Benefits of shaking the body

Shaking helps to move or release tension, and to open up emotional knots or energy blocks in your body. It is normal for us to be tense, and to counter it we can practice letting go, practice softness, practice allowing flow into the body.

What we don’t let go of we hold on to. How much are you holding on to, which has accumulated since a longer time? Are you aware of the tension that you hold in your body? When we practice letting go of the tension we hold, we are in fact cultivating softness in the body; creating a space that allows the type of relaxation that can release tension and relax the body. 

It is normal for us to have tension in us, emotionally, physically, in organs and in muscles. Tension is everywhere, and as we practice letting go we practice countering it; letting go of tension, of expectation, of emotions we are burying within us and hiding from others. We can let go of tension every day through our practice, and by shaking the body loose. 

Shaking the body to release tension or overwhelm.
Shaking to release tension or overwhelm. Image by Taylor Wright, Unsplash

Invite the tension to move, to flow wherever it wants to flow. Can you feel what it is to allow the energy in you to move through you and loosen up? Practice letting go of any expectations of what that should look like, or what it should feel like for you. Practice inviting softness into your body’s organs and tissues, and into the present moment.

Try shaking your body. How does it feel? Is it easy or does it feel uneasy, as though the body is holding back and staying rigid? Can you shake your face, or does the neck hold back, staying fixed? Shaking is a release, and it requires the body to let go, to let loose, to shake it like a dog or cat does intuitively. If this doesn’t come easily, be compassionate towards yourself and allow it to happen in its own time and not with your control. As you practice inviting softness into your life, to your body, to your sense of self, you will start to embody softness physically too.

Bodyworker and author Steve Haines has written that we shake because it is a natural mechanism in the body to optimize tension: “Shaking can discharge excess tension and wakes up frozen bits of the body.” He continues: “Shaking is best understood as a way of extinguishing fear and discharging all of the energy mobilized for fight-or-flight.” Shaking is a powerful tool to process stress, overwhelm, trauma triggers, anxiety, or even when we need to get energized after sitting for too long. Steve Haines compares the natural shaking reflexes of animals, to humans’ inability to do so at the right time. After stress or flight and fright, animals shake, breathe and rest before returning to their habits. “However, the discharge and recovery does not always happen successfully in humans. People are often left with heightened cortisol and sympathetic activity and the associated anger and/or anxiety, which can last, tragically, for years.”

Shaking the body is a natural way of recovering after stress for dogs.
Shaking is a way of recovering after stress or flight or fright. Image by Nikolay Tchaouchev, Unsplash

Get up from your chair and try shaking your back and hip. 

Shake out your arms and notice how your fingers feel; do your fingers move? 

Are they heavy or light? 

Are you dealing with many thoughts or a stressful email conversation; try shaking your face, cheeks and tongue.

Does your face move easily, or does it feel hardened? 

Notice if you try to control the shaking mechanically rather than letting go.

Be playful and meet yourself with compassion for where you are at, because you will not become soft and fluent by criticizing yourself.

TRE is a self-regulation tool by Dr David Berceli, who discovered how to induce therapeutic tremors yourself. He states: “Exercises that produce tremors bypass the thinking brain, giving us direct access to the unconscious reptilian brain.” TRE helps to reboot the nervous system. and has helped me profoundly in a very peculiar way. TRE has helped my nervous system develop its own regulation catalyst, meaning, as soon as I am in a calm and safe space, such as at the lunch table, or going to bed at night, my body starts to shake on its own to relieve itself from any tension that has built up during the day. It feels relieving, it feels soft, it feels necessary, and fun. The waves or punches that come from inside, traveling upward feel soft and gentle, even though they can be big and bold and boisterous.

My personal experience with shaking came from dance warm ups and dance therapies. A couple of years ago I attended a lecture on TRE by founder Dr. David Berceli, and as I tried out inducing therapeutic tremors myself, my body immediately accepted the self-regulating tool, as if it knew exactly what to do on its own. Now my body starts shaking, or expressing impulses whenever I lay down to relax my body, to ground, to have a moment of softness in gentle company, and also every night when going to bed, releasing impulses as I drift asleep. This feels opening and relaxing, and is a way to invite softness into the now. Shaking off a stress reaction has become a normal practice for me, and a quick tool to use when a situation is mildly or widely stressful. I encourage you to try it out, to implement it in your embodiment practice when you feel the call to let go.

If you are interested in further teachings of TRE check out Dr. David Berceli’s youtube content, and I warmheartedly recommend Steve Haines’ books on topics related to trauma-informed bodywork.

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