Letting go of unconsious bodily patterns of holding and gripping

"We hold so much" as my mentor Paula Lynch often says. It's true; unfortunately very few of us are completely tension free. Emotional stress has a way of planting itself in our bodies. Just take a moment right now to scan your body as you're either sitting, laying or standing up while reading this. Chances are that you can probably feel yourself holding or gripping somewhere in your body right now. (If not, great for you:)
This gripping is often unconscious and won't necessarily change over night unless we become mindful of it.

So what to do? Simply allow yourself to check in on your body several times during the day. Close your eyes, let go of whatever you were doing and take a couple of minutes to BREATHE.
Smooth and deep inhalations and exhalations through your nose. For the first while simple pay attention to your breath. If you find that your mind wanders, if you become restless and start thinking about a thousand other things (which is completely normal; our minds wander, that's 'what the mind likes to do' as my teacher Jenny Aurthur would say) simply try to bring your attention back to your breath. You can tap in to this moment of breathing and letting go anywhere and anytime. In your office, on the subway, while walking, standing in line at the post office...
Now, after you've payed attention to your breath for a while, see if you can try sending your breath to the places in your body where you feel the tension. It might be your neck, shoulders, maybe the place in between your eyebrows. Imagine that you're creating space and softness in the tense areas on your INHALATION, and that you're letting go on the EHALATIONS. Inhale a soft space, exhale let go. And repeat this for about 15-20 breath cycles. Or longer.

See if you can become mindful of how you hold your body throughout the day. Do you always sway your hips to one side while standing? Do you always carry around your bag on your left shoulder? How do you sit while watching TV, being on the computer? Do you clench your jaws while being angry or stressed?
Tension build-ups in our bodies happen as we walk through life and these bodily patterns are often unconscious, so for them to change it might take a while, but don't be discouraged; by becoming more mindful and changing old habitual patterns, our holding and gripping will most likely diminish with time.

So try carrying your bag on the right shoulder, try standing up tall with an erect spine while waiting in line. If you find yourself clenching your jaws; relax them instead and let your tongue relax by letting it lay in the pit pf your mouth.

Even if you don't practice a full yoga sequence (or if you're not even into yoga), see if you can make time for a 5-10 min SAVANSANA (corps pose) sometimes during your day or night.This pose encourages the relaxation response. If this doesn't tell you anything check out; http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/482
for a description of the pose.

To quote Mr Iyengar on Savasana in his book  Light on Yoga;

"To tame Prana depends upon the nerves. Steady, smooth, fine and deep breathing without any jerking movements of the body soothes the nerves and calms the mind. The stresses of modern civilisation are a strain on the nerves for which Savasana is the best antidote."

I will post a lovely and relaxing RESTORATIVE yoga sequence later this week, together with some simple breathing and meditation techniques.