Resiliency Training – Lesson 5, Movement
August 16, 2022
Welcome back to Resiliency Training - Lesson 5
We’re on week 5 of Resiliency Training! Are you feeling better about having power and control over your own nervous system? Have you experienced the freedom that comes with taking action when you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed?
Now that we’ve had four weeks of practice calming our nervous systems, have you started to notice some of the longer-term benefits of putting these tools into practice:
- a reduced base-line level of stress and overwhelm +
- a reduction in the time it takes for you to recover from a triggering event
Recap of what we've learned so far...
We have learned 4 easy, but effective ways to help us use our bodies to calm our nervous system. If you haven’t tried any of the methods we’ve covered yet, I encourage you to check out one that calls you now and read on for Lesson #5, movement!
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Don’t forget why we’re doing this!
These practices are so fun and enjoyable it’s easy to lose track of the fact that we’re building real, tangible, effective leadership capacities. Calming our nervous systems helps us show up as a resilient, resourced leader.
The stress and overwhelm that comes with leading can easily lead to an overactive nervous system – this is the cause of our lack of clarity and focus, impatience, tension in our body and a perceived separateness from others (me vs. them mentality) – disconnecting you from your team and others you’re trying to work with or directly impact.
Practicing Resiliency Training methods helps us not only make better decisions, in line with what matters most to us, it also helps us feel clear and focused, grounded and steady, and open and connected with others. Different calming methods work better for different people, so here’s another doorway in to calm that hijacked nervous system…
Movement is medicine
Stress and overwhelm are not only emotional states, they live in our bodies as sensations. The tension in your neck, the pressure in your head, the tightness in your gut…yup, that is the physical sign of stress and overwhelm you’re literally holding onto unintentionally.
Movement is an easy, effective way to release that stress and overwhelm – and can help break the cycle of some run-away anxiety!
Almost any movement will do – a walk, something active like a workout, yoga or gardening, even a brief stretch. However, there are a few more specific movements that can help target a nervous system reset when times are tough.
I’d love to share two of my favorites with you!
Resiliency Training #5 - get ready to MOVE!
MOVEMENT - Crossover March
This nervous-system calming move also gets the blood flowing a bit and gives you a boost in clarity and energy with its cross-over pattern. It’s a simple high-knee march with a hand tap on the opposite knee. This is typically done standing. However, if sitting is more comfortable it works just fine that way too. I like this one because…
- it's a mini-break that everyone can find time for; and
- you can stand up right at your desk and reap the benefits in 1 -3 minutes before or after a stressful meeting or interaction
Take a look at the video for guidance or follow the written instructions below:
Instructions:
- Step 1: Stand with your feet hip width apart and begin to march raising your knees as high as is comfortable.
- Step 2: As you raise your left knee, bring your right hand across your body and tap your left knee. As you raise your right knee, bring your left hand across your body and tap your right knee.
- Step 3: Repeat these movements, marching in place for 1 - 3 minutes.
Try it out. How do you feel afterwards?
MOVEMENT - Rubbing your ears
Ok, ok, I know rubbing your ears sounds a little odd, but hang in here with me and try out this power-tool calming move! And when I say movement, sometimes less is more. I want to provide you with some tools that can help you when you can’t step away for a jog or even a crossover march.
Your vagus nerve is the main nerve that makes up your parasympathetic nervous system – the system that relates to a resilient state – one that helps you make your best decisions and increases your ability to connect with those you’re trying to influence.
It just so happens that the vagus nerve travels just in front of and behind your ears (among many other places – it’s also called ‘the wandering nerve’ because it runs from the head down to the abdomen) So, in a stressful moment, rubbing your ears it is!
Gentle and repeated massaging of the skin around the ears stimulates the vagus nerve and can help combat stress, anxiety and overwhelm in short order. And my favorite is…you can do this calm-down move during a meeting and others’ are none the wiser!
Long-term practice is where you’ll find this move is most helpful. Each time you practice this vagus nerve massage you’re training your body how to respond to stressful events. So when you repeat the move for the 20th time, you’re body will be like, ‘I see, there is no tiger here, I am safe, this means I can relax now,’ and it will deactivate your fight/flight/freeze stress response.
Take a look at the video to learn how or follow the written instructions below:
Instructions:
- Step 1: Make a peace sign (or V) with your index finger and middle finger.
- Step 2: Using the fingertips of these two fingers, place one in front of your ear and one behind, making the ear in the middle of the V you just made with your fingers.
- Step 3: Massage gently, up and down and around in little circles until you feel a release (like a sign or deep breath).
Don’t be shy, give it a try and see how you feel afterwards!
Move your body to release tension and stress from the body and clear the brain!
I currently have 2 openings for new coaching clients & 1 opening for strategy clients – Learn More or Let’s Talk!
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Mention promo code, F&FLAUNCH50. Offer through September 14, 2022.
Don't take my word for it!
Experiment! Resiliency Training is all about what works best for you. Test one of these out and see what happens. Let me know how it goes. I love hearing from you – the good, the bad and the ugly – we’re in this together!
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Wishing you freedom, growth & joy,
what clients are saying
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Land acknowledgement: I live on traditional, ancestral & contemporary lands of the Dakota people near Bdote, the confluence of the Minnesota & Mississippi Rivers.
