This post is the second installment in our Rooted and Rising series at Clark Counseling Services, LLC, where we explore six domains of holistic well-being. The first post focused on our connection with nature, and this entry turns to another foundational pillar: movement and physical activity.
The Mind and Body Connection
Modern psychology increasingly recognizes what many ancient traditions have long understood. The mind and body are not separate entities but parts of one integrated system. How we move our bodies influences how we think, feel, and experience the world around us.
Movement is more than exercise. It is a form of communication between body and mind. Whether it involves walking, stretching, dancing, lifting, or breathing deeply, movement helps regulate our nervous systems, release tension, and restore balance.
From a clinical perspective, regular physical activity has been shown to provide a wide range of mental health benefits, including:
Reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety
Improvement in mood through endorphin and dopamine release
Greater resilience to stress through regulation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis
Enhanced cognitive functioning and neuroplasticity
Better sleep quality and energy regulation
Movement can be understood not only as a physiological intervention but also as a psychological one. It nurtures agency, embodiment, and presence.
Clinical and Therapeutic Perspectives
In psychotherapy, helping clients reconnect with their bodies can be essential to healing. Trauma, chronic stress, and emotional suppression often reveal themselves physically through muscle tension, fatigue, gastrointestinal discomfort, or a sense of disconnection from bodily awareness.
Somatic-based interventions, yoga-informed therapy, and mindfulness-based movement practices such as tai chi or qigong have shown growing evidence as effective complements to traditional talk therapy.
Clinicians often observe that when clients begin to engage in movement gently and intentionally, their emotional awareness deepens. They start to sense where anxiety resides in the body or how breathing patterns shift in response to stress. This embodied awareness supports integration, emotional regulation, and resilience.
Redefining Exercise
When discussing movement in a therapeutic or wellness context, it is important to think beyond the cultural image of “working out.” Movement can be any physical engagement that brings awareness, vitality, or joy to the body. For some individuals this might involve structured exercise, while for others it may be gardening, stretching, or walking the dog.
The essential element is intentionality. Rather than viewing movement as a performance-based task, it can be reframed as a meaningful act of self-care. It becomes less about what we “should” do and more about how we choose to care for and reconnect with the body.
Practical Applications
Integrating movement into daily life does not require a gym membership or large amounts of time. Instead, it begins with mindful, sustainable actions.
Mindful Movement Breaks: Take a few minutes each hour to stretch, roll your shoulders, or walk briefly.
Walk and Reflect: Replace one sedentary task such as a meeting, phone call, or journaling session with a short walk outdoors.
Body Awareness Check-Ins: Throughout the day, notice your posture, breathing, and areas of tension.
Joyful Motion: Explore forms of movement that feel enjoyable, playful, or restorative rather than obligatory.
These simple practices can help restore attention, regulate emotions, and strengthen awareness of the body’s natural rhythms and needs.
The Larger Picture
Movement is an act of grounding. It brings us into the present moment through physical awareness. It is also an act of rising, as it strengthens and expands our capacity to engage fully with life. In this way, it reflects the essence of the Rooted and Rising framework.
In our next post, we will explore the third domain: Intellectual Curiosity, and discuss how nurturing the mind’s need for learning and creativity supports psychological flexibility, engagement, and meaning.