In a world that’s turning so quickly around us, it’s becoming more common to subconsciously disconnect from our mind, body & soul.

What’s the mind, body & soul connection all about?

This connection points to how our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and attitudes, combined with our level of awareness, effect our physical and mental functioning. If this connection is lost or imbalanced it’s only a matter of time that issues will present.

My intention with this post is to help you identify symptoms of a mind, body & spirit disconnection while offering tips toward reconnection so you can function with all systems firing to their best ability.

Below, find 6 symptoms of disconnect from the mind, body & soul.

MIND & SPIRIT

1. Inability to connect with and understand your emotional state

In a nutshell, when we’re disconnected from our mind, body & spirit, our ability to feel and name our emotions is compromised. This is a result of being “unrooted” and detached from our emotions. Experiencing symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety or stress without awareness as to why is an example of this disconnection.

I’ve come across clients who’ve told me that they’re “fine,” yet are experiencing debilitating panic attacks and have “no clue why.” There’s a lot going on physically and a lot brewing emotionally by the time an individual is experiencing physical symptoms, such as panic attacks. When there’s a severe disconnection within your emotional space, there tends to be a mismatch between your affect and any given emotional situation. For example, you might find yourself laughing when it would make more sense to cry.

Our body is designed to warn us of danger via our physical and mental health symptoms. *Usually unresolved emotions are the culprit for our disconnect and distressed symptoms. There’s a lot that we can miss when the synergy between body, mind & spirit is out of tune.

2. Making lots of plans without considering your mood, how you feel and what’s already on the agenda.

Over planning and chronic busyness tends to correlate with a disconnected mind/body. When we’re going too fast via over planning, we’re missing the moments to breath, observe, listen to our body and feel our emotions.

This is exactly why some of us go the route of over planning. It’s a way to avoid uncomfortable emotions that we don’t want to look at.

The truth is that avoidance is a bandaid solution. Avoiding anything doesn’t make it go away. Avoidance encourages and allows any matter the space to become bigger, which will eventually manifest negatively in other ways. If you avoid the fact that there’s a fire in the corner of the room, it will eventually take the house down.

3. Putting too much emphasis on performance while shaming yourself if you don’t accomplish what you set out for.

Plans can be enormously helpful to structure our days and get things done. Although, there’s such a thing as “over planning” and that’s what I’m speaking to with this point. What you can’t plan is how your mind and body are going to feel on any particular day. “Pushing” yourself to do “the plan” vs. checking in with how you feel physically and mentally can, overtime, create a disconnect. Bringing in concepts such as flexibility while being open to shifting plans based on how you feel physically and emotionally is a way of taking good care of yourself.

BODY

4. Hyper focus on how you think your body should look vs. accepting your natural set point.

I’ve seen people go to extremes in order to fit a square peg into a round hole when it comes to their physicality. This can look like over exercise, rigid dieting, critical self talk, body dysmorphia, eating disorders and so much more.

Whenever we’re in resistance to “what is,” we’re fighting an upstream battle, my friends. We all know that the journey upstream requires way more effort and energy than going with the natural, downward flow. Finding acceptance around where your body naturally wants to be (it’s set point) is the path toward more inner peace.

5. Following strict diets and self imposed rules around food even when cravings or intuition is communicating something different.

Ignoring our inner intuition conditions our automatic pilot response. Over time this leads to conflict between body & mind. Our bodies are designed to “speak” to us via our physical sensations, symptoms, intuition, cravings, moods and emotions. Strict, inflexible pre planned diets tend to strip us of the connection with our physical intuition by encouraging us to look outward for an answer to an inner question. (*Note: Always be mindful of looking for any of your answers externally.) This continuous act of following a script about what to eat disconnects us further and further from what we personally enjoy and what feels good to our unique bodies.

Questioning, “What do I feel like this morning for breakfast” vs. following a pre planned meal schedule are very different ways to connect with your mind, body & spirit.

*I understand that having structure & guidance around food choices can be helpful and important. The key word here to be mindful of is “strict.” Finding flexibility within any sort of structure enables you to keep your intuition alive and is highly encouraged.

6. A focus on numbers rather than how you feel.

Calorie counting, amount of steps taken, number of calories burned, obsessively logging the minutes or hours exercising, etc. There are so many gadgets and ways to measure a variety of analytics these days. I’m not hating on these gadgets if you use them FOR you and not AGAINST you. If these measures and stats are supporting you in a healthy way, carry on, although keep an eye out for becoming too focused and dependent on “the numbers.”

In the long run, what your whoop or apple watch says vs. listening to your body in order to pay attention to how you feel are very different concepts. Creating a dependency on something other than yourself to tell you how much to push yourself physically can create a questionable dynamic.

I’m all for a device that motivates you, up levels your performance and helps you feel good about your physical activity. I’m not devaluing these devices, rather, I’m pointing toward the importance of keeping your mind / body connection strong by acknowledging your own “stats” via paying attention to how you feel.

Like all things be mindful of balance. In the case of analytics around your health, how you feel and what the stats say should align if all is running smoothly. Bottom line: Your intimate experience of what it feels like to be in your body cannot be replaced by anything. Nada. Nothing…when you’re in tune.

Why does a mind, body & spirit disconnect occur?

For the purpose of answering this question, I’m going to decipher between the “issues” that we face in life as either “root” issues or “surface” issues. It’s common for us humans to find “bandaid solutions” for our life issues when those matters are difficult to face. Our deeply buried “root” issues (the hard emotional circumstances hidden deep) are uncomfortable and, at times, intolerable to face and talk about. So much so, that some of us never face them in a lifetime. Whatever we’re avoiding in life doesn’t go away. It builds silently and becomes heavy weight within our body & soul and chips away at the joy within our lives.

The pressures, perfectionism and critical self talk that keep us so structured and “in control” usually stem from deep rooted unresolved emotions and experiences that we’ve neglected. Overtime, you guessed it, the lack of dealing with our “stuff” causes a disconnect within our mind, body & soul. With that said, there’s so much more to get into with the topic of “root issues” as it’s a vast and so personal to each individual.

*If you feel like you want to dive deeper and face these “root” issues, it could be important to talk to a trusted source or licensed professional to help you through your process. Feel free to contact me for resources, etc. (via email, DM, phone, what have you.)

How do I reconnect with my body, mind & spirit?

Spending energy facing and acknowledging a disconnect is half the battle. Awareness is key, right?

Once we’re aware that something is not properly functioning, that’s the point where we can work toward a shift. Cultivating our awareness to seek out solutions to guide us through our issues begins the reconnection process.

In short, evaluating the behaviors that are not “serving” us while working toward weeding them out of our lifestyle is the first step. As we eliminate habits in our life that we’ve evaluated as “not needed” we then can begin to add in behaviors that are different, new and appear to have potential for our well being.

1. Evaluate what’s not working

2.Stop doing what’s not working

3.Replace what’s not working with a new behavior

This is a mini run down on the “letting go” process that’s essential when looking for positive change. This might mean less late nights and more early mornings for self care. This might mean less over planning and more time for self centering habits. It’s going to be a unique set of habits and behaviors to release and add in according to where you’re at and who you desire to become that will bring change to your life.

If anything, I hope that this post acts as a friendly reminder for you to pay attention to your physical symptoms and emotions. After all, your ability to translate what your symptoms, moods and emotions are saying allows you to strengthen and become more aware of what’s occurring beneath the surface.

Like so many of the topics that I write about, there’s so much more to them beyond a quick blog post. Looking at root issues and letting go of destructive habits is a process that takes time and might need to be supported with a professional.

I want to honor that my therapeutic approach is not for all. If this is the case for you, here’s a link from a post that I wrote about How To Find the “Right” Therapist For You.

Don’t hesitate to reach out with any further questions or comments; They’re always welcome. Cheers.

*Image by Photographer & creator of honeyandgarden, Renata Amazonas

Blog | Licensed Therapist | Self Discovery | North County San Diego, CA