Recognising Moods in the Body

PRACTICE GUIDE – Presencing

What is Body Mood?

“The body says what words cannot” – Martha Graham

• Every human has a mind and body to work with
• Our bodies inform us about the world out there
• Learning always involves the whole body
• Our thoughts control our moods and emotions

Our body is not just a means of getting around.  It holds information embedded in our muscles and nervous system about our environment and how to think about that information to ensure our health, wellbeing and survival. The body is always learning, not just the brain. We all know the idea of body language but tend to defer to thinking when trying to understand ourselves or others.  We also favour the intellect as our main learning aid, not realising what powerful learning is available through our bodies. Let’s look at the connections and how our body can support us in ways we may not have been conscious of before.

Watch this short video as Stanley Keleman explains the important role our body plays in the development of our moods and emotions that are personal to us.

Stanley Keleman identified four body-states that produce four moods or attitudes that can be experienced as part of a stress continuum: the rigid, dense, swollen, and collapsed structures. They form a progressive continuum that … “goes from stiffening (fixated muscular expansion) to compacting (fixated muscular contraction) to swelling (fixated pouch expansion) to finally, collapse (fixated pouch contraction). At one extreme the person gets bigger – rigid and swollen structures – while at the other end he gets smaller – the dense and collapsed types.”

So What does this mean?

The deepest beliefs you hold are embedded in your muscles and reflect your psychic reality. They give shape to how you conduct yourself as you move in the world. The natural posture you adopt is habitual and reflects how you intuitively want to engage with others. For example, confidence increases when your posture changes to a straighter back and shoulders, slowing down gestures and calming your demeanour to get composure and approval. This highlights the mind-body connection that gets deeply embodied in your Way of Being – your posture, language, mood and emotions.

“We generally think of an attitude as a mental set. An attitude is a bodily set. Our attitudes are the framework of our form”  – Stanley Keleman

You will observe these patterns as:

Rigid – this is the way you brace yourself after a shock and how muscle groups stiffen.

You see and feel the body being elevated as the spine lengthens, shoulders go up and the chest is puffed out. The psyche wants you to appear larger and more solid in the face of a perceived threat. This puts you off balance as moods of anxiety and resentment fuel your reactions. The result can be a higher-pitched voice and constricted speech. Emotions are conflicted as you may experience a sense of loneliness or resistance to a threat whilst wanting to control anger and a need to be approved of.

Compacted – this is how “dense” attitudes and feelings become compressed by your the body

You can observe this when the posture is pulled down or shortened. The organs in the body get squeezed and prevent the lungs from being filled properly. The whole torso becomes tense and the calf muscles become enlarged because of the downward pressure on the pelvis. Balance then becomes an issue. The resulting mood is defensive and stubborn, preferring to avoid interaction, refusing to apologise as feelings of fear or defiance come to the surface.

Inflated – this is the extent to which body looks “swollen”. The movement has slowed down and the body becomes lethargic

This mood can be observed in a body that has lost its shape by being neglected. It reflects a mood of helplessness, being preoccupied with what others think and want and neglecting the self. The body appears unstable and the attitude is over-sensitive. This person lives other people’s assessments of them. The soul feels as if it shouldn’t move or resist when under stress. It just wants its own space to sense the world through hands and mouth. Other people find it difficult to identify with or get close to someone in this depressed mood state. Anxiety is a dominant mood in this body state and feeling resigned do not see that they can be any different.

Collapsed – this is the body closing down suggesting hopelessness, where mind and body have given up.

This posture is reflected in a mood of despair, of giving in. This can be observed as a sunken chest and the person not having a solid body (spineless). They cannot help themselves and seek support, unable to take responsibility for themselves. They can suck your energy. They appear so helpless because they denying any possibility of change. A shift can come from adopting a more upright and “inflated” posture, moving with more vitality and joy.

Now What?

Reflect on the patterns described above and think of situations where you have sensed them happening to you and observed them in others.

1. Have you noticed these body postures and their associated mood states in others?

2. Which “body-moods” do you observe and consider are relevant to you?

3. What thinking or assessment is generating your attitude in a particular situation and do they make sense?  What form does it take?

4. What aspects of your own body posture can you shift to improve your mood state?

NOTE: As you raise your awareness and observe the changes resulting from daily practice, you will know how to use your body to change your mood state at will. Also, notice any changes in the behaviour of those around you as you make body mood shifts.

Practices

With the above insights in mind . . .

1. What is the smallest possible shift you could make to adopt a different body posture right now? How does it feel?  Have you changed your mood state?  Has your thinking changed?

2. Make a note each day of what you feel in your body and notice about your posture when your emotions and moods become negative. Try shifting your posture and adopting a positive perspective. Now, what’s possible?

3. Choose a body posture you want to change and what you will practice each day for a week. Note any shift in your attitude or sense of wellbeing in the new posture.

References

Somatic Reality by Stanley Keleman. Center Press 1989

Coaching to the Human Soul (Vol 3) by Alan Sieler. Newfield Institute 2012