Shaking can calm you down, clear your mind and make your cells better communicators. Why does this matter? Because cells that communicate more clearly are healthier cells, and healthier cells make for a healthier and happier you.
Increasing EZ Water
Taylor Swift was seriously on to something when she told us to Shake it Off, although I doubt she was referring to water composition at a cellular level or the central nervous system’s innate way of discharging excessive tension through rapid muscle tremors. Without going too much into cell science, cells need to be negatively charged to talk to each other. Cells contain water and the best kind of water for cells is stuff called EZ water. EZ water is created in a number of ways, but one way is shaking cells. This happens through normal exercise, but you can get a double hit of benefits by doing some crazy, shaking moves.
Ever seen an animal right after they get a fright? They tend to suffer from a brief, involuntary shaking thing before they relax and go on their merry way. Voluntarily causing your body to shake can have a similar calming effect, with scientists believing that tremors turn down the central nervous system’s automated and hyper-aroused fight, flight or freeze response by creating a movement that releases the built up energy and tension held in the muscles.
Shaking has been around for years
This isn’t a new idea, parts of it are based on Qigong theories, an old Chinese practice of movement, thinking and breathing. If you search YouTube for Qigong Shaking, you’ll see that amateurs have butchered the practice to beyond recognition, so I figure we’re now at the point of “anything goes”.
For your shaking practice, stand, bend your knees slightly, keep your back straight and then just go wild. I have come to believe there really is no “wrong way” to do this, butjust think of wild dancing and you’ll be on the right track. Jumping on a mini trampoline also give similar benefits, but wouldn’t have allowed me to get a Taylor Swift reference in, and probably isn’t as fun as shaking all over.
Are you ready to shake?
A super easy way to get some movement into your muscles is to do this before you get out of bed in the morning. Think of a three-year-old throwing a temper tantrum, with arms and legs banging repeatedly against the mattress in rapid succession. You can even get some motivation for the tantrum from the thought of how much you don’t want to get out of bed just yet. (If you don’t sleep alone, it’s probably best to give your partner some warning before going into full toddler-tantrum mode.)
