Thaw The Freeze: A Stealth Somatic Trick To Ease Anxiety

Do you ever feel frozen, numb, or stuck in moments of stress? This short somatic skill uses tiny movements, little wiggles, shifts, and shakes, that you can do quietly anywhere, seated or standing, without anyone noticing. I explain how small movements can help shift the message your body is sending from stuck to able to move and breathe, and invite you to try it with a shoulder, your toes and ankles, or a shift from one hip to the other. Your invitation is to make it a habit and bring 1% more movement or release to the places that tend to feel tense or rigid. This content is educational and is not a substitute for one to one professional care.

Transcript

Hi, Everybody. I'm here to share another stealth somatic skill with you. And this skill is something that I just want to teach everyone in the world because I feel like if everyone in the world was able to come a little bit out of the freeze response and a little bit more into their animal bodies, A little more into movement, That we would all be able to connect so much better with ourselves. With each other and with the earth and the world around us. So it's so common for people to hold freeze in their bodies, Even if it's just a low level of tension or tightness. Some kind of holding back, Living very small internally, Feeling stuck. All of these are qualities of a freeze response and there are things we can do just to help our bodies out in those moments. And throughout the day all the time. Just to help shift that message that the body is sending up to the brain. When we're in freeze response, Everything is shut down. For the most part in our bodies and there's often a lot of tension. And the vagus nerve sends that message up to the brain that says we're in freeze, We're in a life or death situation, We're in survival mode, The body is unsafe. And there's that reciprocal relationship where the anxiety or the shutdown just continues to loop or build. So if we intentionally bring in some micro movements. Little wiggles, Little shifts, Little shakes into the body and we just start to incorporate this as habitual common experience that we're having all the time. We can help our body start to be a little more comfortable just existing in this world, Just existing here in the moment. We can help shift that message from the bodies in freeze and stock to the body can move and breathe, Which sends that signal of safety up to the brain. So just gonna invite you to explore wherever you are, Whether you're seated or standing, You don't have to really do anything big. No major movements here. You're just going to see if there's one area of your body. That feels the most available to do a tiny little wiggle or micro movement. It might be just a shoulder like that. Or a little shimmy down the spine. And I'm making these even bigger than they need to be just to demonstrate. It can be the most subtle tiny movement just to release that sense of holding, To release that sense of freeze or rigidity from an area of the body. So you could explore maybe your feet. Just loosen up your toes for a moment in your shoes. Maybe find a micro wiggle with your ankles. Shift if you're in your seat, Shift from one hip bone to the next, Just subtle movements. No one's really going to notice what's happening. You're with your own internal experience inside. And it's okay to move a little bit. We're animals, Our bodies want to be in movement. So see if there are little ways that you can start to incorporate just little micro movements. Especially in moments when you know you tend to freeze, Check out, Go rigid, Or get activated. An example would be for many folks with social anxiety, There tends to be this freezing response or dissociative experience when we go into crowded spaces, When you go into a group setting or a gathering of some kind, Or even just going out into public. All of the interactions that we have, We might have this underlying holding and freeze and rigidity in our system just because of that. Old programming that tells us we're not safe. So if you start to do little movements, Little tiny shifts, Little wiggles. Little twitch. And exhale. Relax your jaw, You know, Just the tiniest little things and start to incorporate these movements all the time. Anytime you remember, Just do something minor. It's a wonderful way to start to help your body self-regulate again and start to help your body feel like it can move, It can take up space. And when we move, Everything begins to flow again in the body. We find an internal rhythm again. We move closer to regulation and that sense of equilibrium inside. Your invitation this week is just to explore micro movements and tune into areas of your body that often might feel tense or rigid and see if you can make it a habit to invite a little softening there. To invite 1% more movement or release in that space. This is something that happens internally, So you can do it anytime. Anywhere. And I hope you found this helpful. All right. Thanks for joining in. Bye.