How to Let Your Body Be the Teacher When Life Feels Overwhelming

Around 15 years ago, after I had gone through my first panic attack, I had no idea what had just happened to me. I felt broken and defective since I had never had a similar experience, and neither had anyone from my close network. The conversation around mental health was not so open back then — Facebook and Twitter were the prevailing social media of that time, and fun fact: Instagram was only a photo-sharing app focused on simple, square, filtered images. I still remember my first Insta post of a vase holding three tulips by my classic Dutch-style window.

Worried as I was to figure out what was going on with me, I decided to find a psychologist and ask for help. I was lucky enough to find a great one on the second try. It usually takes some time to find a mental health professional that suits your personality and needs — it's like making a good friend or matching with a suitable partner. She helped me understand I was suffering from anxiety.

In my personal experience, anxiety doesn't really go away — it just gets louder or quieter depending on how you're living. Mine got louder in the coming years (before calming down again), affected by stressful events and choices I made. And if you read about anxiety disorders, you'll find out that they rarely travel alone, they tend to bring company.

It was obvious that this was going to be part of my life; I needed to protect the life I was building by finding healthy coping mechanisms for my anxiety.

One of the things that helped me was journaling, probably because I have this skill of untangling my messed-up thoughts through writing. But the other thing — the constant one — was yoga. 

Here's what I've learned about anxiety and the body: it never stays just in your head. The thoughts, worries, and fears we carry appear in the body too — a clenched jaw, tight shoulders, back pains, body stiffness, headaches. Mine lives in my jaw, my shoulders, and a knot behind my belly that shows up every time I'm caught in stress. Yoga works with this connection between movement, attention, and breath. Instead of trying to think our way out of distress, it lets us experience it and eventually shift our internal state through the body.

Like many people, I found that yoga helped me navigate distressing times — periods when I was feeling low, disconnected, or hopeless. Going to a yoga class when I didn't feel like it, or jumping on the mat when I would have preferred pouring a drink or binge eating, surely played its part in my healing.

I have joined countless classes, followed many teachers, and practiced endless sequences. Oh, the online sequences I have done—"yoga for stress relief," "yoga for depression," "yoga when feeling low," "5-pose yoga flow for immediate relaxation." Sound familiar? God bless those teachers for sharing their knowledge for free. But what I have come to realize through all those sequences is that the best practice for those moments when an anxiety wave hits and I don't know what to do is the one guided by the best teacher: you.

Your internal teacher is always available to show you what you need at times of internal turbulence.

Now — I know. The post title promised a way to find your internal guide when life feels overwhelming, and I want to deliver that. But not in a "manual" way. In a guided one. What follows is an invitation to listen to your body and let it lead.

The only thing you need to do is set the intention of dealing with yourself at the moment of distress, which means that you'll dedicate some time and space for your practice. It's best if you try to be unbothered by external factors. That's not always possible, but at least try to create a protected space — mental and physical — around you.

Try starting by simply closing your eyes. You don't have to sit down or be still or have your mat unrolled. Let everything that's happening develop. Intrusive thoughts, pain in the body, anger, misery, shivering, feeling cold, annoying sounds — just let it all appear and start flowing like a rushing river. Notice them. Begin scanning the body, one area at a time.

Notice the forehead.

Notice the space around the eyes.

The jaw. The throat.

Then move your attention to the shoulders.

The chest.

The belly rising and falling with the breath.

Continue downward: the hips, the legs, the feet.

You are not trying to change anything. You are simply observing and accepting the emotions and physical sensations that sit in each area. Stay here for a few moments. There's no rush. This is not a warm-up — this is the practice already happening.

Continue noticing them, and at the same time, begin to notice your breath. Simply observe it as it is. The breath may be short, irregular, shallow, or heavy. Let it be exactly as it is for a few moments.

Now — without forcing anything — let your body start moving in the way it needs.

You already did a body scan, so now that you have given yourself proper attention, let your body speak.

Without thinking, move what needs to be moved.

This might be lying down on the floor and starting to rock left and right to soothe your body;

it could be staying seated and circling your neck to release tension;

it could mean opening your mouth wide to unclench your jaw and making a sound;

it could be curling into child's pose.

You'd be surprised to see that usually, what we do is related to what needs to be released.

After that, just stay hooked to your breath and continue moving. The next moves might not be textbook yoga poses, but they will definitely serve your body at that moment. Trust your body and let it move the way it wants.

You could go from child's pose, to all fours, to down dog, to forearm stand, to upward-facing bow pose, to happy baby pose. All this because you feel anger and you need to blow off some steam.

But you could be in pain and start from lying on the floor, doing a gentle rocking right and left, stretching your legs upwards, dropping each one for a side stretch, or bringing your feet together for a reclining bound angle pose with support under the knees, under the back, and under the neck, with an eye pillow and a warm blanket, and staying there for some minutes.

You might want to make some noises while moving, or cry, or laugh. Do that.

Your flow might not be "aesthetic," moving gracefully from one pose to the other, because you decide between transitions that you need a yoga block to support a pose. So stop, go get the block, find your breath again, and continue moving. 

You might be numb from emotional pain and find that you cannot move at all. Stay there with your breath. Follow it traveling through your body; imagine it visiting all your body parts, filling them with life and releasing them. Movement will come when it's ready. And if it doesn't come today, that's a practice too.

You might be overwhelmed with the non-stop racing thoughts of your mind. Play the OM mantra on your phone and just follow the sounds. Feel like releasing vibrations, too? Sing along. Loudly.

Don't know where to start and all the above seems like nonsense to you? Fair enough. Pick a gentle yoga flow from the awesome Adriene and go for it. But if you feel at some point that you need to move in a different direction than the tutorial, do that (while leaving Adriene's soothing voice in the background 😊). That impulse to deviate — that's ok.

I can hear someone asking: “So, if you know the way, why don’t I see you floating two meters above the ground in a lotus position with a light around your head?”. Well, probably for the same reason we all know how to get the perfect six pack yet most of us don’t have it. But that doesn’t mean we don’t work out. 

Finding and listening to your inner teacher needs practice, dedication, and courage to meet yourself. I, like any other, am just a person who’s trying and failing a lot. 

But at times, I have accessed it and I want you to trust your inner voice as well. You can and will always have unlimited resources regarding yoga, and you should be a forever student, constantly learning and developing with the help of good teachers. However, your ultimate teacher is within you, and in these precious moments of distress it has something to tell you.

Will you listen?