Recently the Inspired English team had an online workshop. We learnt some somatic exercises that could be useful to practise in class with our students in classes.
Why?: Learning English can be stressful and many of our students come to classes for test preparation or are under a lot of pressure to develop their proficiency in English very quickly for professional purposes. Furthermore, often we are unable to be fully present in classes because of worries about the future or thoughts of the past. Body awareness exercises can help to slow things down a bit and to be more present in the moment. Alongside developing skills in writing, reading, listening, speaking and expressing oneself in English, we offer our students tools to manage their stress, anxiety, and nervousness, because these can be barriers to learning effectively.
How?: Below are a few somatic exercises that you can take a few minutes to do before a class, test or meeting. It’s good to learn them when you are not in a stressful situation, so that they are more available to you in moments of pressure.
Breathing:
When we are concentrating very hard or taking in new information, there can be a tendency to hold one’s breath and tense up. First of all ,notice your breathing. Just how it is at the moment, not to change or fix it. Where is the breath going? More into your chest area, abdomen, lower belly, or more into your back or the sides of your rib cage? Pay attention to the inhale and the exhale; focusing on the exhale because this helps one calm down and release tension in the body.
Contact with the surface you are on:
Feel your buttocks on the seat and the weight of your body on the chair and your feet on the ground. Feel the chair holding you up. This can give you a sense of being supported and can help with deeper breathing.
Another exercise you can test out is to take a few minutes to tune in to your five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. We’ll share more about working with the senses to help you become more focused and relaxed in a blog post soon! Stay tuned!
New Vocab:
1. Somatic – Relating to the body
2. Abdomen – The lower part of a person’s or animal’s body, containing the stomach, bowels and other organs.
Exercise: Try one of the exercises above. Does it make you feel more relaxed? Let us know in the comments! 🙂
If you’d like to experience our holistic, online English classes and learn to relax while speaking English, then sign up for one of our private English classes, click here for a free trial lesson! 🙂
Nice Website, Stick to the great work. Thanks a ton!