VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

I am looking to finetune the Mindful˙PAUSE program and would like to schedule 3 free trial sessions. I will ask participants to fill in a short (anonymous) feedback questionnaire after each session.

• A session consists of a 20-30 minutes live Zoom session

• with seated, somatic exercises, to release tension en rebalance your posture

• and mindfullness relieving the nervous system and calming the mind

All you need is a chair and a quiet place.

In the survey I am asking for feedback regarding timings, but I will schedule trial sessions for noon (12pm GMT) - there will be a recording of each session.

* I’m hoping to schedule the trial sessions towards the end of November *

If you are interested, then fill in the form below. It would be great if you could also fill in this this short survey.

Mindful˙PAUSE is geared towards people working long hours behind a desk. It is a seated mindful movement program to improve posture.

It consists of 20-30 minutes of gentle seated somatic movement to release tension and mindfulness to reduce stress. Prcaticing the movement daily improves posture, and aims to prevent and reverse long-term pain. Somatic exercise uses a stretch method of pandiculation, which has three parts:

• A targeted contraction of the muscle(s); this can be gentle, but you want to really tune into the sensation

• Followed by a very slow controlled lengthening of the same muscle(s); almost as if moving in slow motion (again tuning into the sensations)

• Finishing with complete relaxation. I like to combine it with a conscious inhalation and complete exhalation as this will really emphasise the letting go feeling.

In most of the practice we also target the opposite muscles, the antagonists, in order to retrain the brain as to where the neutral body position should be. So not only do we release tension and lengthen the muscles, we regain balance in our natural posture.

As the movements are done super slow and purposeful, they will in effect be a mindfulness practice. This means that when done without distraction, it can help you relax, and help relieve stress and anxiety.

Every day there is a new short video targeting different areas of the body. It will always include and start with the spine as this is the base for good posture.

How does OUR posture get compromised?

When our posture is compromised, it is usually due to chronically tight muscles, which means the brain keeps sending a signal to tense the muscle. So why does this happen?

Say we have spent long periods of time with our shoulders raised, stressed and hunched behind a desk. Over time, the brain thinks this is our preferred state of being and as it will try and help you conserve energy, it will send a signal that the muscles lifting the shoulders should always be a little active. You now no longer actively hold your shoulders up; your brain is kindly helping you. However, this means that releasing your shoulders down, will mean you now have to actively engage the muscles lowering your shoulders. So rather than just relaxing your shoulders, as your new ‘relaxed’ state means your shoulders are raised, it will take an effort to keep your shoulders in what should be your neutral state. That’s why when we notice the tension and want to relax our shoulders, we usually only manage to keep our shoulders down for a short period of time, before they slowly creep back up again

WHY ARE SOMATIC EXERCISES so effective?

Somatics works with the concept of ‘releasing back to neutral’, rather than using the antagonistic muscle to move back.

For example, we first contract the muscles involved in lifting the shoulder, then we very slowly release and therefor lengthen these same muscles, until we get back to where we started the movement.

Then we fully relax. (sidenote: I like to insert a deep inhalation and a complete exhalation to cement this feeling of the relaxed state of the muscles. Besides, it’s also very good to take a deep conscious breath.).

We then move the shoulder the opposite way, contracting the muscles lowering the shoulder, followed again by releasing these muscles back to neutral, to allow us to feel what the neutral position of the shoulder is.

This has a number of benefits:

• we release muscle tension and improve mobility

• we learn to tune into the feeling of when muscles are contracted, and when they are relaxed, and so create awareness of when we are tensing up

• this contracting opposite muscle groups (antagonists) followed by releasing back to neutral allows the brain to be reprogrammed as to what the neutral state of a muscle is

• we are practicing mindfulness centred on the body; which according to the Buddha, “Is the path to hapiness”