How to get out of your head and into your body

You get out of your head by giving your body something to do that your head can’t argue with: a longer breath out, your feet on the floor, one small movement. Thinking your way out of thinking doesn’t work, believe me, I tried it for years! Your body is always in the here and now, so that’s the fastest way back.

I lived in my head for a long time. I served in the Army, I ran a business in Portugal, I had a plan for everything, and still I felt stuck. What finally changed it wasn’t another book or another plan: it was landing in my body every day, a few minutes at a time. I wrote about all of it in My Golden Cage.

A small exercise for right now

Put both feet flat on the floor and feel them. Breathe in through your nose for four counts and out through your mouth for six, five times. Then look around and name three things you can see. That’s it! Notice what happens in your shoulders, your jaw and your belly. Small things with a big effect, that’s how I work.

Questions women ask me

Why do I overthink at night?

Because night is the first moment your head gets space, and it takes it. When your body had no chance to land during the day, your head does the processing in bed.

How fast will I feel a difference?

Often after just a few breaths! Making it last takes rhythm: doing it every day, also when you don’t feel like it.

Is this the same as meditation?

It’s simpler than that. You don’t need to sit still for twenty minutes or empty your mind, you just come back to your body, again and again.

Want more of this? Get RESET for free, three recordings from me with a yoga nidra and a breath practice. And if you have everything but still feel empty, read why that happens.

When did you last feel your feet on the floor?