I still remember what it feels like to be in that literal fog of grief. The kind where you can’t hardly function, where even small things feel overwhelming.

That’s exactly why I chose Shake Yourself Free: 81 Somatic Practices to Let Go of Limitation for our July Better Self Book Club pick.

Because the people who need this book the most are often the ones with the least capacity to take on one more big, heavy thing. And this book meets you right there.

The short version:

• Shake Yourself Free: 81 Somatic Practices to Let Go of Limitation by Melanie Smithson is the July 2026 Better Self Book Club pick.
• It offers 81 short, body-based practices, most a half page or less, for releasing stored emotions and letting go of limitation.
• Because Melanie is a member of our WIP Society community, the book club membership is free for the month of July.

Meet Melanie Smithson

If you’ve spent any time in the WIP Community, Melanie may already feel like one of ours. Because she is.

Melanie Smithson is a licensed somatic psychotherapist, a business owner, a certified spiritual integration hypnotherapist, and the award-winning author of Stress Free in 30 Seconds and her newest book, Shake Yourself Free. She’s been a student in our courses, and she led a somatic session at our most recent Women in Publishing Summit that people are still talking about. She shows up for this community and she pours into it, which is a big part of why I wanted to put her work in front of you.

Her whole premise is something I wish I’d understood years ago. We hold our unprocessed emotions in the body, and the body has wisdom to share with us once we learn to listen to it.

As Melanie puts it, “Feelings are designed to move. The word emotion is energy in motion.”

Why this book found me

A couple of years ago, I had never even heard the word somatic. Now I think everyone should understand it.

My own road here ran through complex PTSD, anxiety, depression, and a whole lot of hard. What I learned along the way is how much movement can shift all of it. After my daughter Kathryn died, I threw myself into service and work and staying busy, and it took me a long time to realize I was doing it so that I wouldn’t feel.

And if our feelings are never moved they wait in the body.

What I love about Melanie’s approach is that she doesn’t ask you to relive everything or sit in it for hours. She reminds us that we cannot let go of who we are. We can only let go of what we’ve accumulated, the beliefs and the heaviness we picked up along the way that were never really ours to carry.

And she makes it doable. The practices in Shake Yourself Free are short, most of them half a page or less. You can pick the book up the moment a feeling hits and find something to actually do with it. It works like a guide in real time, not a textbook you have to study.

It also teaches something a lot of us were never taught. If you’ve ever had a therapist ask, “Where do you feel that in your body?” and had no idea how to answer, you are not alone. I’ve been there. Melanie walks you through how to start listening, gently, one small step at a time.

A practice you can try right now

Here is one from the book that I will be using on repeat.

Picture every single thing you’re carrying as its own spinning plate. The business. The book. Parenting. The dog. The inbox. Each one up on a stick, spinning, spinning, spinning, and you racing between them so none of them crash.

Now, in your mind’s eye, let them all fall. Let every plate drop and shatter on the floor.

Notice what happens in your body when you do. That release is the whole point. As Melanie says, where the body goes, the mind will follow.

What is the Better Self Book Club?

Every month, I take one book and really sit with it in my Better Self Book Club. I read it, I break it down, I analyze it, and I share the stories and ideas inside it and connect them to real life. So if you have time to read along with me, wonderful. And if you don’t, I’ll do the heavy lifting and bring the book to you.

July’s book is Shake Yourself Free.

I decided to do something special with this passion project of mine. When the book of the month is written by an author from our own community, I will open the membership up for free for that month. It’s just another way to celebrate our people and show them off to all of you.

Come join us

This is what better together looks like. One of our own writing a book that can genuinely help, and all of us gathering around it.

Grab your free month of the Better Self Book Club here: https://womeninpublishingsummit.com/shake

We’ll also have a Q&A with Melanie inside the club, so you can bring your questions and learn these practices straight from her.

And if you want your own copy to mark up and return to, you can find Shake Yourself Free on Amazon here.

Your wellbeing matters to us. I can’t wait to move through this one with you.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shake Yourself Free about?

Shake Yourself Free: 81 Somatic Practices to Let Go of Limitation is a book by licensed somatic psychotherapist Melanie Smithson. It offers 81 short, practical somatic exercises, most a half page or less, that help you release emotions stored in the body and let go of beliefs and limitations you have accumulated over time.

What are somatic practices?

Somatic practices are body-based techniques that use movement, breath, and physical awareness to process and release emotions. The core idea is that we hold unprocessed emotions in the body, and gentle movement helps that energy move and complete instead of staying stuck.

Who is Shake Yourself Free for?

The book is written for anyone carrying stress, grief, or overwhelm, and it is especially useful for authors and creatives who spend long hours at a desk. Melanie also designed it with therapists and coaches in mind, since the practices work well to use alongside clients.

What is the Better Self Book Club?

The Better Self Book Club is Alexa Bigwarfe’s monthly book club focused on personal growth. Each month features one book that Alexa reads, breaks down, and discusses, so you can read along or simply let her bring the key ideas to you.

How do I join the Better Self Book Club for free in July?

July’s membership is free because Melanie Smithson is a member of the WIP Society community. You can claim your free month at womeninpublishingsummit.com/shake

Where can I buy Shake Yourself Free?

You can find Shake Yourself Free by Melanie Smithson on Amazon here.

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