You’ve heard it many times before: Regular exercise offers countless benefits for your body, mind, and spirit. After a psychedelic experience, you may need to move your body to channel unlocked emotions and energetic currents coursing through you.
The body carries an intelligence beyond rational thought; we tend to make better decisions when we listen to the wisdom of the body. Practice tuning into your body’s subtle messages and listening to what they tell you. When you tune into your body, you can hone your intuition, release rigid thought patterns, and train yourself to locate and relax where you hold emotions, memories, and traumas.
Learning how to live, move, and be happy with your body is essential to healing and growth. Physical activity can be an enjoyable expression of your body’s natural intelligence and creativity. Challenge yourself. Expand your comfort zone. Remember that exercise is about being happy and not about suffering unnecessarily. In the words of Bessel van der Kolk, the psychiatrist who wrote The Body Keeps the Score, “Self-regulation depends on having a friendly relationship with your body. Without it you have to rely on external regulation — from medication, drugs like alcohol, constant reassurance, or compulsive compliance with the wishes of others.”
If you have been living a relatively sedentary life, incorporating exercise into your daily routine may seem daunting at first. However, little steps and small changes can make a difference. Instead of putting pressure on yourself to become an overnight athlete, you can consciously decide to be more active in your everyday life. For example, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park your car further from your destination, hold meetings and take calls while walking, or bike or walk instead of driving a car.
Lifestyle intensity and burnout are modern-world epidemics. To counteract the stresses of daily life, you may find solace in more calming practices that allow you to slow down and unwind, creating space for self-compassion and kindness. These practices activate your body’s natural relaxation response and help to relieve stress, ease muscle pain and tension, alleviate anxiety, and improve overall mood.
You might practice different types of yoga or qi gong. You might receive sound healing, or body work. You can visit a flotation tank. You can stretch, pray, meditate, or practice breathing exercises at home.
