Stand Tall and Breathe Deeply
by Brien Cole N.D.
Stand Tall and Breath Deeply
The way people stand, the way they move, the way they hold their head, tells us something about them. We all understand this concept, it is called body language. Body language give us clues as too how confident or deferential, powerful or powerless a person is. We watch a sensual and graceful women glide across a room, a powerful man demand presence, and we immediately know, "this person has something". If we suffer social phobia, like myself, we also instantly compare their presence unfavourably with ourself, or we used to, before we started learning to manage our anxiety.
Today I want to pose a different question, given that we accept that body language presents a fairly clear message to the external world, why would it not also present just as clear message to the internal world, the world of our body and psyche? When we observe ourselves at our most anxious we feel all the familiar symptoms; butterflies in the belly, shallow breathing, rapid heartbeat, sweaty skin, nausea and light headedness. Our thoughts churn and swirl in their uncontrollable awful worst and we feel completely overwhelmed. In this overwhelmed state we draw our shoulders forward to either literally or figuratively wrap our arms around our chest protecting our vital organs, we draw ourselves down lower, shrinking into a smaller target, crouching low. Our eyes dart vigilantly around sensing danger or we retreat from the danger drawing focus inside ourselves, freezing out the exterior world.
Try it now, draw yourself into that most defensive of poses, shoulders rotated inwards, arms wrapped around the chest, chin lowered, stomach buckled over, legs folded upwards towards the chest, focus drawn back from the world. Just for a few moments sit in that position. How does it feel? Does it make you feel anxious, scared, or safe? Does it remind you of old or even recent hurts and fears? Does it make you sad? Does it make you feel small? Hold this position for just a moment more and try to breathe deeply. What you will find is that you cannot. Try as hard as you may, you simply cannot breath deeply from this position. Now ask yourself, if I saw someone else in this position, what would their body language tell me about them? And therefore, what do I interpret from my own body language about myself?
Now I want you to imagine that there is a string to the top of your head directly in line with your spine. You are going to pull on this string until you are standing as tall as you can possibly stand. Imagine this string being stretched as tightly as it can pulling you up to your full height and, yes, even a little more. Your chin lifted up, your eyes facing directly forward. Allow your shoulders to fall and then roll backwards opening your chest, your arms loose beside your body, clenching and relaxing the muscles in your fingers. Place you hands together just below your belly button. Now, very gently, I want you to do two things simultaneously; concentrating on your eyes I want you to widen your vision gently expanding your field of vision while at the same time breathing deeply into your abdomen, so deep that your hands move with your breath.
How does this posture make you feel? How is it different from the collapsed, anxious posture? Practice this posture. Practice walking tall and facing the world squarely. Practice looking people squarely in the eye and maintaining that contact, and notice how it feels. It may feel uncomfortable, unusual, and unfamiliar. That is because even though you probably haven't noticed but even when you think you are standing tall you are still slightly slumped over, your shoulders in a slightly defensive posture, your chin slightly fallen and your eyes just averted. Practice standing tall and looking directly at the world. Practice it until it is not uncomfortable, and then observe how it feels. Practice without making any judgements, without saying, "this feels weird" or "I don't like this". Just practice standing tall and breathing deeply as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
What we are practicing is a power stance, a stance which displays power to the outside world. A stance you would immediately recognise as powerful if you saw somebody else stand like this. For a few minutes every day, if we practice this stance, this body language will not be lost on our psyche. Our body will feel its own strength, know its own strength and become confident in its own strength.
Self-talk is about more than words, just as language is about more than words. How you stand, how you sit and how you walk is the language of your body and that language, just as much as the language in your mind, needs to be relearnt. Stand tall, breath deeply, feel your strength as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And slowly, gradually, it is possible that it might just become the most natural thing in the world.
Brien Cole suffered from anxiety for most of his life, until three years ago when he attended Bev Aisbett's anxiety recovery program (an ADAVIC program) and began a journey of recovery. He is the facilitator of the Frankston Group and a Naturopath specialising in anxiety.
Brien brings his skills as a Naturopath, plus his personal experience and understanding to his treatment of anxiety disorders. The aim of his approach is based on the knowledge that a
person cannot be anxious in a relaxed body and through a combination of skills counselling and natural therapies we can learn to calm the body and quieten the mind.
Brien practices Naturopathy in Caulfield.
He can be contacted on mobile 0427 957 605
Phone 9532 9897
Email brienLcole@hotmail.com
Website www.naturalanxietyrecovery.com
