Simple Mind-Body Tools For Zoom Fatigue

Hi,

I'm Erin Henshaw and I co-founded an organization called the MindBodyProject to bring emotional regulation and trauma-sensitive support to schools,

Companies,

And communities.

The goal of my work is not to heal trauma,

But to create safe spaces to look into our bodies without being triggered or re-traumatized by that experience.

Out of your shell is a phrase we have where you might feel like the weight and hardness on your back or shoulders.

To get out of the house or talk to a new person can feel like you have to open up your shoulders and find some lightness to do that.

So let's do that.

So imagine you can keep your eyes open or closed,

Whatever feels good for you.

And just imagine that feeling of like the heaviness of the shell on your back.

Notice when you're feeling in your shell,

What that sensation is like for you.

And first putting ourselves in our shell.

So let ourselves be there in that place of kind of heaviness,

Maybe restriction.

For me,

It's a little bit darkness,

But almost feeling like a turtle.

And then imagine how you can slowly begin to remove that shell.

So if you want to start to roll your shoulders back,

Open your chest,

Get some movement in the shoulders,

Maybe one by one,

Kind of softening that shell.

It could even be a micro movement.

So you might feel like,

I kind of want the shell on right now,

But I just want to vibrate in the comfort of the shell.

That's okay too.

Whenever your process is for feeling the shell and then moving towards a lighter shell.

Maybe stretching our neck,

Bringing our chin up to the ceiling,

Opening up the neck there,

Moving the neck,

Maybe bringing your gaze to your right shoulder,

Then gaze to the left shoulder,

Dropping the chin down to the chest,

Feeling that shell begin to lighten and melt a little bit.

Moving up the backside of the body and the spine,

Moving some circular movements down into our abdomen.

And then if it feels good,

Just totally open that shell.

Open your arms,

Open your shoulders,

Take a big breath in,

And on your exhale,

Gently let the arms fall down to the side.

Let's do that one more time.

Slowly opening up,

Releasing that shell and exhaling,

Coming down.

Sighing is like a signature Zap Chen move.

We sigh a lot to relieve pressure.

I don't know if you're like me,

But the feeling of frustration for me is like a pressure buildup.

And I'm looking for some kind of release.

And so sighing is one way that we can release our pressure gauge.

So let's practice that and also change our relationship with sighing and know that when somebody is sighing around us,

I think it has a really negative connotation,

Right?

Because we know that that person's pressure gauge is going up.

But actually allowing the people around us to sigh is allowing them to stay more in their center and to keep engaging.

Let's take some moments and just fill up the belly and let out a big sigh.

Do this for about two minutes.

So just at your own pace,

Let the diaphragm fill.

Really let it out.

Maybe even imagining a situation that could benefit from some sighs.

All right,

And then take one last sigh at whatever level feels good to you.

Just one little exercise like that might make us feel like a big shift.

Sometimes you're like,

Whoa,

I suddenly feel really tired.

And what I want to do right now is lay down and integrate that intensity of sensation.

So our biggest tool with ZAP Chen is napping.

Our brain's natural way to integrate is actually laying down and letting everything relax.

So when we're sitting up,

It takes a lot of muscles and it takes a lot of effort.

And so we just experienced something big and the body's like,

I'm yawning because I want you to lie down.

Maybe it's because you're just comfortable,

But maybe it's because you need a mini nap.

So ZAP Chen is the practice of mini naps.

When we learn something in our daily life that gives us that shift,

Like,

Whoa,

That just rocked my world.

If you really want it to sink in,

Lie down for even two minutes and that knowledge will be integrated not only in your mind,

But in your body as well.

It's a great way to become a wise person.

So we are going to yawn it out.

If you're not quite there yet,

Imagine an egg in the back of your throat and open up the back of your throat and take a chewy yawn.

It's very often,

Especially in a new environment that you won't yawn at first because what has to happen is that our brain stem has to be really relaxed and melting for us to yawn.

And if we're in fight or flight at all,

We don't have access to that yawning.

So if yawning is not coming for you,

That's okay.

You can even close your eyes and just imagine yourself doing.

So what we're actually doing with these yawns,

If we're doing them in the morning,

We're increasing serotonin.

If we're doing them in the evening,

We're increasing melatonin.

So it's a great way to wake up or go to sleep based on the biorhythms of the day.

Yawning actually promotes the circulation of natural fluids in our body.

Those aren't emotional tears.

Those are just,

Hey,

We got a lot of fluids in here and they help when they're circling around.

There's lots of people in my life that when I start talking,

They started yawning.

And I always thought,

You know,

They're bored of what I'm saying.

But actually the neuroscience says that we can connect with another person's nervous system when we're really relaxed.

So when I yawn,

And then you yawn,

That's your body saying,

I'm accepting your level of comfort and actually like the information that you're giving me.

Let's do one more tool today.

So let's do some more rubbing.

So we have the most proprioceptors on our hands and our feet as well,

Which means that's our spatial orientation.

So when we actually feel not grounded in our body,

When we rub our hands together or on something or we ground our feet down,

The physical sensation of telling our proprioceptors like this is the ground helps us feel grounded in our body as well.

You know,

We can call this self massage if you're not comfortable doing it to your own body.

You don't want to start on any surface under your hands,

Just finding a surface to rub with your hands.

So I've got like a carpet next to me,

And I'm just rubbing that surface with my hands.

You can close your eyes and let it be kind of a meditation.

If you feel comfortable to make the transition onto your body,

Then you can begin to rub your legs,

Rub your arms,

Your chest.

No part of your own body is off limits.

So if there's anywhere that feels like could use some support,

Just go for it.

Bring your hand under your armpit and then grab your other arm.

And so it's a gentle sensation of pulling down.

This is like a classic way to soothe the nervous system because we put one hand on the heart,

Which has an electromagnetic pulse.

And what we're actually doing with this other hand is like bringing that pulse calmly back into our body.

So the heart might be,

You know,

Saying something to us and actually our whole lymph system is in our armpit.

And we're saying like,

Okay,

We're going to press and soothe that and give ourselves a nice nervous system hug.

Another version of this is to put a hand on a belly and the hand on the chest.

And it's the same idea of anchor points or just anchoring where you feel a lot of sensation back into your own body.

So like the belly is giving a lot of sensation,

The heart's giving a lot of sensation.

And you're first saying like,

I hear you,

I feel your body and it's okay.

And I'm going to give some pressure to calm me down.

I mean,

This is kind of the idea behind weighted blankets as well,

Is that we're giving some pressure,

Which is really soothing and calming to the body.

I'll end with kind of a wrap up closing meditation.

So come to whatever position it's calling you.

If you'd like,

If you're ready for your nap and you want to finish lying down,

If you want to stay seated,

That is all fine.

And I'll start and end with the singing bowl.

This closing centering,

Being kind to ourselves during this time.

Nobody in the history of the world has experienced exactly this collective trauma that we are experiencing right now.

What it's doing and shaping to our minds and our bodies is different.

It's new.

And that means it's a lot to take in and to make sense of.

So giving ourselves permission to accept how hard we're all working,

Even if it's on a subconscious level and letting ourselves know we're doing a good job.

Reminding ourselves,

I'm doing a good job.

I'm working hard and I just showed up to work even harder so I can be proud of myself today.

Listening to our bodies like we would listen to the child version of ourselves.

Honoring and comforting whatever comes up and knowing that it's real and it's allowed to be.