Somatic Therapy and Anxiety : 3 Somatic Exercises to Shift Anxiety

There is a video practice at the end if your prefer to jump ahead

Most people know what it feels like: your heart races, your muscles tense, your mind speeds up, and your breathing turns quick and shallow. Anxiety starts in the body, so simply telling ourselves to “just calm down” usually isn’t effective. Even with self-reassurance, physical symptoms often remain because anxiety impacts our nervous system, not just our thoughts. When our nervous system senses danger, we need to signal that things are safe right now.

Anxiety happens when our emotional memory connects our past to the future and seems to skip over the present moment. The brain is hijacked by the amygdala (the “smoke detector”) and becomes biased or habituated to danger signals instead of safety.

Signs of Anxiety

-bracing, or muscle tension

- shallow or quick breathing (or holding of the breath)

-faster heartbeat and high blood pressure

-digestive issues

-trembling, shaking

-tingling or numbness in fingertips or feet

-temperature changes feeling very hot or cold

-dizziness or lightheaded-ness

Research shows that somatic interventions can help reduce anxiety by 40-60% through vagal toning, bilateral movement, and through activation of our parasympathetic nervous system. Our bodies don’t respond to logic—they respond through sensations, movements, breath, images, and sounds. If we want to truly manage anxiety, we have to involve our bodies in the process.

Try These 3 Exercises Now to Shift Your Anxiety

Posture Reset

* Helps with vagal toning and nervous system regulation

1. Find a comfortable seat or standing position. Feel your feet on the ground and lengthen your spine upwards. See if you feel both your feet (or seat) rooted downwards while the crown of head gently moves upwards.

2.  Roll your shoulders back and down

3. Lift both your arms up and over head in a wide “V” stretching gently your diaphragm away from your abdominals. Gently lower your arms

4.  Keep rooted through your left side but gently rotate your torso to look over your right side. Let your gaze come as far to right corners of your eyes as comfortably possible. Hold here but take a deep breath in through pursed lips so you feel cool breath moving over your tongue.

5. On you exhale come back to center.

6.  Repeat on the other side.

7.  Notice and name any subtle shifts you might have had (yawning, burping, eyes watering, a sense of relief, feeling a little more present)

   
   

Butterfly Hug & Tapping

*Bilateral movements help to restore equilibrium to the brain hemispheres which has been shown to reduce anxiety

1. Begin either seated or standing.

2. Take your left hand to your right upper arm and your right hand to your left upper arm like you were giving yourself a hug 

3. Begin to tap right and left with your fingertips and hands creating a rhythm

4. Continue for 1-2 minutes

5. Notice how you feel afterwards

Alternatively you can tap your feet side to side, or squeeze objects in your hands right and left

Box Breath

* Activating our parasympathetic nervous system (signals it’s time to “rest & digest”)

1.   Take a moment to set your posture: Feet on the ground and spine gently long (giving you room to breath)

2.   Take a deeper breath in through your nose and out through your mouth

3.   Now inhale through your nose for a count of four

4.    Hold at the top for a count of four

5.    Breath out through your nose for a count of four

6.    Hold at the bottom of your breath for a count of four

7.    Continue for 2-3 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT4K5M5cefQ