Somatic Techniques for Calming the Nervous System

Whenever you feel stress bubbling up, notice what’s happening in the mind and the emotional overflow happening in the body. How do you experience stress as physical sensations? Or perhaps you notice a change in temperature, heart rate, breathing, sensory sensitivity, or appetite. 

Do you find it difficult to think and find the words you’re looking for, only to (frustratingly) find them later in pithy one-liners you wish you could have drawn on? Or do you go into physical overload and rage, or want to retreat into collapse?

When we feel the nervous system reacting to situations causing stress, there are several somatic (body) techniques you may like to try that can help rebalance the nervous system and discharge stress we feel in the body. This moves us towards calm and being able to bring rational thinking back online.

Here are some gentle somatic techniques for helping calm your nervous system when you’re feeling stressed. Experiment with these different ideas and see if they work for you, gauging what feels ok and safe for you. Or maybe something works in one situation and something else works in a different setting. 

Even breath

Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts. You may like to try a different count depending on what feels comfortable for you.

Longer exhale

Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 6. You can experiment with the length of inhale and exhale as long as it’s a longer exhale and feels comfortable and not a strain.

5 senses check

Name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste.

Butterfly hug 

Cross your arms and rest your hands on the opposite upper arm or shoulder. Alternate gentle tapping with the hands like the wings of a butterfly. An alterative option for this could be crossing your hands over your lap and tapping your knees.

Gentle jaw massage

Give yourself a little jaw massage by doing circular movements with your fingertips at the spot where your lower jaw meets your upper jaw. If it feel ok for you, you can also try this starting with an open-mouth, extending your tongue out as far as you can.

Research has found that thirty minutes of exercising at an intensity high enough to get sweaty combined with thirty minutes of rest (different to sleep) such as meditation or lying on the couch staring at your plants (that’s what I do!) each day is enough to help manage everyday stress.

You may like to reflect on the following when thinking about how you experience the physical feelings of emotional and psychological stress. 

• Do you recognise your physical experience of emotional stress? I.e. what’s happening in your body.
• Do you acknowledge and validate your own emotional experiences? 
• How do you express your feelings?
• Notice any patterns in thinking and feeling, or self-talk, when you’re feeling stressed.
• When something feels like it’s helping, what do you noticed happening? Do you feel a sense of calm or being more grounded, or maybe you have more clarity of the situation.

To help manage stress, check in with yourself regularly through the day to gauge how you’re feeling in that moment. What does it feel like in your body? What do you need for yourself, and perhaps from others to help manage your stress?

Written by Kimberley Lee