6 Somatic Tools For Support With Anxiety, Stress and Overwhelm.
Somatic therapy explores the link between mind and body. You may intellectually understand something but experience a disconnection in your physical sensations. For example, you might think, "logically, I know there is no reason to feel anxious or on edge, but I still feel that way.”
This is a great place to support yourself with a somatic tool.
Somatic therapy aims to enhance coherence between the body and mind. What are some somatic tools used in therapy? While each tool could warrant its own detailed discussion (which may happen in the future), here are a few to explore. These tools are not a substitute for therapy or healing with a supportive practitioner, but think of this list as a somatic tool sampler. If something resonates with you, consider delving deeper with a therapist or another supportive practitioner.
Orienting: This exercise, rooted in Somatic Experiencing by Peter Levine, PHD involves turning your head and looking around your environment. What draws your attention? Slowly scan from side to side, allowing your gaze to rest on something calming or interesting. Notice how your body responds. This practice reassures your body through visual cues of safety that at this moment, you are okay-enough. Our bodies naturally scan around us for danger—an instinctive vigilance against threats that is vital when we are actually in danger of attack. However, this same mechanism can make it difficult to relax even in a safe-enough environment. By slowly turning your head from side to side and letting your attention go to what is interesting or calming, you're working with your internal scanning system to signal to your body that it is safe. If you were actually being chased or attacked, your focus would be directly ahead, without time to look around. The movement of slowly turning your head side to side also signals to your body that it is okay at this moment.
Pendulation: Coined by Peter Levine PHD, pendulation involves shifting awareness from uncomfortable or overwhelming sensations to neutral ones. Most sensations aren't dangerous but can be overwhelming. For instance, if you're feeling sensations of anxiety or adrenaline in your stomach, try including a neutral area of your body in your awareness. Play with shifting your attention alternately between the uncomfortable sensation and a neutral one. Your hands or feet can sometimes be a place that feel more neutral or it could be an object in the room. Practicing this shifting back and forth helps build your capacity to be with an uncomfortable sensation without being overwhelmed by it or shutting awareness of it down completely.
Breath: Various breathing techniques support grounding and stress-release. One effective method is two quick inhales followed by a long exhale. This is similar to the relief felt after a good cry and quickly supports your body in dealing with stress and anxiety without becoming overwhelmed by it.
Bilateral movements: Used in therapies like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), rhythmic movements such as rocking or the butterfly hug—where you tap each shoulder—help calm the nervous system. Rocking a baby back and forth is a well-known way to soothe a baby, and this rhythmic motion is also soothing for adults.
Activating Peripheral Vision: When anxiety increases, grab an object like a water bottle or pen. Hold it at mid-level and, while maintaining awareness of the sensation of anxiety, pass the object back and forth, changing the hand the object is in at the midline of your body in your peripheral vision. This activates a sense of grounding by combining a rhythmic motion with a widening of your senses, different from the intense, focused glare that occurs when we need to run or fight. I want to give a big shout-out to Melissa Tiers at the Center for Integrative Hypnosis in New York. I learned this technique from her many years ago, and it is still a go-to for me today.
Heart Breathing: Developed by the HeartMath Institute, this technique involves focusing on your heart when overwhelmed or anxious. Imagine breathing in and out through your heart space. Placing your hand on your heart can support this technique. This may seem simple, but increasing awareness and connection to the heart space has numerous stress-relief benefits scientifically supported through research at the HeartMath Institute.
As you explore these tools, try to observe sensations without judgment. Instead of labeling experiences as "better" or "worse," notice what feels different. Remember, we are working with sensations in the body bit by bit as a way of building your capacity to be with emotions and sensations without shutting down or being overwhelmed by them. If you start to feel overwhelmed at any time, release the technique and come back to it another time.
Happy exploring!