following steps to detach from anxious thoughts.
- Identify the thought-“That’s a worry thought.”
- Thank my mind-“Thank you for this feedback, mind!”
- Observe with Curiosity-“Is this helpful?”
- Shift focus-“I’m going to focus on ____.” (some sort of simple task)
- Remind myself that it will pass eventually.
4) Gratitude: I write down three things for which I’m grateful each morning and review the list when I’m feeling anxious or ungrounded.
5) Spontaneous Solo Dance: there is an innumerable amount of research behind the benefits of movement set to music. I love to put in my favorite music (or even no music at all) and shake off my funk. Just a few minutes of this boosts my mood and any negative thoughts I may battle about my body.
I hope these tips are helpful to you. I’d love to continue the conversation! You can find me on the ‘gram at @bailey_bowerman. I’d love to hear how you use these techniques or if you have other ways of grounding, connecting with your body, and overcoming anxiety!
xoxo Your Favorite Late Bloomer