Below is a worksheet to address where and how you hold emotions (anxiety, worry, fear, anger, sadness, overjoy) in our body followed by management solutions.

Body: Questions to ask yourself in order to bring attention to your body and connect with what’s happening:

• When is the onset of your pain, discomfort, weakness, tightness, soreness, feeling of heaviness, feeling of “heart racing”, upset stomach, headache, sweating without exertion, extreme fatigue, sluggishness, etc.?
• What triggers the body to be in disarray?
• Are there emotions associated with how your feel physically?

It is suggested to write the answers down on paper.  Understanding and facing the causes of bodily discomfort will empower you!

Behavior: Below are just a few examples of behaviors to notice happening in your life:

• Food cravings (spicy, sweet, greasy, fast food, dairy, etc.)
• Excessive eating
• Overly concerned about possessions; accumulating useless things
• Fear of change
• Fear of taking action
• Inability to concentrate
• Agitate by other people’s wrong behavior
• Obsessive thinking (fixation on one event or issue and unable or unwilling to move towards a solution)

When one of these behaviors is happening ask yourself these questions in order to understand how these behaviors are connected to your body:

• What is triggering this behavior?
• What do you notice happening in your body (before, during and after these behaviors show up)? (i.e. Are you tense? Do you feel pain? Does your belly ache? Do parts of your body get warm or hot?)

Solutions:

• Practice deep belly breathing daily.
• Reform connection with physical body by engaging in energy-guided exercises like stretching, qi gong, restorative yoga, tai chi and martial arts.
• Set personal limits on agitation and negative rumination. If you are having trouble doing this, ask yourself, what are the advantages to staying angry or continuing to endlessly think about a negative subject?
• Cultivate inner peace, learn to surrender.
• Spend quality time in nature.
• Let Go and Let G-d!

Dietary Recommendations:

• Don’t eat while on the go, working, or stressed. If stressed, take a moment to say a prayer to relax the mind and body.
• Chew food well.
• Regulate meal times, quantities and qualities.
• Avoid eating in front of the television.
• Avoid processed food, aspartame and refined sugar (refined sugars aka “white foods” perpetuate behaviors of over-thinking, excessive worrying; sugar in the diet can cause muscle pain, weakness or atrophy, headaches, and digestive disorders, etc.).
• Avoid non-organic dairy and non-organic soy products (these foods can cause digestive issues, inability to think clearly, sluggishness of mind and/or body, etc.).
• Stay hydrated by drinking water, coconut water, or herbal teas (coffee, caffeinated tea, “vitamin water”, Gatorade and juice are not water).
• Avoid drinking fluids while eating food. If you are thirsty during meal time it is best to drink lukewarm water or tea after eating.