Somatic Rebalancing Exercise

This is a somatic exercise to rebalance the left and right side of the body; it can also be used to bring us out of either type of emotional shock, including panic attacks and other overwhelming emotional states: This was introduced to me several years ago, by Johanna Vanderpol, author of Honouring Your Emotions: Why It Matters.

Sitting on a chair, move your sit bones towards the front of the chair so that both the soles of your feet can plant firmly onto the ground. Place them parallel to each other and about hip-width apart (as shown above).

Now adjust your spine so that you feel the weight of your torso falling through your sit-bones, and apply a gentle pressure through the soles of your feet into the floor. You might imagine little suction cups on ball and heel of each foot.

To begin, lift the heel of one foot and the toes of the other foot, off the floor.

Feel the gentle pressure through the ball and opposite heel of your feet into the floor as you slowly roll through the soles of both feet, in opposite directions at the same time. Arrive at the opposite heel and ball; maintain/reconnect the gentle pressure and slowly roll back to the other ball and heel.

Repeat this action continuously now, rolling ‘back and forth’ through the heels and balls of the feet, Find your own speed and make sure you are breathing steadily as you do this (not holding the breath).

This can be done anywhere you are sitting down, and once you get comfortable with it, no one will know what you are doing–wink 🙂