Movement

Movement coping skills are activities that increase our connection to our body, grow awareness of our physical sensations, and create a sense of calm and focus. (Las habilidades de afrontamiento basadas en movimiento son actividades que aumentan nuestra conexión con el cuerpo, desarrollan la conciencia de nuestras sensaciones físicas y generan una sensación de calma y enfoque.)

These coping skills are particularly helpful when the gender dysphoria is making us anxious or on edge. Moving our body around helps to release some of this anxious energy.

Movement helps us cope with the energy of the gender dysphoria by a combo of focused attention and thoughtful movement. It works like this:

• Attention and Focus (Atención y Enfoque): These movement coping skills ask you to pay close attention to the movement of your body, the way it feels, and the sensations created.
• Moving Your Body (Mover Tu Cuerpo): Moving your body requires you to focus on what you are doing with your body, rather than on what the gender dysphoria is trying to tell you.
• Brain Regulation (Regulación Cerebral): Movement coping skills can help regulate the autonomic nervous system, which is your brain’s control center that tells your body to be anxious or calm. Deliberate movements like stretching or wiggling tell this part of your brain that you are okay and in control. This shuts down the “freak out” side of your brain and promotes the release of calming hormones.

If your mind starts to wander during the movement coping skills, gently bring your focus back to the movement of your body (Si tu mente comienza a vagar durante el ejercicio de movimiento, suavemente regresa tu enfoque al movimiento de tu cuerpo). The more you practice these movement coping skills, the better you’ll become at staying present and connected to your body!