Welcome.
This is a short practice called Shaking Off Stress.
We'll begin standing.
Find a space you can stand with a few feet around you on all sides.
Imagine your stress is like water droplets all over your body.
As we shake from head to toe,
We'll release stress from the body,
Discovering natural energy.
Begin by shaking the hands,
Then add the arms,
Shaking the whole hands and arms.
Shake them above your head,
To the side of your head,
And down by your sides,
Shaking the hands and arms.
And now stop shaking and begin to swing your arms to the left and then to the right,
Gently twisting,
Looking over one shoulder and then the other,
Allowing each hand to gently tap the back or just move in that direction.
We're wringing out the stress and tension so that you can have more energy.
Now we'll stop and move to the shoulders,
Gently shaking them up and down,
Shaking the shoulders up and down,
And then side to side,
Moving the chest.
We're shaking off anxiety,
Tension and stress,
Getting it off your chest.
Now we'll move to the hips,
Shaking the hips up and down,
Bouncing,
Shaking up and down with the hips.
And then side to side,
Shaking the hips,
Front and back,
Shaking the hips in any way that you can,
Shaking off stress.
Now we'll find something to hold on to such as a chair or table.
Go ahead and pick up one leg and shake that leg and foot,
Shaking all the stress off of that leg and foot,
Letting it all drain away.
And then carefully switch sides,
Holding on to something stable while you shake the other foot and leg,
Shaking tension and stress out from that foot and that leg.
Notice how this feels as you're shaking the foot and leg.
And now we'll shake the entire body,
The hands,
Arms,
Arms,
Shoulders,
Hips,
Legs,
And feet,
Shaking the body one part at a time or the whole thing all at once,
You choose.
If you need a little more,
Feel free to do a few jumping jacks in place,
Shaking off any last bit of lingering stress and tension.
Let it all go.
And now release.
Come to stillness,
Standing tall with your arms hanging by your sides.
Take a deep breath in and let it out.
Notice how different you feel now than before you started.
And know that you can come back to this practice anytime that you need it.
