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Writer's pictureThrive Inc.
Sep 23, 202021 min read

Stress and the Six Body Types


Humans are highly energetic beings. We can pick up on energies around us and then these external factors can impact how we feel on the inside. Learning more about ourselves and how to work with our energetic body type is key to explaining how we manage our circumstances and lives.


There are six energetic body types, but we each have a triad of body types that are most out of balance. When you can identify your primary types and do things to balance them, it puts the rest into balance and helps you live life with less stress. Discovering your body type also helps you make sense of the things around you, especially people who may behave differently than you.


This week, we share the six energetic body types and explain how you can use them to deal with stress. We talk about the ways we might put the world together based on our body types and explain how to identify the different body types of others. Join us to learn more about which one you might be!


If you want to make a difference for either yourself and your career, or your team and your organization, be sure to reach out to us and sign up for coaching! We can come and do a book club or simply visit with your team! Don’t worry about physical limitations – we work really well virtually, too!


If you enjoyed the show, please share the podcast with your family and friends, or post a five-star review on iTunes. Rating and reviewing the show helps spread the word, which means less friction and suffering for everyone, and who doesn’t want that?



Learn More:

  • The six energetic body types.

  • Why somebody might behave differently than you.

  • Why you might be experiencing chronic pain or illness.

  • The different characteristics human beings possess.

  • How our environment might affect the way we feel.

Resources:



Full Transcript:



CrisMarie: Welcome to The Beauty of Conflict, a podcast about how to deal with conflict at work, at home and everywhere else in your life. I am CrisMarie.


Susan: And I'm Susan.


CrisMarie: We run a company called Thrive Inc, and we specialize in conflict resolution, stress management coaching and building strong, thriving teams and relationships.


Susan: Now, we know, no one likes conflict, not even us and we’ve written two books on the topic. In our work over the last 20 plus years we’ve found most people avoid, manage or diffuse conflict. The problem is when you opt out of conflict in these ways you miss the creativity, the connection and the possibility that lies in conflict.


CrisMarie: We also know 2020 has been, well, let’s face it, a stressful year. And what Susan and I realized is all the tools that we’ve developed and utilized around conflict apply directly to uncertainty, which is what we’re living in now.


Susan: In this podcast we have tools; concept and interviews that will help you cope with the stress and uncertainty of conflict, of Covid, of social justice issues and, yes, even politics. We hope you’ll walk away from this episode with some fresh ideas that change your day, your week and even your life.


CrisMarie: Hi, this is CrisMarie. And we have been doing a lot of podcasts on stress and we’re going to do another one. This time we’re going to be talking about energetic body types, right, Susan?


Susan: Yes. And I want to start off by saying a little bit about this. We are energy beings. We are in this universe. It’s just all about energy and energy…


CrisMarie: And you know that when you look at the fires, or the hurricanes, or Mother Nature, she’s got a lot of energy.


Susan: In terms of elements. And then when you start to think of us as human beings, there’s all sorts of different ways in which energy gets talked about, like in Chinese medicine they use that for acupuncture. There’s the different meridians, Ayurvedic, there’s different body types there that have to do more with density or lightness and help you with your diet or your health. There’s also other not as energetically focused, but it’s the same idea with personality tests, the Myers-Briggs.


CrisMarie: HDBMI, or Personalysis, whatever you’ve taken at work where you’re taking an assessment and you’re learning about what are your traits and tendencies.


Susan: And in this case we want to focus it specifically on you as an energy being. And we’ve, again, this work has been something we’ve used for years in our practice, in coaching. And we’ve also used it ourselves.


CrisMarie: It is a great lens to look at how am I getting out of balance? Once you learn your body type it’s a way to – you’ll know what to do to balance and what you’re doing that’s way out of balance. And so that’s how it links to stress. And for this podcast we’re just going to give you a taster because this is – can be really dense material. We don’t want it to be. We want to give it to you in a sense that you start to wait, that sounds like me and that sounds like me.


And just a little bit of background is we all have these six. There are six different body types, we all have them. However, one of them is more out of balance for us, that’s our primary body type because it shows up the loudest and it’s the one that we can have the most leverage if we take care of it and balance it.


Susan: Okay, so CrisMarie, let’s dive in.


CrisMarie: Okay. So we’re going to talk about the six different body types. And the first one that we’re going to talk about is the spiritual body type which is actually chakras are another energy system. And we’re going to reference those while we’re talking about these body types.


The spiritual body is physically they may have some characteristics of being long and lanky, tall and thin, not necessarily but that could be a trait. And they tend to process information in their heads, in their higher chakras, the seventh and however the numbers are. And has a knowing of spiritual information. Talking about spiritual stuff isn’t weird for a spiritual body type.


Susan: One of the things that happens for them though is sometimes they get kind of really keen insights and things just sort of float in. But because it doesn’t always go all the way through their energetic system, thinking that, you know, we often talk about how important it is to pay attention to your body, not just your mind, your heart, physicality, all of that.


And what can happen with a spiritual body is they tend to cut that off. Because when you actually begin to move the energy down lower into your body sometimes there’s some uncomfortable emotional aspects to that that spiritual bodies don’t like to feel as well. They like to keep it in that transcendental, everything’s positive.


CrisMarie: Visionaries.


Susan: A visionary.


CrisMarie: These are visionaries but they may actually struggle actualizing it. Because another thing that you might recognize if you have a spiritual body type or if that’s one of your out of balance body types is that you tend to compartmentalize your life. People at work know very little about your personal life and vice versa because it can feel threatening if those different aspects are merged. But that’s actually a really healthy thing for a spiritual to do is to break down those compartments.


Susan: Sometimes what’s a struggle for them is they do like to be right. And can be a little more on the rational side or explaining side. And they’re uncomfortable with their own strong emotional expression and that of others.


CrisMarie: Yeah, they’ll tend to talk about emotions rather than allow that emotional energy to move through. So they might not take feedback well because they like to be right. They don’t like to connect to their bodies. They like to transcend and rise above and they can come off as arrogant because they have this spiritual connection or vision, it can be about business or whatever. But they get this download and think that they are right.


Susan: Now, to shift that, one of the things that’s really helpful for a spiritual body type is to do some form of meditation, something that allows you to have that opening but also get you in your body.


CrisMarie: And what is difficult but really helpful is to breathe and feel your feelings, because that will bring that knowing down into your body, which will actually help you create what you want. So that’s a little tidbit about the spiritual body.


Susan: Now, the next one is the emotional body type. Now, as we mentioned with the spiritual ones were sort of more in their upper chakras. Emotional bodies are kind of probably more in their lower body. And they tend to be really good at picking up strong emotions, survival because they tend to be fairly defended. They actually feel things pretty readily. But they tend to want to kind of protect themselves in that.


CrisMarie: Susan, now, this is your primary body type. So talk to people about it more personally about how this shows up with you feeling so much, but then not wanting to feel and then going to the defense.


Susan: Yeah. I mean for me often I feel things in my body, something seems incongruent. It’s not necessarily – somebody can be talking just fine over there, but doesn’t seem to match up with what I am picking up on an energetic level. And I then begin to kind of in my survival mode, project onto them, they’re up to something, they’re up to no good.


And I also tend to defend and protect myself, and that’s a place that I can get really stuck in, until I’m actually willing not to be – figure out the why or any of that. But to feel the feelings that I have, to acknowledge that I’m uncomfortable. Something’s going on here, I don’t know. I don’t know the story of it, that’s the mind part, but I do know something is not quite right.


CrisMarie: And being around you as an emotional body and other emotional bodies is often they show up as angry or intense, because they’re feeling and not wanting to feel. It’s that disconnect between – or not disconnect, but resistance to feel.


Susan: And in their more balanced type they really are an emotional barometer in the room. They will pick up anything that’s incongruent. But they tend to get attached to it and they want to have a story to it. And that is actually what gets in their way of actually just letting the feelings move.


CrisMarie: And one of the ways, it sounds silly, but if you’re relating to this body type or somebody that you know could relate to it. One of the things that helps emotions move is just even watching movies where you know it’s going to be a sad story, and so the emotions will flow. And it may sound crazy but electrolytes are really good for this body type in balancing the energy of this energetic body type. Anything else you want to say about the emotional body?


Susan: No. But one of my favorite movies to watch with this in mind is Lilo & Stitch. And in my opinion both Lilo and Stitch can represent an emotional body. And Stitch kind of gets the angry and Lilo actually underneath it feels tremendously but she looks tough.


CrisMarie: Yes. I mean and just even for those of you that might be around an emotional body they tend to be loud in the room. You can…


Susan: I never think I’m loud. I don’t know CrisMarie what you are talking about.


CrisMarie: Well, you will bring up uncomfortable topics and other emotional bodies too. And if you aren’t bringing them up, you’re kind of vibrating until you bring them up.


Susan: And I would say probably other people don’t understand why I would bring up something that’s that uncomfortable. Yet for me the incongruence is more uncomfortable. And I think that’s what happens for an emotional body.


CrisMarie: Yes. Okay, the third body type we’re going to talk about is a physical body type. And a physical body type really feels things through their body which means they are often – and you can think about historically, even from childhood often are sickly. They get in accidents. They are often having chronic symptoms and there’s a lot of things that are going on showing up in the body. And they are fixated on getting rid of the symptoms so they see it only as a problem to be solved.


And really the lesson for a physical body is the reason that things are showing up in their body is because they are not really – it’s an opportunity for them to look at what is the spiritual lesson that’s showing up. If I have – it’s not my primary, but it’s in my top three, I have a physical body. And so when I had chronic back pain what I wasn’t looking at is I had some grief and anger that I had to process about my rowing career. And when I did that my body got better.


Susan: And the other – I think you mentioned they tend to be type A personalities. They also will keep going and going until they’re sick and then get focused. They spend a lot of time trying to figure out why this symptom, is they are focused on the symptom on the bigger picture.


CrisMarie: Yeah. And we want to encourage if you’re relating to this and you’re struggling with something physical just even consider what might be happening emotionally or spiritually that you may not be addressing. And that might help your physical symptoms.


Susan: And one of the things to ask yourself as a physical body type is what brings me joy? What is my purpose here? Because a lot of times they’re so busy doing.


CrisMarie: And working and helping others.


Susan: And working, that they have lost what’s most important to them. And they need to really refocus and connect to that, and connect to it through the body because the body will symptomize until they start paying attention to it.


CrisMarie: Yeah. You might know you’re a physical body if you have kind of a long history of physical symptoms. You get too focused on trying to fix them and they can often be self-involved with the physical symptoms. If they are – every time you talk to them they’re talking to you about the next problem that they have in their body. So those are some ways to recognize a physical body.


Susan: Yes. So the next one is what we refer to as the mental body type. Now, this one is…


CrisMarie: You can spot them a mile away.


Susan: Okay, so CrisMarie why don’t you go ahead and say a little bit since you can spot them a mile away.


CrisMarie: Well, I also have one of these not in my top three. Mental bodies usually are small in stature, really built or look good. They focus on making sure they look all put together. And they’re very concrete and when they don’t understand anything they are always asking, “Why? Why? And what if I need expert; can you give me the answer?” What’s amazing about them is they actually do get their information; they get connection because they have a connection to source. And they will get that aha and then forget it and still look for the answers outside of themselves.


Susan: I was thinking that, you know, someone I know who’s this type. The aha comes in very interesting ways often for them, because this person was very big in the world of music and doing various venues and handling a variety of different things. And she realized there was going to be a change in her life and all of a sudden yoga clothes were showing up in her closet.


CrisMarie: I think she had a dream.


Susan: She had a dream.


CrisMarie: That only yoga clothes were in her closet, yeah.


Susan: Were in her closet, okay.


CrisMarie: So she moved from New York from the music industry to LA for the yoga. She said, “I have to buy a four wheel drive car.” She didn’t know why because you don’t need that in LA. And then she wound up moving to Montana where you really do need a four wheel drive.


Susan: Again, they tend to forget the natural process.


CrisMarie: Like things will work out and it’s, yeah, they want to make it happen.


Susan: And they go to the expert. And in some respects if they really were to let themselves they are naturally in their bodies, brilliant in terms of…


CrisMarie: Yes, gifted.


Susan: Gifted in terms of that connection.


CrisMarie: And another piece is they tend to think everything’s like a reflection of them. So because I have this in my top three, if you’re doing something I’m like, “Oh my God, that’s a reflection of me. I want to fix that.”


Susan: She’s often wanting me to look better, look good, do that.


CrisMarie: Because mental bodies are really trying to manage their image and look good, it’s just it is. So ways to balance the mental body is really to eat and drink consciously, so making sure you’re doing that. And use your senses, connect to your senses, so light candles, go outside and walk in nature, music, color, texture. All those seem kind of silly when you’re out of balance as a mental body. But when you use them they bring you right back into your physical body which really helps.


Susan: Because it takes them outside of the performance and gets them into the sensation during meditation. And that’s what’s – because they can get focused on the performance and how it looks.


CrisMarie: Yeah. You’re bumping into a mental body if they keep asking why and keep trying to find the expert that’s going to help them. Okay.


Susan: So the next one is the physical energy body type. And of course I’m going to let CrisMarie do this one again. This happens to be hers.


CrisMarie: So this is my primary, so physical energy, not to be confused with physical, so, it’s almost just the opposite of physical. A physical energy body doesn’t feel things in their body. They are out in the environment. And so they are tracking what’s going on out there, constantly kind of scanning for in their relationships any sign of disapproval. Are you okay with me, are you not? So they are picking up the environment.


Susan: Just to be clear, it’s a different type of picking up the environment than say the emotional body that picks up the emotional tones of things that might be more beneath the service. The physical energy is literally looking at the field, and adjusting, and maneuvering to the field based on what input is coming into them and often at the expense of themselves.


CrisMarie: Yeah, I was going to say, I am like am I safe, am I not? What do I need to do to make safety? So physical energy bodies are often pleasers, accommodators, peacekeepers, they believe that, well, I don’t have a choice. I’ve got to do what you said because otherwise I’m not going to survive. And so relationships are often codependent, you’re kind of like, “Well, you decide, I don’t want you to get mad because if you get mad, you’ll leave me, I’ll be all alone.”


And so they tend to be over-responsible, taking on too much and has a hard time staying connected to theirself and boundaries. And so as a flip, in order to kind of come back they can become, and I can become self-involved. And this is the whole thing, Susan you need to leave the house because I can’t hear anything. I need to focus on me because I’ve spent so much time scanning, and focusing, and trying to please with other people.


Susan: So a few things that help for a physical energy body become more balanced is to own their choices and to recognize they have a choice. They may not do anything different, they may still give themselves away to the field. But if they can start to recognize, that’s the first step, that’s the boundary work.


CrisMarie: Yeah. And really learning how to say no and setting boundaries, and tolerating if somebody is upset and still knowing that you’re safe has been my work, continues to be my work. And also electrolytes are really, drinking electrolytes are very balancing.


Susan: And I think, tell me where I’m wrong but it’s like you have really done a tremendous, CrisMarie, a tremendous amount of work on – you’re sort of taking that field outside of you and move the field into you. So that you can actually do the work you need to do in some respects it’s like. And I think that’s been really helpful.


CrisMarie: I think you’re talking about my parts work with Ben.


Susan: Yeah, people have worked with you, probably know that.


CrisMarie: Yes, I do focusing which is an internal work, which is recognizing the different parts of ourselves. It’s kind of like if I was five and something traumatic happened, that little five year old stopped kind of evolving, and she’s still in there and she pops up. So learning how to develop a relationship so she knows she’s safe, what happens is all of me starts to lean forward and gain more choice.


Susan: And when you’re paying attention to that inner field you can’t be quite so focused on the outer field. So it’s actually helpful for your significant other.


CrisMarie: True. So the key here is stop managing others, trying to control others and come back to yourself in the here and now. And really make choices that – go ahead and make choices, stop fence sitting and saying, “Oh, whatever you think.”


Susan: I mean your gift can be that you’re actually really good at picking up the field and knowing what to do. But unless you’re there in it it’s not as helpful.


CrisMarie: Yeah. It does make me a good facilitator of groups.


Susan: It does. It does.


CrisMarie: But that can be exhausting too, yeah.


Susan: Yes. The next one, the last, the sixth body type is what we call the cosmic body type. And the cosmic body type is really, you know, they’re split between being way out there with this really big, they’re usually highly creative people. They almost seem like they’re talking kind of beyond, they can seem very woo on some level.


CrisMarie: They can seem very woo or just I think like Aaron Sorkin who is a brilliant screenwriter. He has such amazing things come in but the problem is…


Susan: The other side of that is so they’re way out or they’re way in. And that looks like a lot of addictions, a lot of issues, it could be food addiction, drink, gambling, shop, anything. And that’s actually how they anchor themselves in their body in this physical form here, not astral traveling.


CrisMarie: Well, and I think a lot of the brilliant creatives that are well known do something great and then they flame out. And they must have a cosmic body or must be a cosmic body in there.


Susan: And the biggest thing they can also, but because they do have this what seems like tapping into a fire hose of universal information or whatever, they can also kind of be a little bit like they know everything about everything. And sometimes it can be difficult if you’re around one because it’s like they’re really not that interested in what you know. They’re pretty set on their stories. And sometimes those stories really…


CrisMarie: For those of you that don’t know me, I’m CrisMarie and I’m an Olympic rower. And I had dinner with this person and he proceeded to tell me all about rowing. And I’m kind of trying to disagree with him and he’s, “Oh no, no.” As if he knew more about rowing than I did. And I thought you definitely are a cosmic body.


Susan: I mean initially she used to kind of let, you know, it would be almost like you didn’t even pick it up. But knowing that you are a physical energy, you weren’t going to let that one slide.


CrisMarie: No way. I knew I knew more about rowing. I wasn’t missing that one. And cosmic bodies are often very dense. So that can look as kind of compact in their body or also they can gain weight and be bigger people. So the know it all-ness, it can be hard to be intimate, that closeness with the cosmic body because of that big knowing in their sense.


Susan: And if you’re listening to this and thinking, really, you guys do not understand me at all. That would be a classic cosmic body type.


CrisMarie: Response.


Susan: And because they do actually, they really like to be unique. So just know that if nothing we’re saying fits you, you might very well be a cosmic body type. What really – what’s cool about a cosmic body type, if they decide to engage in this in any way is that they have structure. And if they create some structure in their lives they can do amazing things.


CrisMarie: So when we say structure we mean regular sleep schedules, regular times that they eat. Actually getting engaged in creative activities on a regular basis as a way of giving a channel for all that knowing to come through into physical form, and really balanced food choices. So not eating a lot of junk or drinking a lot, really staying more balanced.


Susan: And I think you said, the way to bring that in is through some sort of creative activity, painting, writing, playing guitar, whatever it is. That’s why so many brilliant artists sometimes are this cosmic type, because they do have this ability.


CrisMarie: So they can come across as a know it all and it’s kind of hard to genuinely connect. But when you do those balanced choices it makes the cosmic body much more relational.


Susan: And they do, sometimes it is hard to talk about their addictive behavior. That’s not easy for them [crosstalk], obviously.


CrisMarie: Really we have three that are our triad of body types that are the most out of balance. And when you can identify your primary one and do things to balance, it puts all the other ones into balance as well. It’s your greatest opportunity to balance.


Susan: So I think CrisMarie mentioned that she is a physical energy body type. And she also brought up that she has a mental as well as a physical body type in her triad. And so I’m an emotional body type and I also have a physical and a cosmic. And now it’s been helpful to me to really – it does help to know the other two because there are times when I’ve had incredible physical symptoms. And if I kind of pay…


CrisMarie: Well, talk about your experience with cancer.


Susan: I really do look back in my life when I was going through my four different cancers. And I really did…


CrisMarie: In your 20s.


Susan: In my 20s, and if I look at them through this lens I can really see how that wasn’t my primary type because even no matter what I would do to kind of shift them, it wasn’t actually moving me as far forward. But it did help me each time begin to explore what is in this symptom? It’s not just cancer, get curious about it.


That was the thing I learned. And that actually put me more in my emotional body type where I actually had to feel some things and deal with some incongruence from my own life about stories I had dealt with, things I hadn’t dealt with. That’s how I knew I’m actually clearly an emotional body. I can see it now. But knowing that physical piece really helped me kind of get closer to it.


And I also know I can get into a little addictive patterns, and that is helpful for me to recognize that addiction actually takes me, structure actually helps me even though I’m very resistant to it. It does help me, and getting into creative expression, it doesn’t have the big bang, but it helps if I’m actually willing to feel and not be such a, you know, so protected and defendant, but to actually use that to not get caught in the story. But each of those three has really, understanding them, helped me in balancing when I start to get really stressed or into a particular pattern.


CrisMarie: And mine, I’ll just give you my version of my physical energy body. So very much focused on pleasing people around, my mental body wanting to look good and know why, and then my physical body. And I talked, again, physical energy, mental and physical. And I was showing up 10 years after the Olympics with this back injury and it wouldn’t go away. As I kept toggling physical symptoms over to my mental body, I’ll go to this doctor, will they fix me? Or this doctor will. I was looking for the expert where I had to own my choice.


There was a situation where my coach said, “She’s either in the boat every day or she’s not in the boat at all.” This is when I was injured right before the games. And I always felt like he made me get in the boat. And when I actually shifted that around and realized, no, I chose to get into that boat because I wanted to go to the Olympics. It was my choice. And I tell you, owning that, feeling the feelings, the anger, all that processing through, when I did that my body got healthy because as a physical energy body I really needed to own. I wasn’t a victim to my coach, I did that.


And so thinking about what your three body types are, we coach people on this all the time. We use it as a lens in the corporate work that we do. We use it in a lens in our coaching and it really helps you when you can identify all that time and effort trying to go to doctors and fix me versus owning my choice and all that disappeared. It’s powerful.


Susan: And I mean part of why we wanted to do this today is especially 2020.


CrisMarie: Oh my gosh.


Susan: Seems to be an incredible invitation to really utilize all the tools that we have access for our clients, used ourselves. And this, the body types, I have found really helpful during this time of uncertainty because you can’t – this isn’t a head game anymore. We don’t have the answers. So we have to look at…


CrisMarie: We can’t get control over it.


Susan: Yes. And so we have to kind of keep looking at this whole year of 2020 and beyond right now, and at the energetic opportunity. And so I found this to be very helpful to realize when I get into my survival mode, of what am I not feeling as an emotion. That’s been critical.


CrisMarie: We teach it and we work with it, so if you have any questions or you want to get coaching or learn more about it, reach out to us at Thrive t.h.r.i.v.e@thriveinc, t.h.r.i.v.e.i.n.c.com. Okay, take care.


Susan: Okay. Take care.


CrisMarie: Thank you for listening to the Beauty of Conflict podcast. We know conflict, stress, and uncertainty can be hard to navigate. So, if you want more support you can check out our other resources. We have two books on Amazon.


Susan: Our business book is The Beauty of Conflict: Harnessing Your Team’s Competitive Advantage. Or our couples’ book, The Beauty of Conflict for Couples. We also have an e-book, How to Discuss Difficult Topics. We’ll put the links in the show notes to make it easy for you.


CrisMarie: Also, if you need help with your team at work, we regularly conduct team sessions both live and virtually. If you’d like us to speak at your next event or if you want coaching, Susan and I each coach business leaders, individuals, and couples, you can reach us at thrive@thriveinc.com, that’s thrive@thriveinc.com.


Susan: If you’ve enjoyed today’s podcast please take 30 seconds to give us as iTunes review. It helps get this show out to others. Thanks again for listening. We hope you have a peaceful, productive, and beautiful day. Take care of yourself and we hope you’ll join us again for another episode.

_________________________________________________________________________


CrisMarie Campbell and Susan Clarke


Coaches, Business Consultants, Speakers and Authors of The Beauty of Conflict

CrisMarie and Susan work leaders and teams, couples in business, and professional women.

They help turnaround dysfunctional teams into high performing, cohesive teams who trust each other, deal with differences directly, and have clarity and alignment on their business strategy so they create great results.


Download the eBook, How to Talk About Difficult Topics, today!


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