Spectacular Soul!

Are you feeling stuck in a particular state these days that you can’t seem to break out of? Well, I’m here today with an awesome little “mood hack” for you…

You know how people always talk about how the key to changing your life is changing your thoughts? Well, you need to know that another important element to changing your life is to start changing your physicality.

Let me explain… Your physiology/physicality – the way you move, your expression, your stance, the way you talk – not only sends a message to the world about who you are and how you feel, it also sends a powerful message to your own brain about who you are and how you feel.

If you walk with a spring in your step, eyes bright, a big smile on your face, and a relaxed open posture, do you know how the brain responds to this message? It actually starts to reconfigure your internal chemistry to get into line with this physiology…flooding you with feel-good sensations.

However, if your movements are rushed and tight, your body jittery, your eyes narrowed, and your words frantic, your brain gets the message that you are in danger and releases stress hormones.

So, a short-cut to feeling a certain way (like joyful, confident, serene, or beautiful), is to adjust your body to portray feeling this way. And that’s why I want you to try a little exercise today I call “emBODYing a quality”…

Step one, pick a specific quality you’d love to feel more of in your life (ie. brave, peaceful, sensual, motivated, playful, abundant, laid-back, daring, open, vibrant). Choose something that’s a stretch for you right now but that you yearn to cultivate.

Then, before the day gets rolling, spend a minute in front of the mirror to establish how your chosen quality would look in your body, on your face, in your walk, and in your talk.

For example, if you’re choosing to embody “powerful”, perhaps your stance would be rooted and strong, shoulders back, and chest out. You’d experiment with holding eye contact and letting a confident relaxed smile play on your face. In the mirror, you could experiment with how you’d walk in power (maybe long purposeful strides) and talking in power (maybe you’d project more and listen intently).

“Serene”, on the other hand, might have you relaxing your shoulders, softening the eyes, gliding more than walking, and talking slowly and gently.

Once you’ve established how your chosen quality looks on you via the mirror, take that physical embodiment into your day and keep coming back to it. You could write the quality on your hand as a reminder to go back to that physicality.

My coachees are always taken aback by how transforming this little exercise is.

And if you really dig it, you could try embodying a different quality each day this week – “peaceful” today, “enthusiastic” the next, “sensual” later in the week. It’s kind of like Halloween, except without the costumes!

I’d love to hear how the world around you responds to your changed physicality. Hit reply and share your experience with me or go to my Facebook page and share there!

Happy EmBODYing, Darling!

Due to demand, I’m doing another one-night intro workshop in my space in Toronto this Tues., Sept. 27.