Somatic Release After A Long Day: Let Go Of Stress & Tension

Carry the stress of the day in your body?

This gentle somatic release practice is designed to help you let go of built-up stress, tension, and emotional energy after a long or demanding day.

Through simple movement, breath, and body awareness, you’ll be invited to release what you’ve been carrying and create a sense of more space and ease in your body.

You don't need to analyze your day or figure anything out. This is a chance to move, breathe, release, and come back to yourself.

Use this practice after work, following a stressful interaction, when you feel overstimulated or emotionally full, or anytime you need help transitioning out of “doing” mode.

Good for: stress relief, overwhelm, emotional release, nervous system regulation, tension, grounding, and transitioning from a busy day into rest.

Note: Please do not listen to this while driving or operating heavy machinery.

Transcript

Invitation to join me in my favorite somatic release practice. I especially love this one after a long day at work. Um, And you'll see why here in a moment. Again, You need quite a lot of space around you standing up a space that you could move your arms side to side without bumping into anything. So make sure you've got a lot of space here. Take your feet hip width distance or wider. In this case, You might go extra wide in your feet. So we have a nice, Steady stance here, Little bend in the knees. And I want you to imagine you're still at your work desk, If you work at a desk. Or if you don't work at a desk, Just imagine you're at a table and it's got a bunch of stuff on it right in front of you, Okay? And we're going to imagine clearing off this table with a big swipe with our arms in one direction, And then clearing off this table in the other direction, Swiping everything off. You can bend a whole lot in your knees, Swiping and clearing this table side to side, Bending and twisting in your feet. Allowing your hips to follow your arms and just imagine clearing this table. We can add some breath if that feels nice. With every swipe, Exhaling out. If you don't like the breath, That's fine. Just make sure whatever you're doing that you are breathing and clearing that table, Just swiping it clear of all the content, All this stuff, All the stress of your day, Swiping it clear. We're gonna be here for about. 20 more seconds. Swiping that table. You can make this swipe as big or as small. As you like. Your swipe might be up here. Side to side. So honor and acknowledge whatever your body needs. If you need a smaller swipe, That's completely fine. And I wanna encourage you to take what feels good in your body. No matter how big your swipe, Wherever you are, Start to make it a bit smaller. Feet come a little closer together. And we'll just stay with this swaying side to side. So that your arms tap across your hips and your waist. So we start to slow down our breathing. Maybe sign it out. Hmm. Lovely. I hope you found that helpful today. For our next practice, I want to invite you to sit on a bolster or some blocks, Some books, A cushion, Something that's going to lift your hips a little bit higher than your knees. And I don't know about you, But at the end of a long day, When I'm having a hard time relaxing, It often has to do, At least initially, With a lot of tension in my shoulders. So this practice today is to help you release tension, Stress, And any kind of pent-up energy that might be happening in your shoulders and neck. So I'd like to invite you now to come to a comfortable seated position. And rest your gaze down on a spot on the floor about two or three feet in front of you. Also, You might like to play around with closing your eyes. You can try it out now and see if that feels okay for you. Just noticing if your eyes would like to be open or closed, Either is fine. But we do want to start to invite ourselves to go inward. Allowing our gaze to be soft. Just acknowledging any tension. Squeezing. Or pain, Stress that you can feel. In your shoulders or your neck. And then when you're ready, We'll start by just dropping your chin to your chest. Your chest will stay lifted, Shoulders, Collarbones broad. So your chest is reaching up towards the sky, But your chin is reaching down to your chest. So you can start to feel a little stretch in the back of your neck. You can stay right here, This might be enough. If you want to increase the stretch a little bit more, I'll invite you to interlace your fingers, And then take your hands behind your head at the base of your head. Goal and right at your net. Keeping those fingers interlaced, And we're not pulling with our hands or our arms. We're just allowing the weight and gravity to do the work. Wherever you are making sure to breathe. When you're ready, Releasing your hands from your neck, Chin comes back up to about parallel with the ground. Eyes are closed or gaze is resting down. When you're ready, I want to invite you to drop one ear to your shoulder. Doesn't matter which side, Any side is fine. Again, Your chest is lifted, Shoulders broad, Collarbones wide. Just dropping one ear towards your shoulder. So you'll feel a stretch on the opposite side of your neck. You can stay right here. Or maybe reach those opposite fingers, The same side where you feel the stretch. Towards the ground. And away from you. Play around with this arm a little bit maybe lifting and lower just so you can notice where the sensation is. It doesn't have to be a big sensation. You can take this. At an intensity level that feels right for you. Lastly, I want to invite you to turn your chin and your nose towards your shoulder. That you're bending towards. Looking down. Towards the ground or nose pointing down towards the ground. Reaching in those opposite fingers. Beautiful. When you're ready, We're going to come back up to center and just pause right in the center. So chin is parallel with the ground. Chest is lifted, Collarbones wide. Pausing in the center and just noticing. The different sensations on either side of your neck. And then when you're ready, We're going to switch sides. So dropping the other ear towards the other shoulder. Making sure to breathe. And then just like we did on the opposite side, Reaching those opposite fingers. So on the side of your neck where you feel the stretch. Reaching the opposite fingers out and down. Maybe playing with. Lowering and lifting that arm so you can find the right place, The place that feels really good in your body. Allowing gravity to do the work here and also allowing time to do the work. As we slowly release tension and stress. And then when you're ready, Turning your chin and your nose down towards that shoulder that you're stretching in. Looking down towards the ground. Just changing. The sensation in the neck and shoulders a little bit. And always find it. So interesting how much. We can shift in just one tiny movement. Holding here for a few more breaths. And then, When you're ready, Coming back up to center, Everything back to center. Taking a moment to. Calibrate, Taking a moment to integrate. A stretching. Integrate the release of tension and stress. When you're ready, Shrugging your shoulders up towards your ears and then dropping them down. Feel more like that inhaling. Shrugging your shoulders, Holding them up towards your ears, And then dropping them down. One more time, Inhale. Shrugging, Shrugging, Shrugging, Holding them towards your ears. And then dropping them down. Beautiful. We're going to do one final neck and shoulder stretch here, Which is some movements, Circular movements. So dropping your chin to your chest and then rotating your head towards one side. Ear over shoulder and then chin towards chest and over to the other side, Ear over shoulder. We're going to do this kind of making like a half moon. With the chin and the ears, Side to side. I want to invite you to go at a pace that's right for you. Or slower than you think maybe You should. We move so quickly. In our day-to-day, So this is an invitation to do the opposite so that you can find soothing and peace. Rocking your head and your chin, Your ears, Very slowly side to side. And if it feels really good in one place, You're welcome to pause there. Just linger in the place where it feels the best. Reminder that you're allowed to make choices that feel right for you. Maybe taking your head side to side, Looking over to your right. And to your left. Back to your right. And to your left. And then when you're ready, Coming back to center one last time for integration. Keeping your eyes closed. Or resting down for just another moment here. Noticing how it feels. Noticing any sensations. I hope you found that helpful.