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1. Step one is noticing. Create moments of pause when uncomfortable, niggly behaviours or thoughts pop up, giving yourself the space to change gears with heightened consciousness.
2. Practice noticing patterns of feeling and sensation in the body, then adjust accordingly. Relax your shoulders, breathe intentionally. Unfurl. We hold the imprints of our experiences in our bodies and mirror these through our body language. Something as simple as standing tall, pulling your shoulders back, or uncrossing your arms and letting them hang loose, can communicate to your physical self that you are safe and no longer need to maintain these protective mechanisms.
3. Bring attention to, and soften, those spots that often go unnoticed: between the brows, the back of the throat and neck, your fingers and toes, the back of your hands.
4. Experiment with changing your body’s state during times of increased stress. Move energetically to elevate your heart rate. Sauna or cold plunge to raise or lower your temperature. Dance with wild abandon or shake out your limbs to relieve tension, release stress hormones, and restore the nervous system to a state of equilibrium.
5. We so often return to the familiar, even when it is no longer supportive. Spend one day chasing pure joy, doing all those things you haven’t yet managed to find time for, but have always wanted to try. If time is tight, try introducing one new action daily — a new walk, exercise class, recipe, or morning beverage. We grow through change, and by stepping beyond our comfort zones.
6. Harness the power of your breath. Breathing is the single autonomic function that we have control over, allowing us to move our nervous system into a calmer place when we feel tense or emotional. Just 5-10 minutes of conscious breathing can be transformative. We love Kasia Murfet, whose breathwork, meditation and Qigong practices feel softly transformative. Open have an excellent app for easy-access to a portfolio of exercises, while MJ Renshaw’s Being Portal offers expansive breathwork for everything from improved sleep to grief and pregnancy
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