Back to the Mat

May 29th, 2025 by Kelly Kienzle

“He lived a short distance from his body.”

Does this ever describe you?  It described me for the last few months (as well as a character from a James Joyce novel).

I was deep in the process of re-building my company and had been working so hard that I had forgotten how to turn off my mind and feel present in my body.

To the Desert

So I went to the desert – – New Mexico and west Texas, specifically.  Those wide open spaces and millenia-old mountains helped me remember my reassuringly small place in the universe.  I remembered how to come back into just being me, Kelly, and not a work machine.

Often when we get away from our laptops, schedules, and expectations, we can remember how it feels to just be us.  Just be living.

But what do we do when a trip to the desert is not easily attained?  When we feel ourselves falling apart, how do we lasso our minds to our bodies again?

To the Mat

One of my very grounded friends returns to herself by doing yoga.  When she is swept into a negative, overworked spiral, she repeats to herself, “Get back to the mat.”

Getting back on her yoga mat causes her brain to go on pause for a short period.  Moving through those poses, she is living through her body instead of her head for an hour or so.

To Anywhere

But we all are not yogis.  So if yoga is not your thing, then what other physical action gets you back into your body?  Maybe your mantra is…

Get back to…

• the trail
• the bike
• the water
• the yarn store
• the easel
• the piano
• the stage
• the pottery wheel
• the garden

There are hundreds of physical places we can be in to ease the stress in our minds and hearts by connecting with and doing something physical.

And the best part?  Science tells us that physical awareness and action will improve our emotional welfare – – guaranteed.

So what “mat” do you want to get back to?  How do you want to shorten the distance between you and your body?