Body Talk 101

Your body is talking, but are you listening?

Introduction

If you are someone who has a tendency to overthink problems or challenges, read on.

Learn to put your mind at rest rather than get stuck in an analysis paralysis mode (like a hamster on the wheel).

First, we will start with understanding what is helpful to the brain and what is not.

Lie #1: OVER ANALYZING WILL GIVE YOU MORE CONTROL OVER THE ISSUE AT HAND.

The truth is, science has proven the direct opposite.

Over thinking only serves to keep you stuck.

Lie #2: BY OVERANALYZING, YOU CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM FASTER.

Actually, the opposite is true.

Your brain slows down with all the over analyzing.

It stalls out the process and you won't get anything done.

Lier #3: OVER THINKING REDUCES YOUR ANXIETY BECAUSE YOU'VE CYCLED THROUGH ALL THE POSSIBLE SCENARIOS.

The truth is, the only thing it does, is to INCREASE your anxiety.

This is because...

When you overthink, your brain switches to "analysis mode."

Analysis mode is where your brain cycles through ALL the possible scenarios.

On the surface this may sound good but it actually prevents you from taking action because the brain gets fixated on analyzing every little detail and forgets to take the train off of the track.

There are two keys to not stalling out your brain.

1). Make a choice to not over analyze things.

2). Take immediate action. An example of this would be picking up the phone and making the call.

If you struggle in this area, you know this is way easier said than done.

That is UNLESS you listen to what your body is telling you...

Your body is always talking, but the question is, are you listening?

And if you are listening, are you understanding and moving on what it is saying?

Science has proven that your body will signal you about your emotions before your brain kicks in and gives you understanding about what you are feeling.

Let me use something we instinctively know, but it is so commonplace, we don't even question it.

What happens if you are in need of food? Your body gives you signals that it is hungry. You will often feel hunger before your brain says, "I need to eat" (unless it's out of boredom or bad habits.)

It's the same with being thirsty...your body gives signals to you before your brain is aware that it needs to quench your thirst.

What if you feel tired? It's because you need to sleep. Who lays down to sleep when wide awake? It just doesn't happen.

So, let's apply this concept of body talk to a mind that over thinks.

I guarantee that there will be a physical indicator to an emotional stress reaction. There always is. Whether or not you tune in or do anything about it is another issue.

Have you ever felt a tightness in your chest or a knot in the pit of your stomach that only happens with particular emotional triggers?

That is what I call "body talk."

The body is trying to tell you something is wrong.

Learning to understand what your body is saying is the key to staying productive and not feeling overwhelmed.

There are reasons why you feel the way you do, so don't beat yourself up over it.

You need to learn to rein in your thoughts so that you control your thoughts and your thoughts don't control you.

How do you do this?

Glad you asked :)

Step one is to listen to your body's wisdom and find out where that yucky feeling or tension is residing. You do this by ignoring the avalanche of thoughts that are flooding your mind and focus on what your body is telling you.

If you choose to ignore and override the message(s) your body is trying to tell you, you're setting yourself up for analysis paralysis.

Step two is to ask yourself what you are emotionally feeling in that moment. Is it fear, shame, uncertainty, feeling overwhelmed, exasperation, anger, or maybe a combination of the above?

Step three is to connect the emotion to the body's physical discomfort. This will empower you to reduce the cascade of thoughts in your mind.

Remember, the body will speak to you before your emotions do. So, by recognizing the physical symptoms, you will be able to tune into your emotions better.

That means the next time you feel that knot in the pit of your stomach and you connect the dots to the emotions you're feeling, you can then say, "Oh, this is that!"

This also allows your brain to work better because it has identified something tangible that it can work on.

Without connecting the dots, your brain will feel confused and struggle to know what to do next.

Step four is to learn how to shift from BIG picture thinking to dialing all your thoughts down into ONE single building block.

What do I mean by this?

Ask yourself "what is the ONE next step that I can take?"

And then...

GO DO IT!!!

Whether it is to pick up the phone.

Go write a post-it-note.

Send a text.

That one thing that YOU can do is critical to keeping your brain moving and you staying on schedule.

Too often the feelings of overwhelm, fear and all the other overwhelming, crazy, negative emotions are there simply because you are running ahead of yourself.

This then causes you to become emotionally paralyzed which ends up in you losing your ability to stay on task in a timely fashion.

THE KEY to not moving into emotional overload, and stalling out, is to bring it down into ONE, TINY, MANAGEABLE step.

By doing it one step at a time, your brain will continue to cooperate with you.

So, ask yourself, what can I do next? What is that ONE tiny step I can take to move forward?

Make a choice to take out the overwhelming pressure by no longer attempting to figure out everything all at once.

Simply take a deep breath.

Listen to your body's early warning signal(s).

And then immediately take one tiny, tiny step.

Remember...

OVERTHINKING IS A TRAP.

It's triggered by fear.

If you want to change your life and your inability to get things done in a timely fashion then thinking about the zillion possibilities that could possibly take place will have to end.

In summary: Inch forward and keep listening to the clues that your physical body is giving you in order to get the next thing done. Before you know it, it will lead you beyond what you ever dreamed or imagined :)

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