An Uplifting Somatic Practice
This post is another somatic exercise to add to your arsenal of trauma healing activities.
I hope everyone has had some time to practice The Butterfly Hug that we learned about in the last post. If you haven’t started incorporating it into your life yet, it is never too late to start!
This week’s post is going to be short & sweet. I’m sharing an uplifting somatic practice that I learned from @iamjenmann on Instagram. This IG video is the very first one I saved to my Somatic folder on that platform! (Approximately 77 weeks ago.)
Unlike The Butterfly Hug that I’ve mostly seen done while you’re sitting, this practice is intentionally done standing. During those times that I have so much energy pulsating through me that I cannot sit still, I have found this exercise to be very helpful in letting it out through the movements.
How to do an Uplifting Somatic Practice:
Stand with your legs about shoulder width apart.
Start gently swaying from side to side.
Cross your arms in front of you, and starting from your shoulders gently but firmly squeeze your way down your arms until you reach your wrists.
Keep swaying while you shake off your arms from side to side.
Repeat 3-5X.
Stop swaying and squat down in a wide stance with your arms wide as if you are “collecting the energy of the Earth.”
Lift this “energy” up and over your head to share it with the sky.
Repeat, if you feel like doing it more than once.
End by bringing the energy into your body by placing your hands over your heart.
The swaying and squeezing of your arms is providing bilateral stimulation which activates your parasympathetic nervous system while enhancing communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Bilateral stimulation is believed to reduce anxiety, improve emotional regulation, and boost feelings of happiness & wellbeing by increasing some neurotransmitters in your brain, like dopamine & serotonin.
This exercise could be used when you have excess energy to release and allows you to shake it out in a healthy, constructive way. It can help you feel more grounded and present within your body. If you are emotionally dysregulated, it could be a good tool to practice to help yourself regulate.
As with The Butterfly Hug, I’m going to try to add this into my regular life, so that when I really need it, it is already muscle memory as opposed to something new & unfamiliar. In the caption, it says, “Do this as many times a day as feels right, add some nice music in the background + no magic number of times on this one! ✨” If you try this, I would love to hear what you think of it!
~The Overstimulated
Special thanks to Jennifer Mann for sharing this practice (& many others!) on the iamjenmann Instagram page. (I have no affiliation; I’m just a follower on IG.)