10 Minute Boxing Day Decompression Somatic Exercises to Release Holiday Stress & Reset Your Nervous System

Welcome to the calming anxiety podcast and today a 10 minute boxing day decompression.

So find your quiet place maybe on the floor or a sturdy chair. Sit comfortably or lie flat on your back. Close your eyes. The buildup is over. The day is done.

The adrenaline that got you through the cooking, the wrapping and the socializing has left the building. What is left behind is the residue. Don't try to relax just yet. Simply notice the tension.

Scan your body to locate your armour, your protection. Is your jaw clenched? Is your tongue pressed to the roof of your mouth? Are your shoulders acting as earrings?

Without changing your position, see if you can drop your physical effort by just 10%. The gravity in the room, get a little stronger. Allow the muscles to unwind. Your shoulders to drop.

Your brow to become smooth. Now stand up if you can, if not sit on the edge of your chair. We cannot think our way out of a stressed body. We have to move our way out.

Start with your hands at your sides. Flick them as if you are trying to flick water off your fingertips. Fast and loose. Allow that vibration to travel up your arms to your shoulders.

Let your shoulders up and down. Not a controlled shrug, but a loose, heavy bounce. Now stand on your tiptoes and drop your heels hard onto the floor. Thud!

Do this 10 times. The shock wave travel up your spine. Do this again, onto your tiptoes and that feel that movement flow through your spine.

Keep going, onto your tiptoes and drop feeling your body resonate.

Become aware of that shock wave flowing through every fiber of your being.

Now for the next 60 seconds, just shake gently, shake your hips, shake your head gently too, shake one leg and then the other. It should feel chaotic. You are physically dislodging the static. Shake your arms again and feel the movement, the movement, the sensations.

Roll your shoulders once more and then your head. And then go back to rising up on your tiptoes and drop.

Now return to the floor or your chair. Now we teach the muscles the difference between on and off. Breathe in deeply and as you hold the breath, squeeze every single muscle in your body.

Curl your toes, make fists, squeeze your glutes, scrunch your face up tightly.

Breathe until you vibrate, hold for five, four, three, two, one.

Exhale with a loud, audible sigh and go completely limp. Do not control the landing, let your limbs fall where they are. Now repeat this two more times. Each release should feel heavier than the last.

Inhale deeply and then hold and squeeze. Making those fists, curling those toes, squeezing your buttocks, scrunching up your face ever so tightly and then hold five, four, three, two, one.

Breathe out and sigh and unwind and just fall. Fifting deeper and deeper and winding more and more and one more time.

Breathe in, hold, scrunch and tighten, tighten and tighten five, four, three, two, one.

Relax, heavier and heavier, drifting further and further down, unwind and relax.

Now lying flat on your back if you can, legs extended, arms wide. There is nothing left to organize. There is no one left to serve. You are simply a heavy object on the earth.

Imagine your body is made of lead. Feel the back of your head sinking into the floor. Feel the heels, boring a hole in the carpet. Inhale through your nose for a count of four, three, two, one.

Exhale through your mouth for a count of eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

The long, slow out breaths, signal safety to your brain, to your consciousness.

Notice the space between your ears and shoulders now. Notice the space between your eyebrows. Stay here in the quiet buzz of a body that is finally being given permission to stop.

And in this intimate connection of mind, body and soul, expand your awareness once more and simply tune in to the hypnotic rhythm of the rise and fall of every breath.

That feeling of peace, of clarity of thought, relax.

And as we draw to a close, gently wiggle your fingers and toes. Take a deep mindful breath in and as you exhale, stretch out the muscles in your arms and legs. And gently open your eyes. Thank you for joining me today on our shared journey of self-empowerment and improvement.

Have a lovely day, my friend. Open your mind to your true potential. If you're new, as everyone asks on our podcast, please do subscribe. Hit that notification and maybe in the coming year, make mindfulness part of your daily routine and feel free to share this on your social media.

It helps this channel stay on the air and just makes me happy. Take care, smile often. Let's reconnect tomorrow and as always, be kind.