Shake Out Your Tension

One of my main goals in this blog is to help your release the tension that is imprisoning your body and poisoning your mind. There are several different ways of doing so. One of these is to shake out your tension.

In these posts you will learn to change the way you stand so that you aren’t holding onto the tensions you did previously, you learn to stretch so as to physically combat the contraction of specific muscle groups, you learn to use your breath to relax you and to move differently and more efficiently. Two other methods of releasing tension are massage which I’ll cover in future blogs and shaking.

Shaking is a wonderful type of exercise. It loosens the muscles and tones and stretches them in ways that no other kind of exercise can. It has proven benefits in helping improve the circulation, helps relieve pain and rids you of so much of your stress. Many animals shake themselves several times a day to keep themselves loose and ready for fight or flight so maybe you should try it too.

It really helps with your posture as it loosens everything up so you can stand more freely.

How to shake

There are no secrets to shaking, you can and should shake any part of your body in any way that seems good at the time. Shoulders and hips are always key places to release tension but legs and arms, hands and feet and different areas of your torso are also needed.

When you start shaking you will soon see just how few of your joints and muscles are truly mobile. Start gently and gradually increase the intensity of the shake then try to get as much of yourself moving as possible.

Shaking ties in with yin yang theory as you’ll find you need to stabilise certain areas to loosen up others. It’s also a mindful activity getting your mind in your body to control the shaking movements.

At first, much of you may feel locked up and impossible to move but be patient and quite quickly your body will start to respond to this ancient and natural exercise. Your aim should be to start shaking in one part of the body and allow the shaking to move in a wave throughout the rest of you. You will find that to do that you stabilise certain parts in order to shake loose other parts.

With a little practice you will find yourself shaking involuntarily as your body moves of its own accord. This is a great way to release deep seated tensions and you can let go of a long buried emotions by letting them get shaken loose in this way. Sometimes it may take a few minutes of shaking for this involuntary shaking to occur but it is so freeing both physically and emotionally.

Even just a few seconds of shaking can make you feel like a completely new person. It really is the fastest tension buster there is so don’t be shy, shake away your troubles, shake off your responsibilities and shake out your pains. It’s even more fun when done to music! I often shake my body out before I start my tai chi practice.