We all know the scene right? She's a welder by day and dancer by night- dancing, shaking, and gyrating around the floor like a maniac. You may think it is fun to watch, tiring or even obscene, I think this is a great example of stress release!
I have introduced this idea of living stress free vs. stress management in my previous blog. What I really want to emphasize is stress happens people! Stress is an inevitable part of being human. So that begs the question how can we live stress free when stress is a part of every day life? Great question! I am glad you asked. Living stress free does not mean we live in a world of rainbows and lollipops. Living stress free means we learn how to RELEASE the stress when it comes into our lives rather than absorbing it. That is the fundamental difference between managing your stress and living stress free.
If you chose to manage your stress that means on some level you accept and absorb the stress into your being. Then because it hasn't been released it always shows up somewhere, somehow. Maybe it shows up as pain or maybe it comes out as an emotional expression. Or even worse an accident or major illness. Because you are just managing what already exists, often that stress just gets pushed into another hidden corner of your consciousness with only temporary relief. Its that idea," if I ignore it it will go away." But it never really goes away is just gets stored up in different parts of our being only to come out later. More often than not this coming out has very bad timing. Have you ever noticed when you may be going through a particularly stressful time in your life you somehow end up with an injury or illness to compound what you are already going through?! That is your body saying, "Hey I haven't got rid of all this other stored up stuff and now you are adding to the stock pile!" It is also the minds' way of creating a diversion from the emotional stress that you are currently going through and giving you something else to focus on.
In yoga we have a saying, "Our tissues hold our issues." Generally our everyday consciousness is not holding onto the stress, especially old stresses. Instead they get suppressed and are stored in our subconscious, tissues and nervous system. So we need to release both the old stresses and new ones. Now there are lots of great ways to release stress. Back in the day when the Mongolian warriors, some of the fiercest warriors ever, would get done with battle the first thing they did (after a hot shower) was they would get massages. Not just ordinary massage but deep myofacial release to rid their tissues of the stress of battle. That way the next time they went out on the battle field they were not carrying the weight of the last battle with them. That is one of the reasons they are known for being extraordinary warriors of their time. Today that type of deep tissue release is called myiofacial release and/or Rolfing.
Another interesting example of this release comes from the animal kingdom. If a gazelle is chased by a lion and narrowly escapes, when it knows it is safe it will go off into the bush and "shake it off". In fact all animals naturally shake to release trauma. It's a part of the body's natural balancing out system. The fantastic thing is that this is part of our DNA too! When we have put so much stress on to the nervous system it can literally be shaken off.
The following video is an example of T.R.E. A shaking technique given to trauma patients to help the body release the physical storage stresses in the body.
This isn't rocket science. It's simple movement. The mind might be telling you that stress release has to be more complex than this. But isn't it the mind that got you into this situation in the first place? The beautiful thing is that you are not expected to have all the answers or come up with the best possible solution that the situation may be calling for. What you can do is choose how you react to any given situation. I say SHAKE IT OFF!!! However you want to do it is up to you. If you encounter a stressful situation as soon as you are able to go into a safe place SHAKE IT! Whatever it may be- just shake it! Push the table aside turn up the volume and have a Flashdance moment of your own or simply move in a way that feels good to you. Take control of your reaction, give yourself permission to really let loose and see just how much better you feel afterwards.
