Somatic Stress Release: Three Gentle Exercises 1. Knees bent, gentle hip lift and drop On your back, knees bent, feet on the floor. You slowly raise your hips a few inches and let them drop back down. Not a thrust. Not a bridge. Just a soft lift and a surrender back to gravity. This creates a passive lengthening and a rebound through the psoas, sending a clear signal to the nervous system that it can discharge without effort. The drop is the important part. That’s where the letting go happens. Do it for one minute and resist the urge to “do” anything more. 2. Legs flat, gentle side-to-side jiggle Still on your back, legs long and relaxed. You softly jiggle the legs side to side, letting the movement ripple up through the hips and into the low spine. This oscillation interrupts holding patterns and invites involuntary release. Think soothing, not shaking. This is vagal tone work as much as it is muscular. The psoas begins to soften when it senses rhythm without demand. One minute is enough if you’re actually letting the legs be loose. 3. Legs straight, tapping the big toes together On your back, legs straight, you gently tap the big toes together and apart. Small movement. Almost boring. That subtle midline activation engages the deep hip flexors without triggering defense. It brings the nervous system into coherence and encourages bilateral release through the psoas. People often feel warmth, tingling, or a deep exhale here. Again, one minute. No strain. Done daily, these work because they retrain the baseline. You’re teaching the psoas that release is safe and familiar. Over time, the muscle stops gripping preemptively. The nervous system spends less energy on background vigilance. Breath deepens, sleep improves, emotional reactivity drops. These exercises are a form of Somatic Stress Release (often associated with TRE or "Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises") specifically designed to target the psoas muscle and the autonomic nervous system. While traditional stretching tries to "pull" a muscle long, these movements use oscillation and micro-movements to convince the brain that the muscle can safely stop "guarding."

This is some deep work we are doing! A BIG ((HUG)) to Everyone who is here doing the work to create change in their lives.