Shake Off Stress

Desperate to unwind, but feeling too jittery to sit and down and meditate? Try this physical practice to literally shake off stress. It's easy and can be done anywhere to quickly find some calm. The possibilities are endless: practice it before public speaking, periods of deep work, or to enhance your meditation practice.

Transcript

Hi, I'm Jen, And this is a five minute practice to shake off stress. If you feel like you can't quite settle your body to sit down and do a regular meditation practice, You can do this instead or try this first and then prepare yourself for meditation. So let's start by circling the wrists. Just make fists and circle your wrists and then switch directions. Start to notice your breath as you're doing this, Make it a little bit bigger, And then shake out your hands like you didn't have a paper towel to wipe your hands with and you're shaking off the water. And then let your arms start going too. So chicken wings, Lift your elbows. Make it as big and dramatic as you can. Close your eyes if you feel a little bit silly, Just shake it out. And then reach your arms as high as you can and then touch the ground. Reach as high as you can and touch the ground. Reach up high and touch the ground. Stand all the way back up, Shift to one foot, Circle your ankle. Take it in the other direction and then shake your whole leg, Your whole leg. If you need to hold on to something for balance, You can touch a wall or a chair, Shake, Shake, Shake. And we'll go to the other side, Circle your ankle. Switch directions. Shake your whole leg. And plant both feet a little bit wider than hip distance, Drop down into a squat. However deep you can comfortably go. Squat down, Stand up. Two more. Last one, Reach your arms wide and then give yourself a big hug. Reach your arms wide, Give yourself a big hug. Now go a little bit faster, Pat your own back. Tell yourself, I'm doing the best I can. I got this, Everything's gonna work out. Start to imagine your day headed in the right direction. What's the best possible thing that could happen? Envision that, Think about that. And then both arms to the same direction. Let your spine twist. Be a little loosey-goosey with your legs. You can pivot your heels up. Don't overthink it. And back to center, Roll your shoulders, Shrug them up, Roll them down onto your back. Big and dramatic circles through your shoulders and switch directions, Go forward. Taking big, Deep breaths throughout. Inhale, Shrug your shoulders up to your ears. Exhale, Drop them down dramatically. Inhale, Shrug up. Drop. Shrug up. Drop. Two more, Shrug. Let go. Last one, As high as you can. And release. Drop your right ear to your right shoulder. Swing your chin down to your chest. Left ear to left shoulder. Chin to chest. Ear to shoulder, Keep going, Alternating directions. If this makes you dizzy, Slow down, Way down. Come back to center. Bring one hand to your chest, One hand to your belly. Notice your breath. Can you feel your breath push against your hands? Can you feel your feet on the ground? Start to allow yourself to sway gently from side to side. Pour your weight into your right foot. Shift into your left. To your right. To your left. Now can you coordinate your breath to your movement? As you shift to the right, You inhale. Shift to the left, You exhale. Inhale to the right. Exhale to the left. Find your way back to center. Thank you for joining me for this five minute practice. If you're feeling a little bit more settled and you want to do a meditation now, I would suggest my meditation track called What If It All Works Out. It's really a great perspective shift to help you start looking at the positive and imagining everything going right in your day and in your life. Thank you for joining me today. Namaste.

Reviews

Is was a wonderful practice. Thank you so much!!!