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Shaking meditation is an active technique which effectively releases the accumulated tension in your body allowing it to enter a state of relaxation. Here’s how you can shake away your stress . . .

The first thing you will need is some music which gets you shaking. Osho produces a Shaking Meditation CD, however you can find anything that will get you actively moving. If desired,  listen to the sampler and locate music with a similar instrumental beat. Next, find a safe place to shake away your stress. Since you will be moving about, you’ll need to locate a setting where you won’t inadvertently knock something over, or bump into something while you shake.

Now you’re ready to relieve that stress.

Step 1: Start Shaking! Shake your arms, your wrists, your fingers, your legs, your gluts and anything else you can get moving. You’ll want to put your entire muscle strength into the process. Vigorously shake your entire body for a total of 15 minutes.

Step 2: Slow it down.Now that you’ve just shaken your body, you’re heart rate will be elevated and it’s time to bring it down into a healthier range. Put on some music that you like to groove to and twirl, dance, move about. This isn’t designed to be a vigorous activity, so you’ll want to select music that is somewhere in-between making you want to jump and shout, or fall asleep. Gently move for another 10-15 minutes.

Step 3: Lie down and relax. Let your body rest while lying on your back. Close your eyes and practice deep diaphragmatic breathing. This is the time to allow your body to take in the feeling of calm. There is no time limit to this part of the exercise. Just be in the moment and enjoy the state if relaxation brought on by movement.

This mediation may also be done with your friends, spouse or partner. However, I often recommend that you close your eyes while engaging in a shaking meditation as it can look or feel really silly (for some of us). 

Gives new meaning to the phrase, “shake, rattle and roll.”

Relaxation therapies have received increasing attention by researchers in recent years. Autogenic visualization was developed by german psychiatrist Johannes Schultz in 1932. Autogenic training is a natural technique which has been shown to have positive health benefits in those suffering from a variety of conditions including tension headaches, back pain, menopause, bulimia nervosa, stress and anxiety. Psychologists promoting the use of autogenic training suggest that it increases the neurosteroid hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which may lead to improved mood and relief from depression (Wolkowitz, Reus, and Keebler, 1999; Schmidt, Daly, Bloch, et al., 2005), reduce fatigue and improve overall quality of life.

Autogenics involves getting into a comfortable position while performing a series of visualizations which assist the body in creating a state of heaviness and warmth thereby inducing relaxation. Sessions last aproximately 15 minutes and should be practiced frequently in order to master the technique.

An autogenic session is typically started with a series of breathing exercises. It is then followed by a series of visualizations:

• Heaviness (of each arm, both arms, each leg, both legs, both arms and legs)
  • My right arm is feeling heavy (repeat 6 times)
  • My right arm is getting heavier (repeat 6 times)
  • My right arm is heavy (repeat 6 times)
  • I feel calm
• Warmth (of each arm, both arms, each leg, both legs, both arms and legs)
  • My right arm is feeling warm (repeat 6 times)
  • My right arm is getting warmer (repeat 6 times)
  • My right arm is warm (repeat 6 times)
  • I feel calm

Eventually the participant incorporates warming and calming the heart, breathing, and seeing the stomach as soft and warm. A session eventually ends with visualizing the forehead as becoming cool and calm. As each step is mastered, the phases of autogenics become automatic and the participant is able to experience an increased feeling of relaxation.

While autogenics is simple and easy to learn, true mastery comes with daily practice.

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References:

Wolkowitz, OM., Reus, VI., Keebler, A. et al (1999). “Double-blind treatment of major depression with dehydroepiandrosterone”. The American journal of psychiatry 156 (4): 646-9. PMID 10200751.

Schmidt, PJ., Daly, RC., Bloch, M., et al (2005). “Dehydroepiandrosterone monotherapy in midlife-onset major and minor depression”. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 62 (2): 154-62. DOI:10.1001/archpsyc.62.2.154. PMID 15699292.