Inner Anchor: Cultivating Internal Safety through Somatic Practice

Welcome back, beautiful soul! ✨

I work with individuals who want to cultivate self-trust—kind-hearted, soulful, creative, and ambitious people who want to trust their decisions, their intuition, and call forward their courage to act on the desires they’re holding deep in their heart.

I conceptualize individuals (myself included) through a three-pronged lens: spirituality (that you are a soul incarnated in a human body who is here to have a human experience that is your soul’s unique curriculum), somatics (that you have a complex, nuanced, and simple nervous system that has been impacted in a particular way by your life experiences), and systemic theory (that you are a in relationship with yourself, other people, and the many systems you are in and a part of).

So, when it comes to the conversation of self-trust, the one I long to have is an in-depth and nuanced one. However, in respect for your time, I want to hone in on one lens today: the connection between self-trust and your nervous system.

Cultivating Internal Safety through Anchoring

In order to cultivate self-trust, we need to feel some sense of internal safety. In a relationship, if you don’t feel safe, you won’t be able to fully trust. By working with your nervous system through a practice called anchoring, you can cultivate a felt sense of security and safety in your body and, therefore, begin to cultivate deeper trust with yourself.

What is an Inner Anchor?

In somatics, anchoring or cultivating an inner anchor is the practice of cultivating a felt sense of safety and security within your body—especially during times of stress, overwhelm, or emotional activation. It is a wonderful way to begin somatic work, as it is gentle and can begin to train your nervous system to function from less of an activated place and more of a regulated place.

An inner anchor is a place within yourself and a practice you can turn to in any moment you’re feeling dysregulated or activated. An inner anchor helps regulate your nervous system, moving you closer to a state of embodied presence where healing, creativity, and connection are possible.

When working with clients who have experienced major traumas, I often guide clients to find their anchor before going deeper. An anchor can become their “home base,” a place they can return to if they become overwhelmed. Over time, the body learns that it can self-regulate—which is foundational for long-term healing.

A PRACTICE FOR CULTIVATING YOUR INNER ANCHOR

1.) Carve out 20 minutes to free write on one or all of these questions:

When I see the words, “inner anchor,” what comes to mind?

What does the term “inner anchor” mean to me?

What in my life makes me feel most safe, stable, cozy, and secure?

Allow yourself to let go and write in a stream-of-consciousness way. If you feel stuck around getting started, you can literally start by writing, “I have no idea what to write. I don’t know what an inner anchor is. I feel stuck” and, eventually, your intuition will start coming through! If you’d like, you can write along to my journaling playlist.

2.) Mentally, emotionally, and physically connect with your inner anchor.

You’re now going to bring the inner anchor that came forward in your journaling session into an actual practice. Close your eyes. Breathe in a way that feels comfortable and pleasurable to you. Call forward the inner anchor that emerged in your free write. As you inhale, feel, sense, and see your inner anchor entering into every cell of your body. As you exhale, feel, sense, and see your inner anchor easily settling into every cell, supporting you to feel a deeper sense of safety, security, and trust from within. Repeat for 3 minutes.

3.) Practice this 3 minute inner anchor journey daily for 21—60 days to create a fundamental shift in the nervous system and in the neural pathways of your brain.

Daily practice is where it’s at! Call on your inner anchor in any moment you feel dysregulated or activated. Have a notebook or a note in the Notes app on your phone where you can record each day the tense moments when you called on your inner anchor, moments when you forgot to (forgetting is part of the process—you’re human!), and the shifts you experience in your day-to-day around your felt sense of internal safety.

Want to go deeper?

I created a 14-minute guided audio somatic practice called Inner Anchor: Cultivating Inner Safety. It’s a practice I often give to my clients who are seeking somatic work. If you’d like to receive it, email contact@heatherwaxman.com with the subject line “Anchor” and I will personally email it to you.

Seeking 1:1 support?

If you’re currently struggling with anxiety and/or the resurfacing of past trauma and you’re seeking a holistic approach to healing that could help you break free from these stuck patterns, let’s have a consult and see if working together would be a good fit. Read about my private coaching offering and book your discovery call here.

With care,
Heather