During the 2020 Coronavirus lockdown many of us felt that being isolated in our homes would be detrimental to our mental and physical health. Human beings are designed to move and to interact with our environments. Long periods of isolation and a lack of stimulation can lead to boredom and a build up of internal stress. Animals and human beings have an innate ability to release stress and tension that is stored in the body but it seems that we human beings have forgotten how to do it. Fortunately there is a simple and effective way to release that is accessible to everyone - Tension and Trauma Release Exercise.
What is Stress?
Technically speaking, stress is an external factor that affects us in a certain way. It can be mental, physical or emotional. How we deal with stress will dictate how it affects us. Ultimately stress will cause varying degrees of internal tension in the body and mind.
Where do we hold stress in the body?
Although stress is fairly intangible as it's a name given to broad range of external factors, once we feel the tension in the body and mind it can become a very tangible thing. We are energetic beings and when we aren't able to release our tension it will crystalize or solidify in the body and become stuck. Different people will hold tension in different places in the body; for example some will hold tension in their jaw, others in their neck or lower back and others in their pelvis. This tension could be felt physically as "knots" in the muscle. If you've ever had a deep tissue massage, you'll know what I mean when I say that having some knots released feels wonderful. Well, now imagine having strong emotional energy embedded within those knot.
The Psoas Muscle
One of the most common places that we store tension and emotional trauma is in the psoas muscle. The psoas runs from the lower back to the bottom of the pelvis. Also known as the "trauma muscle" because when the body or mind moves to a state of high stress, the psoas muscle will tighten and become shorter in a physiological response of self protection. This shortening of the psoas can become chronic and unless it's stretched and released on a regular basis can cause long term emotional and psychological issues. Tension and Trauma Release Exercise targets the psoas muscle primarily.
What is Tension and Trauma Release Exercise?
Tension and Trauma Release Exercise is a series of stretches and movements that trigger an involuntary shaking response from the pelvic area. This tremorring will gently release the stress that is stored in the body and help to release the trauma stored in the psoas muscle. By stretching and tensioning certain muscles we can tap into our body's natural stress relief mechanism
Trauma Release in Nature
Animals use shaking instinctively to shake off their trauma. An example would be a gazelle or impala being chased by a lion in the wild. If the prey animal survives the chase it will drop to the ground and shake violently for a period of time and then get up and run off as if nothing's happened. This animal has done it's own Tension and Trauma Release Exercise.
Here's a link to a video showing an example of this with an impala. Here's another video with an example of a polar bear shaking off it's "survival activation".
What does Tension and Trauma Release Exercise Entail?
Tension and Trauma Release Exercise begins with some gentle stretching of the different parts of the legs and then moves on to some deeper stretching and some tensioning exercises to fatigue the muscles in the legs. It's this fatiguing that creates the shaking. Those of you that exercise in the gym and lift weights will know exactly what I'm referring to here - imagine doing 3 hard sets of weighted squats. By the end of the 3rd set your legs will be shaky. It doesn't have to be a heavy squat though, really anybody who's ever done some kind of strenuous exercise to the point of muscle fatigue will be able to relate. When the muscles are fatigued enough they will begin to shake. Tension and Trauma Release Exercise uses this muscle shaking to mimic the shaking that animals use to release their trauma. By getting the right muscles to shake we can tap into this innate ability.
What Does The Shaking Feel Like?
Once the stretching and tensioning exercises are done there is one final floor position that is adopted and this lying position with the knees bent is where the remainder of the session will take place. From here the pelvic shaking will just naturally happen and this position can be held for as long as is desired, although 20-30 mins is sufficient. The shaking itself feels very nice and one can lie back and just relax and observe the shaking without needing to do anything. For most people the shaking is just great way to "let go" and allow a deep relaxation to take place. For some it can bring up emotions or memories. These are not to be feared and can be just allowed to come up as they are going to be released. If at any time one feels uncomfortable and wants the process to end, the exercise can be stopped immediately by simply flattening the bend in the knees and letting the legs lay relaxed.
Tension and Trauma Release Exercise
Combining Rapéh with Tension and Trauma Release Exercise
We discovered that using Rapéh tobacco snuff before a releasing session can really help to access the deeper layers of tension within the body. It helps to open the body and mind and create the right state to allow one to really let go. Rapéh is very grounding and calming also so it's the perfect appetizer before the main course.
How Can I Do This For Myself?
We run free live online workshops where you can join in and learn this technique for yourself. Each group workshop will start with a Rapéh meditation followed by the release exercises. You will be guided through the whole process and have plenty of time to ask questions and to interact with me and with the other participants.
To see the webinar schedule and book your place on the next one, just click the link below -
If you'd like to claim your FREE Rapéh sample and Tomahawk pipe then click the link below -
Lastly, a big thank you for taking the time to read this detailed step-by-step guide, I hope you've found it useful & it mitigates any of the 'rookie' mistakes I see most people make the first time they try to self-apply Rapeh. I'll be updating the blog weekly so tune next week for more tips, tricks & bio-hacks to help take the edge off your temporary lockdown.
Peace & love
Jon
Founder, Planet Kambo Ltd.
jon@planetkambo.com
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