ETERNAL REST
The process of shaking to release tension can be seen in the natural world also. In the animal kingdom, a gazelle will literally shake after escaping the clutches of a lions jaw, thereby expending the shock and adrenaline that was pumping around its body. By physically shaking off the tension, the human body, like the gazelle’s, is then able to calm down and return to a homeostatic balance.
Note : These exercises should be done only if they are pleasurable and you feel safe and grounded in the process. If you begin to experience physical pain adjust your position and/or modify the speed or intensity in a way that relieves the discomfort.
Stress, anxiety and trauma are common events in people’s lives. For almost all of us, we experience stress on a daily level, either at home or at work. The body constantly responds to elevated levels of stress by contracting the muscles to ‘get through’ the problem. However, we seldom recognize these contractions until we experience pain, discomfort or illness. By regularly shaking, we start to come in contact with these residual layers of tension in the body and they start to dissolve. The first step in this process is often noticing just how tense we have been in our body and this is an essential first step. This noticing indicates that there is now a part of us that is no longer tense and able to observe this tension. The more our tension dissolves, the more our attention can sink into the lower belly.
The releasing practice can activate the para-sympathetic mechanism of the body, which causes our muscles to relax. Relaxing tense muscle patterns can often reduce stress in the spine, neck, shoulders and pelvis. When tension is released anywhere in the body, the brain registers a reduction in pain signals, producing new hormones that promote healing. During the practice we work with releasing the major joints of the body to ensure there is a flow of energy through them. For example, we often keep our knees habitually “locked” during the day and by bringing attention to them during the shaking process, we can release this locking mechanism and reconnect with the energy flowing up from the earth.
Practice Instructions
Start this practice with your feet about hip-width distance apart and your feet pointed forwards.
Have your spine straight and upright and relax the rest of your body around it.
Tuck your tailbone in slightly (so that it moves closer to the wall behind you).
Drop your chin slightly to allow the back of your neck to open more.
Allow your body to shake from your pelvis, making sure the rocking movement is starting from your pelvis in a back and forward motion.
Use the shaking to wake up every cell of your body so that the natural awareness in your body can activate.
To begin with, breathe in any way that helps you to release the tension down through your body and into the earth.
Feel free to make any sounds on the exhale that allow the body to release tension. (sighing etc).
As you practice over time, breathe through your nostrils on the inhale, in deep, slow breaths and visualize that you are breathing directing into the center of the belly rather than through your nostrils.
Exhale through your mouth or through your nostrils, whatever is more comfortable.
Scrunch your toes regularly during the practice so you can somatically get in touch with the felt sense of the earth underneath you.
Scan through all the major joints of the body to make sure the energy is flowing through them fluidly. Start with the feet, then the ankles, the knees, the pelvis, the mid-back, the shoulder blades, the shoulders, the arms, the neck and the head. Bring the breath to each place as you scan, opening the tension and allowing it to dissolve downwards.
Return repeatedly to visualizing the tension from your body flowing down into the earth.
For the entire practice, treat any form of thinking as tension and allow it to flow down through your body into the earth.
