Welcome to this guided somatic practice for releasing anxiety.
Anxiety doesn't just live in your mind,
It shows up in your body as tight shoulders,
A clenched jaw,
Shallow breath or a tense belly.
Today we'll use a gentle somatic technique called pandiculation.
This is a natural way the body resets tension,
First by gently contracting a muscle,
Then slowly releasing it.
This process tells the nervous system it's safe to let go.
Begin by finding a comfortable place to sit upright.
Place one hand on your belly,
The other on your chest.
Bring your attention to your breath.
Without trying to change anything,
Notice the natural rise and fall of your hands as you breathe.
Allow your belly to soften.
Allow it to expand out to the front and to the sides.
Let your breath become slower and deeper.
Last breath.
As you exhale,
Sigh it out through your mouth.
Remove your hands from your chest and belly and place them either on your thighs or to your sides.
Let's begin with releasing the tension from your shoulders and traps.
Gently shrug both of your shoulders up towards your ears.
Notice the tension here.
Now very slowly release them down with awareness.
Relax completely at the end of this movement.
Inhale,
Shrug your shoulders.
Exhale,
Let them drop down away from your ears.
Inhale,
Shrug.
Exhale,
Relax.
Continue breathing and moving,
Allowing your breath to guide your movement.
With every repetition,
Exaggerate the contraction slightly and then let go more fully.
After each release,
Sense the difference in these tight muscles.
Last one.
And completely relax your shoulders.
Allow them to drop down far away from your ears.
Let's begin to release your jaw.
Clench your teeth together gently,
Pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth.
Now slowly open your mouth,
Letting your jaw and tongue drop down.
Inhale,
Clench your jaw.
Exhale,
Open your mouth.
Inhale,
Clench.
Exhale,
Open.
Continue breathing through your nose,
Clenching and opening your jaw.
Soften your eye muscles.
Relax your forehead.
And continue to move slowly with complete awareness and feeling of your jaw joint.
Now keep your jaw open.
Slowly shift your bottom teeth from side to side,
Mobilizing your TMJ joint,
Sending the signal to your body that it's completely safe to relax.
Shift your jaw slowly from side to side,
Noticing any pops,
Cracks,
Or unevenness.
And now gently close your mouth.
Relax your jaw,
Keeping your teeth slightly parted.
This is the natural resting position of the jaw.
Let's open your chest and heart space.
Bring your shoulders backwards,
Like you're squeezing a pencil in between your shoulder blades.
Notice how your chest puffs forward slightly.
Now relax your shoulders back to their neutral position.
Inhale,
Pull your shoulder blades back.
Exhale,
Relax.
Inhale,
Pull.
Exhale,
Relax.
Continue breathing and moving.
Feel the expansion of your ribs,
Chest,
Heart,
And lungs.
Relax.
Relish in the contraction of your shoulder blade muscles.
Notice how good it feels to open up your chest,
Giving your organs more room to breathe.
And now come back to your neutral position.
Take a moment to notice the openness across your chest and the ease of your breath.
Now let's release your tight belly.
Round your spine forwards,
Curving over your spine,
Head looking down into your lap.
Now inhale,
Come up to a straight position,
Pushing your chest forwards,
Arching your spine the other way,
Head looking up to the ceiling.
Exhale,
Curl your spine forwards.
Inhale,
Arch your spine,
Head looking up to the ceiling.
Exhale,
Curl.
Inhale,
Arch.
Continue breathing and moving your entire spine.
Feel the stretch through your chest and belly as you inhale.
And feel the stretch running down your spine.
Bring down your entire spine as you curl forwards.
Breathe and move.
Enjoy this rhythmic motion.
Notice how there are no thoughts in your head.
All that matters is this present moment and this present movement.
Feel the air move in through your nose,
Down into your lungs,
All the way into your belly.
Feel the suppleness of your spine.
Notice how you're able to get more movement in with each rep.
Notice the softening and easing of your muscles.
Last rep,
And come back to neutral.
Clasp your hands together in front of you.
Hands should be at chest level.
Now rapidly shake your hands in front of you.
Shake your hands forwards and backwards.
Allow the vibration of this movement to run through your neck,
Shoulders and head.
Continue rapidly shaking your hands.
Feel the vibrations run through your skull.
Relax your jaw.
Soften your forehead.
And unclasp your hands.
Reach your arms overhead.
Lengthen your legs.
And stretch your arms upwards towards the ceiling.
Just like you've woken up from a nap,
And you're yawning and stretching your body.
Stretch your arms to the sides.
Stretch the sides of your ribcage.
Look up to the ceiling.
And continue stretching through each arm.
Fully enjoy this feeling.
And relax.
And with a big sigh,
Release your arms down to your sides.
Feel the ground beneath your feet.
Melt all of the tension out of your body.
Rest here for a while.
Sense the difference in your body.
Notice if the edges of anxiety have softened.
If there is more space in your breath.
More ease in your muscles.
More expansion through your chest and posture.
Anxiety isn't about forcing calm by sitting still,
Meditating or journaling.
It's about giving your body the experience of safety and release at the same time.
Gentle movement,
Like the pandiculation techniques I've taught you today,
Teaches your nervous system to reset.
Repeat this practice daily for a week,
And notice the changes that occur in your body.
I have plenty of courses here on Insight Timer,
All about the nervous system.
I highly recommend joining these courses to deepen your knowledge and movement practices.
Thank you very much for practicing with me today.
I will see you tomorrow.
