The writer, Hilary MacGregor, was asked to look into body-mind balance. She set out "to find some simple exercises that can be integrated into everyday life to restore my mental and physical balance — and to see if there is a link between the two." Here is what she found.
Carl Jung's words have stayed with me since I first heard them in the mid-70s: The mind reflects the body reflects the mind.
As the first Running Therapist trained by Tad Kostrubala, psychiatrist and author of The Joy of Running, those words have been at the foundation of my work as psychotherapist and a running coach. Intertwined with the Jung's words has been the words of Buddha in the Kalama Sutra.
I could begin with the body: Let's go for a walk/easy run. Then on the walk/easy run I might ask: What's going on in your life that's giving you this stress and anxiety?
Or sitting in my office with a patient: What's happening that's creating all this pressure and stress you're feeling? You know, it might be easier for you to talk about it if we go for a walk and talk about what's happening.
The mind reflects the body reflects the mind. Let's go for a walk or easy run and talk about it.