Taryn Toomey, founder of The Class by Taryn Toomey, is the embodiment of “living the practice.” In each of her sessions, she heightens the mind-body connection by fusing movement and emotion—and even when one Class ends, she keeps her practice going. You can, too—and learning this process can help you cope with all kinds of intense feelings. Here, the Well+Good Council member shares her process for observing her feelings (and, crucially, choosing how to respond to them).
Get ready to get settled
Looking around is a human instinct to make sure that the environment is safe for us to close our eyes. So give yourself permission to scan the room, touch your water bottle, or adjust your clothing. Whatever you need to do, do it. When you’re ready, close your eyes and place your hands on your body.
Tune into your body; notice your mind
In The Class, we ask people to wiggle their toes, feel their feet on the floor, and feel their own touch. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and notice your mind. Your brain is an organ; it has a job, which is to create thought. The part of you that’s hearing thought is your consciousness, so pay attention—because we’re about to take the body out for a ride.
Move and feel
Here, the idea is to use movement to create feelings, and through that, experience our thoughts about those feelings. This process involves actively creating discomfort through a series of movements and noticing the thought that rises. After the thought comes up, we simply use the practice of consciousness to understand that it’s only a thought. That means we have a choice of how to respond to that thought. After we understand that it’s a choice, we decide if we want to take action or not.
For instance, maybe you’re sweating and your heart is thumping. You might notice the feeling and think, “This is really intense” or “This feels good.” Whatever it is, notice the thought; then notice that you have a choice. You can keep working out, or you can stop. That’s the power of choice.
Take it with you
The brilliant thing about this process is that it doesn’t end with your workout. When you follow these steps somatically through the body, it leaves a lasting impression on one’s life. It stays with you. And you can apply this practice to experiences throughout the day—when you’re walking down the street, in a meeting, with your family, and so forth.
Use awareness to notice your feelings, to notice your thought about the feeling, and to create a moment of pause. Then you don’t feel so overwhelmed by thinking that things are just happening to you—you realize that you have space to choose your response. Bring that theory of, “It’s a feeling, a thought about a feeling, a choice, and then it’s action or not,” into those things—and watch what happens.
Try a mini movement series
Need guidance? Try the mini movement series below. You’ll be able to actually do the movement while understanding the meaning and intention behind it—and use it to take your practice everywhere you go.
Known for transforming New Yorkers and Los Angelenos with her magical, virtually unexplainable workout, The Class by Taryn Toomey, Taryn is on a deep soul journey to become one with her past and open herself to higher purpose and greater fulfillment. The Class by Taryn Toomey is currently in New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Greenwich, CT, and the Hamptons—with plans to expand and bring its magic to major cities around the globe.