Hi,
I'm Alan.
I want to introduce a method to you called a shaking meditation.
It was introduced by Dr.
Peter Levine and his theory modality called somatic experiencing,
Which is centered around releasing trauma from the body.
A shaking meditation can be profound for any time you have a big interaction with somebody.
Perhaps you're nervous for a meeting or a test.
It's really great before therapy as well as after therapy.
And it's a really great thing to do before meditation or before going to bed as well.
Anytime you want to release energy from the body and return it to a more neutral state.
What Dr.
Levine found when he studied animals in nature was that they don't acquire trauma in the same fashion that we do as humans.
And as he was studying them,
What he found was that after a big chase,
Such as a lion was chasing them or they had to cross a road or they had to get into a fight to defend themselves with someone else in their species or someone outside their species.
They found that these animals shake and they shake in very specific ways.
And as he studied this more and more,
What he found was that this is a way for animals to dissipate energy.
What he also found was that when he studied animals in captivity,
That animals in captivity,
They do not shake.
Also humans,
We do not shake as well.
So I find that rather interesting.
And what they found was that animals in captivity,
They do acquire trauma.
They do acquire PTSD.
We're going to do the shaking meditation together.
It's going to last around three minutes.
I want you to stand up.
I want you to put your arms at your side,
Preferably in a place where no one can see you.
Just that way you feel more comfortable.
And I want you to start slowly shaking,
Start shaking it from the bottom of your feet.
Perhaps it climbs up to your knees.
Perhaps it climbs up to your thighs and your waist.
And I want this to start getting more vigorous and just let it all go.
Shake your hands,
Shake your shoulders,
And even try to relax your neck and try to get some shaking in that.
Be mindful about that part.
And so here you are just shaking and try to shake a part of your body that you haven't shaken just quite yet.
Perhaps it's a part you don't get to shake very often.
Maybe your lower back or the back of your legs.
And let this start building.
Shaking your hands and your fingers and your wrists.
Let this continue to shake.
I've been shaking for about less than a minute now.
And just allow this all to happen.
Focus on your breathing.
Breathing in through your nose and just seeing what that feels like to breathe in through your nose and just really notice the breath.
Still continuing to shake.
And just find a really good rhythm.
Don't worry about what it looks like.
Just find a really nice rhythm to settle into.
And again coming back to your breath and noticing what that inhale feels like and what that exhale feels like.
So we're still shaking.
We're still shaking.
We're going to continue to shake for a bit longer.
It's been about a minute and a half.
And try to just let it all go.
Try to let the day go.
Try to let whatever energy it was you were carrying in.
Give it permission to leave your body.
Also many times in life we get really wrapped up.
We get really attached to things.
We get attached to outcomes.
We get attached to how we're feeling.
And if anxiety becomes familiar we then have a tendency to attach to anxiety because it's familiar.
And we really fear the unfamiliar and the unknown.
And the same is true with the depression as well.
But just see if you can just let it go.
Just let yourself be a kid for a little while.
Here you are just shaking around.
Listen to this meditation.
Hopefully this guy knows what he's talking about.
So we're just shaking around.
Perhaps put a smile to your face.
Think about being outside with your toes in the grass.
As a young child the sun's beating down on your face.
Just try to bring a little joy to it.
It's all not so serious.
Life always works out.
Even in the past if it feels like it hasn't.
It's just not so serious.
So we're coming towards the end.
I want you to slowly shut down the shaking.
Just slowly shut it down and allow yourself to be.
And then I want you to stand there with your palms at your side.
I want you to try to stand as still as you can.
And just notice how your body feels now.
And as you move through your body without judgment.
We're just observing.
We're just noticing.
We're not applying any labels.
Such as good or bad.
We're just an observer like a rock in a river.
And notice the first dominant thing that you've come across.
The loudest thing in your body.
Perhaps it's tingling in your fingers.
Pulsating or vibrating in your arms perhaps.
And as you move down just notice if there's anything different that's shifted.
Perhaps there's tingling sensations in your feet as well.
And I like to see if I can find my heartbeat somewhere in my body.
If I can feel it.
And where I can feel it the most.
And if you can feel it somewhere.
I want you to see if you can't feel it in your big toe.
Just be really present and feel what it's like to be alive.
That this is your state.
This has always been your state.
And that this is your true home.
So much of our work as people in the healing process is learning to trust our home.
Learning to trust that this state of relaxation is available to us at any time.
And that it's also safe to feel this way.
We're so used to running in life.
Running from our emotions.
Running from the perceived bear in the cave.
That our natural state is this state right here.
If you enjoyed this meditation and this technique please feel free to reach out,
Leave a comment,
Or shoot me a message.
And I'll have a more comprehensive program that will combine everything together.
And this is also the personal work I do with my clients as well.
Hope all is well and be blessed.
Thank you.
