Mind-Body Connection

With a new reality facing us during these trying times, it is especially important to focus on our mental health. The better we are to ourselves, the better we can be to others. With that said if you find yourself overly anxious, stressed, needing someone to just talk to, etc, there are sources available.

One place is Stillpoint Counseling and Wellness, owned by therapist JESSICA KING.

“I want to help people and our community find their own still point or sense of calm in what often feels like a chaotic world,” King says.

A North Carolina native, she moved to Wilmington from Charlotte about nine years ago for her husband’s job.

While in Charlotte, she pulled back from her career a bit and developed a passion for yoga. She became an instructor and eventually owned her own studio.

“I was initially attracted to the physical movement of yoga,” she says. “I was an athlete and using my body for stress relief just made sense.”

After arriving in Wilmington and getting her online master’s in social work from Boston University, which complimented her bachelor’s in psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill, she dove into that world.

She covered many social work areas at Coastal Horizons Center Inc., volunteer organizations, and school-based health centers. But there was something missing for her—and that was combining both her passions—therapy and yoga.

“In my agency work I was still using my knowledge of the body and yoga,” she says. “I was just not able to completely integrate the two until I opened my own practice. Community health is very diagnostic focused and talk therapy is fine, but I wanted that mind-body connection.”

After owning her own business once before, she knew she would enter that world again someday. Thus, Stillpoint Counseling was born.

Beyond offering the traditional counseling route, her practice offers clients classes in adult yoga, meditation and even kids’ yoga. Especially important to King is the holistic and integrative approach of her practice.

“This means that we look at the whole person – their mind and body, as well as the whole system of support around them,” King says.

“This may be working with family members, referring for additional support in the community, or helping the client feel an increased connection to themselves and others around them.”

King currently has seven therapists working with her as well as yoga and meditation teachers who provide services for her.

Stillpoint’s vision can be described as “wanting to end the effects of chronic stress in our community.” To do that, King has also started working with small businesses to implement employee wellness programs that work on self-care and combating stress.

Speaking of stress, does she have any tips for handling our current stay-at-home situation and the ripple effect of when it ends?

“Managing stress can take many forms from keeping good self-care habits, setting healthy boundaries and utilizing various coping or relaxation skills,” King says.

For herself, she practices yoga and meditation and tries to be outside at least once per day. She also recommends “staying very grounded in the present moment and increase awareness of how much time is spent worrying about past experiences or trying to predict the future.”

She says, “Typically, if we can recognize this thought pattern and then choose to focus on what we can control in the present moment, there will be a release of tension and stress in the body.”