When the pressure builds up, the body has a tendency to store the stress. Piling up this kind of energy is prone to creating lots of side effects. For example I know that it creates lots of pain in the neck for me. Here comes an answer that requires no pills, no weird material and is inexpensive due to the fact that it costs no money. Of course do not expect this to let you continue living in crazy ways with no respect for yourself !

What is somatic experiencing

First of all let me say that I am not a trainer in the technique. I am a practitioner and have no clue about the theory behind it. I just know that it works nicely and that I do get a lot of advantages for using it.

Somatic experiencing allows to release accumulated tension in your nervous system. Not the conscious one, the other one that works in the background and ends up oveloaded in the life of any dynamic and commited person.

When performing the technique blasts of energy discharges are happening. You will also find yourself in a much better mood and less prone to mood swings which usually come with tiredness and overwork. Some energy may be there since eons due to whatever bad happened during your childhood or other moments in time that were a bit hard on the nerves.

How to do it

To perform somatic experiencing, get yourself into a quiet place (abeit you can do it anyhere once you know how – I do it routinely in meetings, in the car, while waiting at the store). Start doing very slow moves. Slow is key The slowest, the more efficient. No need for big movements. You can choose to move your wrist, your ankle, your neck… All very very very very slowly and gently. Do not expect anything. Let things occur. If you feel the urge to yawn, do not repress it since it is going to bring great results. Relax. Let yourself space out. Do this as long a you want. A typical session would last for a quarter of an hour or so. Then come back here and now, look around with your eyes without moving your head, all in a gentle and slow manner. You should feel better.

Benefits

By regularly doing the technique you will soon realize that a lot of tension is present in your body. Such awareness is already a benefit in itself since it will serve as a red flag to know when you have gone too far and need to stop. As a man who underwent surgery for not listening enough to body signals, you can believe that I do so very actively now (well, to be honest, I am quite in overdrive regularly but I give myself time off. My wife knows the drill by now.). Do not let you drift too far.

Another good thing is that tension will go away and you will be in a more alert state without being tense. Before a major meeting this is great gift.

Also, by repeating the technique you will need less and less time to let the tension go. As I sometimes tend to overeat in stressful situations, just doing the technique will let me eschew the temptation. So, this may help you controlling the calories intake by a good measure.

As a general benefit, spending sometime for and with oneself is telling your body and mind that you care. They will be thankful believe me.

Anchoring the Technique

The technique can be anchored by having one or two favorite moves identified as releasing the tension very fast. For me this is a combination of a wrist movement done in a specific way ( nothing that special here ). It makes me yawn like mad. Even thinking about it makes me yawn ! (Yawning now). Try to find your own!

To learn more

Somatic experiencing is much more than the aforedescribed. A good book: Awakening the Tiger Within.

Check out: http://www.traumahealing.com/waking.html , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_Experiencing

As you will see, somatic experiencing is good for shock and developmental trauma. Given the modern workplace, this may be applicable on a daily basis in a lot of places I do know of.

Combinations

Combine it with EFT (emotional freedom technique) and you have a clear winner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_Freedom_Technique

I used EFT in the past when I got car jacked with a gun pointed onto my head. The gun was help by a guy who clearly had had too much pot or what not in his blood at the time. So, after that I needed some help and EFT was a technique that worked marvels.

Parting words

We do live in places where the atmosphere is not really what we were designed for. The nervous system is really required to perform way ahead of its designed limits, especially when the stress is maintained over long periods of time. Do yourself a favor and try these techniques out for a much better life balance. They are better than drugs or alcohol !

Copyright 2009 by Philippe Back – All rights reserved