Beyond the Mind-Healing Stress Through the Body

You can’t think your way out of stress

You can’t talk yourself out of stress because stress isn’t just a cognitive experience—it’s a full-body response. When stress hits, your nervous system activates the fight-flight-freeze response, flooding your body with cortisol and adrenaline. This leads to physiological shifts like a racing heart, tense muscles, and shallow breathing.

While logical thinking and reframing can be helpful, they alone won’t resolve stress because stress is stored in the body, not just the mind. That’s why movement, breathwork, and somatic practices are so powerful—they allow you to process and release stress physically. Whether it’s shaking, stretching, dancing, or deep belly breathing, engaging your body helps discharge stored tension and restore balance.

The relentless demands of life—interpersonal conflicts, work pressures, financial struggles—can create chronic stress that lingers in your system, weighing you down and keeping you from fully stepping into your potential.

Mind Move Therapy specializes in Psychotherapy to address the mental, emotional and physical symptoms of chronic stress by healing the mind and the body so you have the internal capacity to move forward in life.

Which state may apply to you? ‘I am living in survival mode’, ‘I’m leading my life based on my emotions and how I feel’, ‘my mood is chronically negative, I’m overthinking things, I’m shutdown and not living my full potential’.

If you have chronic stress you may be burned out, noticing yourself getting sick, or have increased conflict in your relationships.

How Is Chronic Stress Affecting You?

Physically: Do you experience inflammation, muscle tension, gut issues, pain, or a sense of disconnection from your body?

Mentally: Do you struggle with anxiety, depression, or PTSD? Is your mind constantly stuck in the past or future, making it hard to feel present and calm?

Emotionally: Do you feel overwhelmed, reactive, or unable to manage life’s demands?

Socially: Are you burned out at work? Do you find yourself avoiding, isolating, or withdrawing from others?

Spiritually: Do you feel unseen or unheard? Are you yearning for deeper meaning, struggling to embody your fullest self?

You can’t think your way out of stress because it’s not just a mental experience—it’s a full-body response. To truly release stress, you need to engage your body through movement, breathwork, and somatic practices. Healing begins when you shift from just thinking about stress to actively processing it.

Is Your Toxic Job or Abusive Relationship Wreaking Havoc on Your Mind and Body?

Bridget Montgomery, Clinical Director of Mind Move Therapy, knows this struggle firsthand. As a single mom juggling the weight of a mortgage and limited social support, she remained stuck in a toxic job for years, unable to see a way out. The burden was even greater due to the complex trauma she carried from childhood, making it even harder to manage intense stressors.

To cope, Bridget turned to movement—exercise, running, sports, dance, and yoga. And for a while, it worked. Movement helped her navigate the daily grind of stress, worry, and anxiety. But something was still missing.

The real breakthrough came when she combined movement with psychotherapy. It was the golden ticket to healing. What took years to realize was that staying stuck in a toxic job wasn’t just about financial security—it was a trauma response. Recognizing this allowed her to break free, transition careers, heal her body, shift deep-seated beliefs about herself, and mend important relationships.

If you feel trapped in a toxic environment, know that true healing goes beyond pushing through stress. It requires addressing the body, mind, and the deeper patterns that keep you stuck

You Can't Think Your Way Out of Stress
Heal Your Mind, Heal Your Body

Addressing the root causes of your chronic stress is the key to creating real change in your life. Are you ready? Transformational change often happens faster with professional support.

At Mind Move Therapy, we help you:

⭐️ Identify and address the root causes and symptoms of chronic stress.
⭐️ Understand your individual stress responses—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.
⭐️ Deeply attune to your thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations to recognize patterns and impulses.
⭐️ Find solutions for a stressed mind, whether it’s looping thoughts, rumination, or distraction.
⭐️ Learn new skills to soothe your nervous system, clear your mind, and calm your body.
⭐️ Engage in physical activity and therapeutic movement to release stored stress.
⭐️ Prioritize self-care as an essential part of your daily routine.
⭐️ Build resilience and expand your capacity to cope with stress, making the meaningful changes you seek.

Get the support you need to break free from chronic stress and move forward with empowerment.

Bridget Montgomery offers psychotherapy and movement coaching to help you integrate healing into your life. Mind Move Therapy accepts insurance, private pay, and offers a sliding scale to ensure access for all.