Just Move

Written by Jen Shifler

In today’s fast-moving world, it’s so easy to feel emotionally scrambled. Oftentimes, it can be challenging to key in on how we are even feeling in the moment when living in such a visually stimulating world. Simply put, visuals can create a thought, and a thought can lead to an emotion and this process can continue on and on jumping from one feeling to the next without time to process what we’re truly experiencing emotionally within the body.

One of the simplest ways of getting acquainted with how you are truly feeling emotionally is to move. Just move. Move your body and don’t stop until it reveals what it needs to and keep in mind that these do not have to take place in a zen den and can be done in practical pockets of time.

Try standing tall in the middle of the room and start swinging your arms, the way you likely moved as a kid, swaying or twisting from side to side. Allow yourself to be free with it. Don’t overthink it. Let your hands flop like tentacles patting the sides of your torso and upper legs.

If you’re limited in your mobility, then move your breath, move your breath with a friend, with a pet, or with a pillow against your belly. Go for at least 12 rounds of lengthy exhales out the mouth, as if blowing out birthday candles, followed by neutral inhales through the nose. And just see what happens. Do you notice familiar emotions rising to the surface, better yet, can you place a name to it?

Take a walk with your phone on silent. This is one of the best ways to get your truest emotions to surface. Our eyes naturally look left and right as we walk which allows us to process with both the emotional brain and body. This process is called optic flow and the actions evoke the neurochemistry of courage. How incredible is this? Not sure about you, but I could definitely indulge in a little dose of courage when noting how I feel and definitely when trying to state my emotion aloud.

You can also take it to the mat. A yoga mat is not necessary but if you can find a stable, safe spot to move into some yoga postures for as little as 8 minutes you’ll be surprised at what feelings begin to surface. Make your way into a downward-facing dog, allow your hips to get above the heart, and let gravity take its course. Nod yes and no, take a gaze to the left side of the room (as your gaze is now behind you) and then gaze to the right side of the room, while inverted. Eye movements are particularly powerful because they have a direct connection to the suboccipital muscles that sit at the base of your skull. As you move your eyes you create subtle movements that help to release tight muscles in your neck which in turn can reduce tension around the first and second cervical vertebrae.

In the book Accessing The Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve, Stanley Rosenberg combines eye movements with gentle body movements that release your neck muscles. These help to increase blood flow to your vertebral artery, which supplies blood to the brainstem and vagus nerve. Thus allowing the emotional self to feel. I’m not sure where the saying was derived from but when you can name it, voice it, it feels easier to tame it.

Lastly, it’s without wonder that dance is a huge feeler-revealer. Just dance it out. Put on your favorite song or genre and just move. The body thinks through feelings and when everything is moving you're sure to eventually express what’s underlying. Just think about how often kids have the impulse to move, dance, skip, or jump, and parallel to that, they rarely hold back saying how they feel.

There’s no single best way to move, just move in the way that your body's calling you to or try something new and your emotional self will thank you.