Happy Body, Sad Body

Let's try something out. I invite you to move into the physical embodiment of sadness and depression. What would change in your posture if you were to embody what that feels like? For me, I notice my head points down a bit, my eyes are looking toward the floor. I get a little smaller. I want to cross my arms, bit of a frown on my face.

So notice what comes up for you. Okay. Now shift to what the embodiment of happiness and lightness and fulfillment feels like. For me, I notice being more open, my shoulders are back. There's a soft smile on my face.

I feel my belly start to ease up a bit and my chest softens. So this gets us familiar with happy bodies and sad bodies. This is actually a kid's exercise. So if you have kids, you could try it out with them. But the point is to see, oh, when I feel a certain way, my body takes a certain expression.

And one of the quickest ways that we can feel differently is by changing the expression of our bodies. So if you're in a sad state and it feels like a pattern that you want to shift, practice shifting into a happy body and see how that impacts your emotional state. Just something to try out on your mindfulness journey. Thank you for your practice and take care.