Pushing a Wall

What it is

You find a wall and you push it. Steady, sustained pressure through the whole body rather than a shove.

It requires no equipment, works in any building, and looks — from a distance — like someone stretching. Of the physical discharge practices in this library, it is the one you can most plausibly do at work.

What it is doing in your nervous system

Frustration and anger are mobilising states. They prepare the body to push, and in almost every situation where you feel them, pushing is not available. The energy is generated and then held.

An isometric push completes the action without any target. The muscles recruited by the impulse get to work at full effort against genuine resistance, and then the effort ends. What follows is typically a drop in muscular tone and a noticeable change in the quality of the feeling — the frustration often does not disappear, but it stops being urgent.

The resistance is important. Pushing air does not produce the same effect, because there is no feedback. Pushing something immovable produces strong proprioceptive input through the joints and deep muscles, which is the kind of signal the nervous system takes seriously.

In the Flat module the purpose changes. When someone is shut down and heavy, whole-body effort against resistance is a reliable way to find the body again — it produces unmistakable sensation without requiring the coordination, space or motivation that running or jumping demands.

This is mechanistic reasoning and clinical practice rather than trial evidence. It is safe, free and takes ninety seconds, which is a reasonable basis for trying it.

When to use it

• When you are angry and about to say something
• After a meeting that went badly, in the corridor or the stairwell
• When frustration is stuck in your arms, shoulders and jaw
• When you are flat and need effort rather than calm
• Anywhere you cannot make noise or move much
• Before going home, so it does not arrive with you

When it is not the right practice

Take care with shoulder, wrist, elbow or back injury. Keep the effort moderate if you have high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease and check with your doctor first — held isometric effort raises blood pressure during the hold. Do not hold your breath while pushing; breathe through it. And follow it with something settling, or you finish activated.

Where it sits in Soma Circuit

Level 4 of the Overwhelmed module, following grounding, and Level 5 of the Flat module alongside running on the spot and the pillow hug. Streaming audio.