New Year, New You! As promised in last week's AKA last year's blog post, I'll be sharing my recipe for an Emotional Health Cocktail.
1. Cross Crawl -- cross crawl is a way of moving the body that coordinates opposite sides of the body to work together. Examples include walking, running, swimming, and crawling. Cross crawl movement helps build a bridge between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, which in turn re-organizes the mind-body connection. Studies show the emotional benefits of cross-crawling occur with 20 consecutive minutes per day. Remember: keep hands free so that your arms swing!
2. Free Writing -- I've never been a fan of journaling, but when my emotions get out of whack, 20 minutes of free, un-edited, pen-to-paper, non-stop-no-matter-what, word vomit really helps clear my head. This writing is of course for your eyes only. When stress starts to take its toll, do 20 minutes of free writing for 4 days in a row. Pair it with 20 minutes of cross crawl afterward to help the mind-body sort things out.
3. EFT/Tapping -- Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is perhaps the most powerful and useful tool I have in my mental health kit. EFT taps on acupuncture points to rewire destructive internal messages regarding stress, guilt, shame, judgement, and other depreciating emotions. The technique is simple, easy, and the effects are long-lasting! GI and mindfulness-focused naturopath, Dr. Crane Holmes, created a handout for doing EFT at home. Click Here to download EFT handout.
Recipe for Emotional and GI health
2 rounds of tapping -- release the drama from the trauma
20 minutes of free writing -- get it out!
20 minutes of cross crawling -- rebalance the brain
Repeat as needed