Shake it off!

The morning after I watched ‘Manisphere’ I realised something needed to change in the way I was consuming information.  Since coming off all forms of social media in December I noticed I had upped my intake of news – checking a news website at least 4 or 5 times a day and consuming all I could about the current atrocities going on in the world.  Yes I engaged with positive news stories too and yet I was drawn to the gritty, the horrifying, the underbelly stuff.  And it was all taking it’s toll on my long suffering nervous system.

I have long known that I have a tendency to take on the big stuff – the global challenges – the big fat juicy existential questions AND that as a result I need to balance that with activities that counter all of this.  Cold water immersion (or just plain old sea swimming to me!!) is one of these alongside meditation, are my go tos but also a wonderfully embarrassing (for my kids) kitchen dance!!!  Shaking it off is a well known strategy for other animals – it’s instinctive… why have we lost that instinct?  Well it’s not our fault entirely in a modern world that demands our attention. 
 
What all that input is doing
So what’s actually happening in the body when we consume so much toxic ‘fast food’ information?  In simple terms, the body responds to what we take in, whether we’re directly experiencing it or not. Repeated exposure to distress, threat and uncertainty triggers the release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. The system becomes more alert, more prepared, more ready.

The difficulty is that there’s very little we can actually do with most of what we’re consuming. There’s no resolution, no completion, no natural end point. So the body stays slightly braced. Not always enough to feel totally overwhelming, but enough to shift things over time.  

What I notice – in myself and in the people I work with – is that this doesn’t always show up as obvious stress. It’s often quieter than that at first.  Maybe it's a shorter fuse.... or a restless kind of tiredness. A sense of being both wired and flat at the same time. Nothing dramatic, just cumulative & often quietly & increasingly debilitating.  

We are animals!!
This is the part that I keep coming back to…. We have to remember that we are still animals no matter how far we feel we’ve progressed!!  Our bodies were designed for a very different pace of life. Something happens, the body responds, and then… it passes. And in the animal world, what follows is simple. There is movement. Often, there is shaking. A physical release of the energy that built up.

No analysis. No pushing through. Just a reset.  Somewhere along the line, we’ve lost trust in that. We override it, distract from it, or sit on it.  Often by taking in even more information!!!! Which, when you think about it, is a bit like trying to recover from eating a massive meal by immediately eating another one... totally counter intuitive and yet we do it.  We're encouraged to do it... just in case there's a bit of a dopamine hit somewhere along the line... just in case there's an answer somewhere... just in case the next thing I see will help me make sense of it all.  

Shaking it off (yes, really)
So what can help?  Nothing particularly complicated or expensive of course!  We are sold the idea that we need spa days or an expensive gym membership or even (dare I say it) working with a coach!  The answer could be way more simple for most of us and that is simply to MOVE!  Walking, stretching, or, in my case, a slightly overcommitted kitchen dance!!! Physical movement helps the body process stress hormones and return towards balance.

And then there’s the shaking. It may sound odd, but it works. Letting the body move, even gently, can help release some of that held tension. It’s something we see across the animal world, and increasingly within therapeutic approaches too. 

Here’s why shaking can be beneficial:

• Releases Tension: Shaking helps discharge built-up muscular tension caused by stress or fear. It’s like the body’s way of “resetting” after a high-alert state.
• Regulates the Nervous System: It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms the body down after the sympathetic “fight or flight” response. This can reduce anxiety and promote relaxation.
• Processes Trauma: Therapies like Somatic Experiencing use controlled shaking or tremoring to help people release trauma stored in the body safely.
• Improves Circulation: Shaking can increase blood flow and oxygen delivery to muscles and the brain, aiding recovery from stress.
• Natural and Involuntary: Often, this shaking happens spontaneously when the body feels safe enough to let go of stress.

Just give it a go… literally shake your limbs out… and notice the difference!!

A small shift in input
The less comfortable part of this is looking at the input itself. Constant exposure to distressing information has a cost. It doesn’t mean disengaging completely, but it may mean being more intentional about how much, and how often, we take it in.  For me, it was noticing that what started as “staying informed” had become something closer to habit. A reflex to check, refresh, absorb more. Not because it was helpful, but because it was there.  With the current shock tactics being deliberately employed by those in the spotlight it is easy to get sucked in…

Stepping back, even slightly, changes the signal the body receives.  I am only going to check the news once a day for now and see what difference it makes – and I’m consciously not going to engage with anything that I don’t feel the need to be informed about.  In fact I’ll be mainly checking the sports news!!!
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A steadier place to start
None of this is about getting it right or switching off from the world. It’s about recognising that your nervous system responds to what you feed it – both in information and experience.
So perhaps the question is less about how to cope with everything that’s going on, and more about something closer to home.

• Have I moved today?
• Have I paused, even briefly to be in the here and now?
• Have I given my system a chance to settle?

And if not, maybe start there... Even if it does involve an over enthusiastic kitchen dance!