Hi everyone,
Liz here again,
And I just wanted to share a really powerful but simple technique to deal with overwhelm and stress and anxiety.
This is something that you can do anywhere at any time.
No special skills,
Techniques,
Equipment required.
And it's called the self hug.
It comes from the work of Peter Levine and Somatic Experiencing.
And I use this myself and I've seen it make a real difference for a lot of people that I work with,
A lot of clients,
Especially those dealing with the physical toll of like long COVID or chronic illness.
And that often comes with anxiety too,
Right?
So here is how you do it.
You start by taking your one hand underneath your armpit.
So you don't want to go in your armpit.
You want to come just a little bit below your armpit.
And then your other hand comes onto your shoulder.
It's just a nice big self hug.
And then you can drop your chin slightly.
And just take a few deep breaths,
Right?
And you're rounding your upper back a little bit here so you're in this nice,
Soft,
Curled position,
Right?
And it mimics kind of the fetal position a little bit,
Which is really inherently soothing for our nervous systems.
So that is the first version,
And you can do this on either side,
Right?
You can do it here,
You can do it here.
Now the second version.
Is moving your hands up and down,
Up and down,
Nice and gently.
You're not pushing or doing the thing where you're like,
I'm cold and I'm going to really try and force some warmth in.
You're just gently up and down,
Up and down,
Right?
And the important part here is that you need to be breathing.
If we stop breathing while we're doing this,
It's not going to happen.
So you want to focus on breathing deeply into your abdomen,
Making sure that your.
.
.
Breathing into your belly because your belly can expand,
But your chest can't while you're doing this,
Right?
Because it feels a little constricted.
So either here.
We're here.
Take about 10 deep breaths.
And as you breathe,
Just imagine sending warmth and safety to every part of your body.
You might even say to yourself,
See.
I'm held.
And this technique works because it activates that parasympathetic nervous system,
The rest and digest system.
And it gives your body the signal,
It's okay to rest now,
You are safe.
It's letting go of that fight or flight energy of the sympathetic nervous system.
So then after your 10 breaths,
You can gently release your arms and then just take a moment.
Notice how you feel.
Are you more grounded?
Are you calmer?
That might be your nervous system recalibrating.
So this isn't just stress relief,
Right?
It is rebuilding from the bottom up a sense of safety within your body,
Which is really,
Really important if you're living with chronic pain or chronic illness or even burnout,
Right?
Our bodies are holding so much for us,
And sometimes they just need a gentle reminder that they're not in danger.
So go ahead and try this whenever you're feeling overwhelmed or even as a daily practice to check in with yourself.
All right,
Thank you for joining me today and I hope you have a wonderful time.
