Getting (Back) Into Your Body: Reconnecting in Life and Work

In Western culture, we often treat mental health and physical health separately, when in fact, they are inextricable. Experiencing trauma further disconnects us from feeling the sensations in our bodies. Emotions such as hate, anger, love, and hope aren’t just psychological states that exist in a mental vacuum. They are whole-body experiences.

Here, we explore how trauma perpetuates this disconnection, examine how our bodies influence our mental states (and vice versa), and offer practical strategies for rebuilding body awareness. These techniques can transform not only personal health, but also workplace performance. Reconnecting with your body isn’t just self-care – it’s a professional advantage.

NOTE: This is not therapeutic advice but a reminder that our bodies and minds are connected along with simple suggestions for (re)building that connection.

When We Disconnect

Many of us have developed a complicated relationship with our bodies. Perhaps it started in childhood when we learned to push through discomfort ("Stop crying and get back in the game!"). Or perhaps it was exacerbated by a traumatic experience.

The groundbreaking ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study revealed something profound about this disconnect. What began as research into trauma evolved into discoveries about whole-body impacts: increased smoking, obesity, heart disease, alcoholism, and substance use – all manifestations of "I don't like my body" or "I don't trust my body" or simply "I've stopped listening to my body."

This mind-body split doesn't just affect our personal well-being – it directly impacts our professional performance. Decision-making becomes clouded when we ignore our intuitive bodily responses. Team dynamics suffer when we're unable to read our own emotional states. Leadership presence may also weaken when our words and body language tell different stories.

 

How Trauma Affects the Body

While not all disconnection stems from trauma, understanding trauma's impact on the body illuminates how and why we might feel "not at home" in our own skin.

Trauma fundamentally disrupts our body's natural regulatory systems. When we experience overwhelming events, our bodies make adaptations that prioritize survival over well-being. Our relationship with our body can become strained, numb, or cut off completely. Trauma immobilizes, creating physical helplessness, which is why taking action is so important.

One physiological example of this disconnection can be seen in heart rate variability, or HRV. When functioning optimally, our HRV varies slightly from beat to beat, showing flexibility and adaptability. However, trauma tends to disrupt this natural variability. Trauma exposure is strongly associated with lower HRV, indicating a less flexible autonomic nervous system that struggles to adapt to changing circumstances. This means that trauma often keeps us in a mode of overactivation or lack of response to stimuli.

These HRV changes aren't just physiological curiosities. They're linked to increased risk for cardiovascular disease, immune dysfunction, and mental health challenges. The good news is that many body-based approaches to trauma recovery can help gradually restore healthier HRV patterns over time.

Those who have experienced trauma often benefit from physical and sensory experiences that help activate more effective fight/flight/freeze/appease responses, tolerate sensations, befriend inner experiences, and cultivate new action patterns. Further, if you disassociate from pain, you also disassociate from pleasure. Only when you can sense what your body needs can you meet that need.

For more, read Trauma Brain Explained: The Neuroscience of Trauma.

Your Body Shapes Your Mind

How you hold your body also has a remarkable impact on your mental state. In the 1940s at Columbia, somatic research pioneer Nina Bull conducted experiments on the physical expression of emotions, with fascinating results. When she had people create a physical expression of one emotion (like bearing teeth and clenching fists) and then try to feel a contradictory emotion like depression, they struggled. Similarly, when she had people freeze in a "joy position," they found it difficult to feel anger.

This research has profound implications for workplace performance. Before your next big presentation or difficult conversation, try this: Instead of just rehearsing your words, practice standing in a posture of confidence and openness for two minutes. Your body will begin signaling to your brain that you're capable and ready.

Getting Back into Your Body: Practical Approaches

So how do we begin rebuilding this vital connection between mind and body? Here are ten approaches that can work both personally and professionally:

1. Start with safety: Identify spaces, people, and activities that feel genuinely safe. At work, this might mean creating a calming workspace or establishing boundaries around your time.

2. Practice mindful breathing: Even 2-3 minutes of breath awareness can anchor you in your body. Try this between meetings or before important work conversations.

3. Use gentle movement: Activities like stretching, gentle yoga, or simply changing positions regularly throughout your workday can reestablish a positive relationship with physical sensation.

4. Try body scanning: Start with just 30 seconds of scanning your body from head to toe for just 30 seconds, noticing sensations without judgment. This can be especially valuable before making important decisions.

5. Employ sensory grounding: Use your five senses intentionally throughout your day. Feel the texture of your chair, taste your coffee mindfully, listen to the ambient sounds around you. This practice is particularly helpful during moments of workplace stress or overwhelm. Download our 5-4-3-2-1 grounding poster for a visual guide for grounding in your senses.

6. Engage with rhythm: Whether it's tapping along to music during a break, taking a rhythmic walk between tasks, or even just consciously matching your breathing to a steady beat, rhythm helps regulate the nervous system.

7. Connect with nature: Even a few minutes looking out a window or stepping outside can activate sensory awareness. Consider walking meetings or outdoor breaks when possible.

8. Embrace laughter: Giggling and laughing are full-body experiences that break tension patterns. Teams that laugh together often collaborate more effectively.

9. Get in sync with others: Group activities that involve coordinated movement – from team sports to collaborative projects that get you moving – help reconnect body awareness through social engagement. Group activities like dance classes, a drumming circle, yoga, playing catch, theater, or a gardening club can be effective ways to increase awareness of your body in relationship with others.

10. Consider movement practices with an empowerment component: Activities like martial arts or strength training can increase your sense of physical capability and confidence, which often translates to professional settings.

Know that professional support is also available. You may consider working with trauma-informed bodyworkers, somatic experiencing practitioners, or other professionals trained in body-centered approaches to trauma. For example, trauma-sensitive yoga, EMDR, and co-regulating touch therapies can have positive, long-term impacts on HRV and may be more effective than medication.

 

Reconnecting is a Continuous Journey

Remember that getting back into your body is a process, not a destination. Small, consistent moments of embodied awareness gradually rebuild your relationship with your body. The goal isn't to eliminate all discomfort but to develop a compassionate, curious relationship with what is happening in your body.

Your body has wisdom to share with you. When you learn to listen, you gain access to a level of intelligence that goes beyond analytical thinking – one that can transform not just how you feel, but how you lead, collaborate, create, and connect in every area of your life. It may be one of the most underutilized resources in professional development today.

Resources for Reconnecting with Your Body

Many insights in this article come from “The Body Keeps the Score,” by Bessel van der Kolk, both the book and the online training. Other poignant resources on somatic healing include “The Myth of Normal” by Gabor and Daniel Maté and “My Grandmother’s Hands” by Resmaa Menakem. For an exhaustive list of trauma-informed care principles and techniques, check out our Big List of TIC Content.

Remember! Embodiment is ultimately about practice and experience, so avoid getting bogged down in the literature alone. Be sure to pair your knowledge with action.