Did 2024 feel like a Storm 😩?

As 2024 ends, I’ve been reflecting on the year and having lots of conversations with clients, friends, and family. One recurring theme is clear —it seems we agree this year has been a tough one, full of challenges and plenty of ups and downs to navigate.

Recently, I had a particularly stressful moment when my 16-year-old son, who lives in Florida for basketball school, faced a Category 5 hurricane, the highest category on the scale. His school began evacuating the dorms, and he asked to come home.

At 6:30 pm his time, I scrambled to find him a flight before the airports shut down. After hours of searching, my travel agent found a flight leaving at 10 pm, starting a 48-hour journey with three connections to get him home.

For two days, I was in Mama Bear mode and checked in constantly, even during the night, to ensure he was safe and hadn’t missed any connections.

By the end, my shoulders felt like rocks, and even after he was home, I couldn’t shake the exhaustion or get my sleep back to normal.

I’ve seen it time and time again—life as a human is truly full of contrasts.

We experience moments of joy, connection, intimacy, and emotions that touch and nourish our souls.

But we also face stress, like a storm.

Storms can bring anxiety, feeling ungrounded, overwhelmed, tense, drained, and many other emotions and impacts.

I truly believe we’re designed to handle all these parts of life—it just helps to understand the how and why.

We may not choose to experience stress, but it’s something we all face.

As an empath and a highly sensitive person, stress often feels like it gets stuck in my body. Over time I have found different ways to release it, but it often takes a while to clear. Even after the stressful moment passes, the effects tend to linger.

Recently, I read a book called Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski, and it gave me such a clear explanation of stress—why it gets stuck in the body and why it doesn’t just go away on its own.

Naturally I wanted to share it with you, hoping it might help you too.

The authors explain an important distinction between stress and stressors.

Stress is your body’s natural response to perceived threats, whether they’re real or imagined. It’s part of our ancient survival system - the sympathetic nervous system - designed to keep us alive.

Imagine being chased by a tiger: your brain floods your body with stress hormones, your heart starts racing, your muscles tense, blood rushes to your arms and legs, and your senses sharpen—all to help you survive and escape.

Stressors can be anything you see, hear, smell, touch, taste, or imagine could do you harm or anything your body interprets as a potential threat. Stressors trigger your stress response.  

External stressors might be work deadlines, family demands, or cultural expectations.

Internal stressors are more personal, like self-doubt, body image struggles, or worrying about the future. Whether the threat is real or not, your body reacts as though it’s life-or-death.

But here’s the thing, even when the stressor goes away - like when my son was safely back home - your body doesn’t automatically release the stress. Those stress hormones are still flowing through your system, waiting for a signal that it’s safe to relax.

Without that signal, the stress lingers, affecting every organ system in your body and ultimately impacting your health and wellbeing.

The authors point out that in today’s busy world, the stress itself can harm you more than the stressors ever could.  That is unless you do something to complete the stress response cycle. While you’re dealing with the stressors of your day, your body is dealing with the stress, and it needs your help to process it.

Completing the stress cycle is as essential to your wellbeing as eating and sleeping. It’s not just a nice-to-have—it’s a must for your overall health.

Moving your body is the most effective way to close the stress cycle. Other tools include breathing, positive social interactions, laughter, crying, affection, and creative expression.

A few years ago, I discovered a practice that intrigued me, though I didn’t fully grasp its impact on stress at the time.  Now I see how deeply it supports us and helps close the stress cycle and release trauma in our bodies. It’s become clear to me how essential it is for my wellbeing and restoring balance after stressful experiences. This practice feels like such a beautiful way to close the stress cycle.

It’s called Shaking Medicine, one of the oldest healing practices. This ancient practice allows your body to naturally shake or tremor, releasing stored tension, stress and trauma while helping you reconnect with yourself and restore balance.

Just like animals instinctively shake off stress after facing danger, we can use this same natural mechanism to reset our nervous systems. It’s especially beneficial for chronic stress, as it helps your body fully relax, let go, and feel more grounded and at ease.

I get it—shaking might sound a little “out there,” but it’s actually been used by cultures all over the world for centuries. It’s about releasing, stepping out of your head and into your heart, and tuning into what your body truly needs. From traditional African dance and Indigenous healing ceremonies to ecstatic movement in spiritual practices, shaking has always been a trusted way to let go of tension and find balance again.

You can find out more about Shaking Medicine here.

I’ve seen this in my own life too. During an osteo appointment, they gently shook my body to ease my rock-hard shoulders. Even my dog instinctively shakes after a stressful vet visit—it’s her way of letting go of the tension.

It’s fascinating how such a simple, natural movement can help the body heal.

The ability to shake and release is deeply embedded in our nervous system.  Over millions of years, this mechanism has evolved as a way to recover from fight-or-flight stress responses.

The beauty of Shaking Medicine is that it doesn’t require learning something new—it’s already within us.

It’s about remembering and allowing this innate process to restore balance and release what no longer serves us.

After years of practice, I’m proud to be a certified teacher of Shaking Medicine. Having experienced its incredible benefits firsthand, I’m passionate about sharing this powerful practice with others.

I’m offering a limited number of complimentary Shaking Medicine sessions, available either in person or on Zoom.

If 2024 felt like a tough year and you’re ready to step into 2025 feeling more balanced, why not try a Shaking Medicine class with me?

It’s a powerful and therapeutic way to release stress, restore balance, and welcome the new year with renewed energy.

Please contact me on text or Whatsapp +61417586579 or rochelle@rochellegance.com

Happy 2025! Here’s to a wonderful year ahead! 🎉

I invite you to be curious …

What tools or practices have you used to actively release stress in the past?
Did they work for you?

• What signals does your body give you when stress is stuck?

• Are you curious about how simple movements could help you feel more grounded and at ease?

And most importantly: What feels good for you to close your stress cycle?