Shut Up and Shake: A Shaking Meditation to Release Anger and Stress

The guy in front of you cut you off in traffic? Your brand new phone just dropped into the sea? Shut up and shake!

Why shaking meditation works

Any emotion that rises inside us wants expression, and expression means movement. Feelings are energy in motion, hence e-motion, and they want to move through us. Many of us were taught to suppress the feelings we class as bad or painful. But there are no good or bad emotions. They are either expressed or suppressed.

It is often not the feeling that hurts. It is the resistance to the feeling that makes it toxic and unbearable. When life gets rough we tell ourselves we are fine and press the energy back down into the belly, where it circles like a lost ship at sea.

What is the “Shut Up and Shake” practice?

Most people only have coping mechanisms for the low points of life. Dara and Simon have found many practices that transform dense energy into higher states of consciousness: yoga, meditation and breathwork, to name a few. One of our favourites is Shut Up and Shake, a practice designed to release hot, fiery energy like anger, and to shake off any leftover feelings lurking in our cells.

Once you move the feelings that want to move, the solution to your problem can emerge. As long as energy is held captive in the body, the pipe of new possibilities is blocked. As Einstein is often quoted: “A problem cannot be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

How to do it

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and soften your knees.
2. Start shaking your hands, then arms, shoulders, hips and legs.
3. Let the shaking grow. Add sound if you want to.
4. Keep going for 5 to 45 minutes, then stand still and feel what has changed.

Watch how this specific shaking practice is done:

https://youtu.be/IOPedYq9j44

And if you want to see how sweaty and blissed out you look after a 45-minute shake on the beach (it’s not a cocktail), press play:

https://youtu.be/CqtG-4FAqWk

Here is the music we used to dance and shake to. It is uplifting and worth having on your phone.

Movement and breath are part of every NAKED retreat. Explore NAKED The Retreat or join a community event.