Do you struggle with a busy mind? Do you get caught up in your thoughts and forget to experience the world through your body? If you’re anything like me, you may have spent most of your life feeling like your body is just a vehicle for your brain. In Western culture, intellect is often valued over bodily wisdom, so it’s not unusual to have a “brain-heavy” approach to life. American author Gretchen Rubin noticed this brainheavy approach shortly after fi nding out she had a higher risk of retinal detachment, which could leave her blind, vowing from that moment to better appreciate her body and senses.
Rubin wrote about her journey towards a more body-centred existence in her book, Life in Five Senses. She writes: “I needed to connect with my senses. I’d been treating my body like the car my brain was driving around town, but my body wasn’t some vehicle of my soul, to be overlooked when it wasn’t breaking down.
My body — through my senses — was my essential connection to the world and to other people.” Managing Stress Well Your senses connect you to the wider world and are fundamental in helping you manage stress. While not all stress is bad, being in a stressed state too often can be damaging to your physical and mental wellbeing.
In his book, The Stress Solution, Dr Rangan Chatterjee writes: “Stress can have devastating long-term consequences for health. Too much of it contributes to the development of obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, card.