This physicalising exercise helps with well-being, mental clarity, and emotional balance through broadening awareness, noticing physical sensations within the body and externalising thoughts and emotions by thinking of them as a tangible object.
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Here are some ways that physicalising exercises can help:
- Defusion: Assist individuals in externalising their thoughts by regarding them as an object with physical characteristics. This strategy can be applied to various elements within ACT, although it is particularly employed in defusion and acceptance processes, where individuals learn to create distance from their thoughts and emotions and develop a more flexible relationship with them.
- Grounding and embodiment: Physicalising exercises help individuals connect with their bodies and anchor themselves in the present moment. Individuals get a stronger mind-body connection and shift their focus away from rumination or excessive thinking through breathwork and expanding field of awareness.
- Emotional release and expression: Physicalising exercises provide an avenue for releasing and expressing emotions. Individuals can tap into and express their emotions in a non-verbal and cathartic way. This can be particularly helpful in managing and processing intense emotions or stress.
- Noticing: Observing and becoming aware of one’s present-moment experience without judgement or attachment. Exercises allow us to pay attention to sensory perceptions, thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and the environment.
- Mind-body integration: Physicalising exercises foster integration between the mind and body. They promote a holistic approach to well-being, recognising the interconnectedness of physical health, mental clarity, and emotional balance.