This video shows me talking about and demonstrating some of my favorite stims. My spouse Ming and I were at a beautiful wetlands in California, on a long roadtrip. In the video I explain how everyone stims, it’s valid, and it doesn’t have to be a problem or something to be ashamed of.
There are wrist / hand stims, arm and leg stims, swaying, rocking, movements like ecstatic dance, and vocal stims. Sometimes I think laughter is a stim. It expresses emotion, relieves pressure, and can communicate.
emotions
I hope you’re getting the movement you need. Please feel empowered to move how your body asks for. Moving your body more might relieve anxiety or sadness. Sort like like qigong, stimming is a form of movement that helps me move emotions through my body so they don’t get stuck.
There’s a branch of therapy called somatic therapy. I don’t know much about it. But I’m guessing that stimming is a way I do somatic therapy diy.
Letting myself move has changed my life in a wonderful way. For around the first 40 years of my time as Laura-Marie, I barely let myself move. I’d been shamed for stimming as a child and told, “Act normal!” I internalized that, and the constant stillness was stressing me out.
Now I understand that my body is ok to move. The sensory and social differences I experience are valid and rather normal. Autism is ok. Freedom is important.
health
Stimming is a way to do health and radical mental health. These stims could be fun for you to try, if you need new ways to move, comfort yourself, blow off stream, enjoy embodiment, stretch, feel pleasure, ground yourself, or see how your physiology works. It’s ok to be seen and be who we are.
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