Listening to the body: moving pain through practice
We often think of healing as something that happens in the mind. A linear pathway of talking, analysing and intellectualizing, to eventually reach an enlightened understanding of ourselves or our issues.
And while psychology and talk-therapy rightfully hold their place in the corrective journey, emotions so often live in the body beyond language; beyond the conscious mind.
When our bones ache and migraines persist but receive no answers, we should be not alarmed, but reminded, that the body is its own kind of library; repeatedly storing experience and emotions in ways that we can’t always rationally understand.
It is here, in this liminal space, between science and self, that embodied practices – bathhouses, breathwork, meditation, movement – become languages of release. Where ‘listening’ to your body, and its deeply intuitive signals, can be so much more profound than trying to think your way through pain.
While other modalities of medicine provide great diagnostic focus on the testing and treatment of specific injury, illness or ailment, eastern traditions such as Chinese Medicine, often take the time to look at the body as an interconnected whole; their mission is to find blockages and restore flow. While both perspectives are not only valuable, but necessary in tandem, when it comes to chronic pain, trauma, and the invisible weight of emotional stress, we often fail to apply the same level of attention to our hearts, as we would a broken bone.
The body and its extensive wisdom offers countless pathways for healing emotional pain, but in our modern lives and conversations, we seem to repeatedly focus on a technological or pharmaceutical fix. With psychiatrists such as Bessel van der Kolk pioneering scientific research around stored trauma (his famous book ‘The Body Keeps The Score’ has become popularised over the last decade), the science now more often affirms what ancient traditions have long known: the body stores what the mind cannot process, and embodied practices such as breathwork, give us access to those deeper, subconscious layers where unresolved tension is trapped. And while for some it may seem unconventional or abstract, the root of its acuity is reassuringly simple. The breath, for example, is powerfully effective, and the breath itself is all you need.
Manoj Dias, a breathwork facilitator, yoga teacher & co-founder of social space Open, speaks to this, highlighting that obtaining this level of presence within oneself has real-time positive and potent biological intervention. “Studies show that breath-focused movement lowers cortisol and enhances vagal activity. This doesn’t just regulate the nervous system — it supports its resilience.”
In dropping into our bodies through breath and movement, the brain begins to reshape the pathways that regulate stress. “Presence, then,” Manoj attests, “isn’t passive — it’s protective.” And when the practice is a consistent part of our daily or weekly rituals, we start to see not only the immediate positive effects (reduce anxiety, mental clarity) but the long term benefits too (increased energy, stable moods).
When we move through life with this lens, there is a shift and reconfiguring of our values and what we lay a sense of importance on as a society. And if we revolutionise the way we heal, we revolutionise the way we live and how we treat each other in return. In a modern world that is obsessed with productivity, where attention spans have been reduced by ease and accessibility of information; stillness – sitting, moving, lying with yourself – is not only imperative, it’s an act of resistance.
A sauna or a bath can feel like a warm embrace for an overstimulated nervous system. The breath, free and always with us, becomes a tool for reconnection. No machines, no trainers, no external demands. Just you, your body, and the ancient wisdom it holds.
“When we bring attention to movement, we engage the prefrontal cortex – the region that supports focus, regulation, and decision-making. Each time you strengthen the circuits that guide your response to stress, emotion, and thought, you’re training the mind to stay with what is real”, says Manoj.
And when we stay with what’s real, we have a clearer understanding of our emotional, physical and mental health, and can listen more attentively to the cues that our inner worlds provide. The human body – an incredible and deeply intuitive organism – knows what it needs. We just need to pay attention.
Whether in the heat of a sauna, floating in a warm bath, or immersed in a breathwork class – these moments become not interruptions, but essential integrations. As Manoj puts it: “Moments of pause are part of the practice. They give the nervous system space to reset and integrate. Research shows even short rests can increase heart rate variability, reduce inflammation, and build long-term resilience”.
Just as a physio retrains the body to walk after injury, embodied practices retrain us to process emotional pain. A breathwork session can feel like a deep exhale for the soul – a recalibration of the nervous system – but what’s most powerful about somatic practices is their simplicity. They don’t demand dramatic lifestyle changes, expensive memberships, or constant facilitation. Even something as instinctive as rolling across the floor in unfamiliar directions – side to side, diagonally, backwards – can unlock hidden corners of the psyche. We live such forward-driven, linear lives that moving differently cracks open new pathways for release, reflection, and self-awareness. It reminds us that some of the most profound tools for healing aren’t found outside of us at all – they’re already woven into the body we carry through the world.
Further reading
More from our authors on bathing and beyond.
