Nearly two million workers in Great Britain reported suffering from work-related ill health in 2022/23. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), approximately half of these 1.8 million cases were down to stress, depression or anxiety.
Pressures may come from many sources and their combined effect is stress of body and mind. So, what happens to us when we are stressed? We go through a physiological reaction, a stress response called fight or flight. Hormones are released in the body, prompting us to stay and fight or flee from danger.
While this response is very useful in emergency situations, constantly being in the heightened state of stress means that the chemical changes associated with it which are meant for emergencies stay permanently present in our system.
An effective way to combat stress, is to activate the body’s natural release response.
The 10-minute chillout that re-balances the nervous system
To clear your head from the clutter of the day and give your mind and body a chance to rebalance itself, try this 10-minute lying down practice.
Lie on your back on a medium-firm surface with your knees bent so that your feet are drawn up as near to the body as is comfortable. Feet about shoulder width apart, knees pointing up to the ceiling. Place some paperback books under your head and let your hands rest palm down on your belly.
Spend the first five minutes quietening your mind and getting into a ‘being’ state of quietness. Give yourself time to be in a receptive state in which your mind can observe and sense your body.
After you have familiarised yourself with tuning in (not easy at first), you can then turn your attention to a more active type of thinking into your body.
Ask your neck to release by thinking of the back of the neck being soft and flexible and how your neck is being gently lengthened by your head releasing away from the shoulders.
The crown of your head releasing into the space behind you. This direction of the head will initiate a release and lengthening of the whole spine.
Without pressing allow your back to fill out onto the floor. Allow this spreading out to happen gently so try not to push your back flat.
Bring your attention to your lower back allowing it to release and soften onto the floor, your tummy muscles and buttocks softening too.
Bring awareness to your shoulders and allow them to expand outwards as they drop to the floor and release away from each other.
Let your knees point to the ceiling releasing away from your hip joints. Think of the inside of your thighs lengthening and relaxing.
While all this is happening keep being observant of the changes and that you are breathing in and out of the nose. Mouth breathing is emergency breathing and it stresses the system.
When you get up, keep noticing the difference in your mind and body as you gently begin to move again.
PS: this is fabulous for a sore back too!
You can read more detail about what I offer (including my current seasonal special offers!) at my sessions page.
Click to hear my audio guide to practising semi-supine floor work.
