Alright, truth be told, there are multiple doorways to accessing and improving aspects of mental health.  However, there is much evidence to support the use of your bodily behaviors and responses to regulate your moods and thoughts.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy highlights your physiological response as a key element in your mental health patterns (Beck, J. S., 2020).  The relationship between mind and body is also evidenced by a study done by Ma Xiao, et al. in 2017 where they looked at breathing techniques and their effect on attention, affect, and cortisol levels, otherwise known as ‘the stress hormone’.  The study found that those in the breathing intervention group showed significant increases in attention and affect and decreases in their cortisol levels when compared to the control group.  It has been well researched that what our bodies do directly informs and impacts how our brains respond to the environment.  Another example is with distance runners who use the trick of smiling during the last and most difficult parts of their run as it decreases feelings of discomfort. After these examples of how our bodies inform our minds and our moods, it is important to understand how this can benefit you.

 Behavioral Interventions

When individuals struggle to make progress with mental health treatment it can be for several reasons.  Many barriers that I have seen clients struggle with relate to the fact that they may not yet be convinced of the effectiveness of their coping skills, or they still feel that their moods and thoughts are too powerful, and they feel helpless to change them.  These individuals can be effective candidates for behavioral interventions.  Why? Because you do not need to be convinced of the change or need to feel as if you can effectively cope with your mood spikes in order to change or adopt a new behavior.  You may not have control over your initial spike in depressive thoughts and moods, but you can control where your body goes and what it does, and this has been shown to have a consistent secondary effect on moods and thoughts.  For example, consider someone suffering from depression who used to enjoy going for mindful walks around the park.  Due to depression and the related loss of interest in enjoyable activities, they no longer take walks.  If this person feels the depression is too strong to convince them that it is a good idea to go on walks again, then an intervention based on simply getting his body outside walking rather than contending with the depression itself could be effective.  If this person begins walking again, the depressed mood is less reinforced when compared to staying inside and isolating.  Doing this often enough can lead to increases in more meaningful thoughts and motivation and decreases in depression, even if this person was not initially convinced that they could do so. 

 Starting With Your Body First

Using your body to get your “foot in the door” with your mood regulation can be done in many ways.  These include breathing techniques, balanced sleeping and eating habits, soothing sensory-based skills, using open and confident body language, and using exercise and exhausting your muscles to allow your brain’s natural endorphins to regulate emotions.  For those of you who feel that you cannot yet find an effective coping skill for your challenging thoughts and feelings, consider starting with your body first.  Discuss with your therapist or trusted supports as to what behavior changes may effectively lead to desired changes in moods and thoughts, and then, allow the new behavior to have an impact. 

For more support and strategies to improve your mood and emotional wellbeing, click here.