Relax Your Nervous System: 2 Somatic Practices That Heal
Welcome back, beautiful soul! ✨
In my personal experience, the best somatic practices are the simplest ones. The two I am sharing with you today are basic, foundational practices for turning on the relaxation response in your body.
When folks are experiencing chronic stress and/or are suffering from C-PTSD (chronic post-traumatic stress disorder), the sympathetic nervous system (the fight-flight-freeze response) can get locked in the “on” position.
Let’s use the metaphor of a car, gas pedal, and brake pedal:
The car = Your body
The gas pedal = Your sympathetic nervous system (fight-flight-freeze response)
The brake pedal = Your parasympathetic nervous system (relaxation response)
Chronic stress and trauma can make us feel like we are driving a car while only being able to press on the gas pedal and being unable to access the brake pedal. People can be completely unaware of the fact that they are only pressing on the gas, and be unaware that the brake pedal even exists!
The body responds to trauma several milliseconds before the conscious mind can wrap itself around what’s happening, so we want to use intentional regulation practices to help our conscious minds come online, make a conscious connection with our bodies, and access the brake pedal (i.e. our relaxation response). (Bessel van der Kolk writes extensively about the science behind this in his fantastic book The Body Keeps the Score).
In the somatic work I do with clients, my initial aim is simple: Help clients gain conscious awareness of the brake pedal and feel empowered and able to access it on a regular basis.
That’s where these two conscious relaxation practices I am sharing with you today come into play:
Body scan
Journey through the Five Senses
Turn on Your Parasympathetic Nervous System with these Conscious Relaxation Practices
Conscious relaxation practices like a body scan and a journey through the five senses are excellent foundational practices because they can help the individual begin to improve their mind-body connection, increase self-awareness, and increase a sense of embodiment (the felt sense of, “I feel located in my body”).
HOW THE BODY SCAN + journey through the five senses can help you
In the body scan, I gently guide you through places in the body where we tend to hold stress, tension, and trauma. These are the places in our bodies that can “light up” when we go into a fight-flight-freeze response. In the journey through the five senses, I slowly guide you to mindfully place your attention on your five physical senses and consciously connect with them.
Through these conscious relaxation practices, the following positive results are possible:
Send a “safety signal” to your brain, which activates your parasympathetic nervous system (your rest-and-digest response)
Slow down your heart rate
Lower cortisol
Deepen your breath
Support digestion
Break the loop between body and brain that sustains chronic stress
When practiced consistently, create new neural pathways associated with safety and ease rather than threat, which can create long-term nervous system regulation
Increase self-regulation and emotional resilience
A guided practice
I created a 13-minute guided practice that combines both this intentional body scan and this journey through the five senses. I am so excited to share this with you. I recommend practicing it daily for 21—61 days to initiate a true neural pathway change.
Seeking 1:1 support?
If you’re currently struggling with anxiety, stuck patterns, and/or the resurfacing of past traumas and you’re seeking a holistic approach to healing that could help you break free, 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
