anxiety, and undoing anxiety

we get anxious sometimes
afraid
we want to get smaller
( hide)

curl up in a ball,
clench everything together,

pull in, in,
as if returning to the fetal
curled up
place

we hunch over,
we pull our bellies in
chin down,
clench jaw

all that stuff

we stop breathing

it's not a good feeling after a
short time,

but, what is there to do?

well,
I teach a three level response to
stress/
anxiety/
fear

and let's just play here
with the body path to
transforming this:

here's the deal:

start by making it worse:

pull in tighter,
really

crunch way way in,
tighten everything you can,
hold your breath
and then go the other way,

unfurl

and
don't make the unfurling better,
though it might feel better

sense them both:
the curling in
and the opening up

and what does that mean:

here we go, a movement lesson:


Sit in a chair,
forward, so your back is not leaning back

curl forward
which means,

lower your chin toward your belly
roll your pelvis back and tuck your tailbone under you
slump your sternum

pull in your belly
tighten your jaw, your eyes, your fists,

pull your fists in tight,
toward your belly
tighten your asshole

get all crunched
in

and stay there a bit

sense this shape,
this feeling

then,
go the other way,

let your belly loose and forward
arch your back
raise your sternum

lift your head a little ( not too much)
relax your jaw and fingers

let your hands raise up over your head
let your arms widen a little
let your mouth open a bit
twist a little to the left one time, and then
after crunching again,
twist a little to the right

don't get fast

go slowly

at the most expanded,
hang out there
and sense what that is like

go back and forth through eight or ten crunches

and get more and more into feeling the transition both ways
and feeling deeply the end point

experience your breathing

enjoy the differences

enjoy the shift in your mood
cheers
Chris