How Somatic Therapy Helps with Anxiety
Somatic therapy in New York for anxiety
Somatic therapy is a wonderful treatment for dealing with anxiety. Using the body, somatic therapy allows you to listen to the wisdom and messages your body sends you rather than fight against them.
Through nervous system regulation, somatic therapy techniques, and tools to calm anxiety, you’ll be able to calm your anxiety and navigate the somatic symptoms that come with those feelings.
What are somatic therapy tecniques?
Somatic therapy techniques vary from practitioner to practitioner. At our practice, Third Nature Therapy, a somatic therapy practice based out of Brooklyn, NY, we use Polyvagal Theory as the foundation of our somatic therapy work.
Polyvagal theory is based on the wisdom of the vagus nerve.
As humans, our biology is all similar.
We’re all wired to respond in similar ways. Our reactions are often normal responses.
Yet, our society is so far removed from ways that support our nervous systems that when we respond with normal stress responses, usually coming from our bodies to our brains, we are made to believe that something is wrong with us instead of trusting the wisdom that is coming through.
Your vagus nerve controls your brain and body connection.
Quite literally, it controls everything you do. It runs from the back of your brain stem down through the middle of your chest towards your belly.
It’s the brain-gut connection.
Your vagus nerve controls the pace of your breathing, heart rate, digestive system, and intestines.
It controls your ability to connect with the world and take in information.
Working with a trained trauma therapist allows you to understand the messages your vagus nerve is telling you and begin to learn how to manage somatic anxiety instead of pushing it away.
What does somatic therapy mean?
[somatic] adj: of, relating to, or affecting the the bodyAs the famous book title so eloquently states, The Body Keeps the Score.
Our bodies, or soma, store the messages of our past. We are wired to respond to threats from our past to stay safe in the present.
Somatic therapy helps send messages to both your body and brain that you are safe and okay in the present so you can heal from the past.
Oftentimes, the feelings of anxiety that our body experiences are from triggers in our past.
By working with a somatic therapist, you will learn how to listen to these cues from your body and calm your anxiety in the present.
How does somatic therapy for anxiety work?
By working with a trained trauma therapist, you will gain practical tools to help calm your somatic anxiety.
Listen to Your Body: You’ll learn about the different states of your nervous system and how to calm your somatic symptoms of anxiety.
Gain practical, self-soothing tools: You’ll learn practical tools to help soothe your anxiety, like:
Placing a hand on your heart to help calm down.
Square breathing to give your anxious mind something to do.
Focusing on the exhalation to relax (the inhalation is an activating breath, and the exhale relaxes).
Can somatic therapy be done online?
Somatic therapy can be done both online and in person. We offer somatic therapy sessions in person in Brooklyn and remote sessions for anyone in New York City, or the state of New York.
Somatic therapy sessions are similar both online and in person.
In person, you might use tools in the therapy office to help soothe your nervous system.
Online, you might use tools in your home.
Both have equal values.
As long as you are in a safe, comfortable, and private space, somatic therapy can be done online.
Somatic Therapy Exercises for Anxiety
Box breathing
Square breathing is a great tool to use if you need a quick way to quiet your mind and calm your anxiety. You're essentially making a square with your breath, inhaling, exhaling, and holding your breath for an equal amount of time.
It gives your mind something to focus on AND quickly soothes your nervous system.
Here’s what to do:
Inhale at a steady pace for 4 seconds
Hold your breath in for 4 seconds
Exhale at a steady pace for 4 seconds
Hold your breath in for 4 seconds
And repeat…
If you forget the breath count, visualize making a SQUARE with your breath, making the length of your inhales, exhales, and holds the same.
You can practice this anywhere, anytime. Doing this cycle 2-3 times is enough to soothe your nervous system and give you a quick reset.
Practice this breathing pattern for as long as you need.
Focus on your exhalation
When feeling anxious, our mind can play a trick on us, thinking we need to take a full breath in, rather than focusing on the calming breath of the exhale.
If you are feeling anxious, focus on your exhalation.
The inhalation activates your sympathetic nervous system, the same system that makes you feel anxious.
The exhalation activates your parasympathetic nervous system, the part of your nervous system that helps calm anxiety in your body.
If all else fails and you forget what to do when feeling anxious, focus on the exhale.
Use your senses
While it might not seem like an obvious somatic exercise, connecting with your senses is a great way to calm anxiety.
Your senses live in the body.
Yes, touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste—different body parts activate these—are all somatic tools to calm anxiety.
Utilize them to help bring your mind and body into the present moment of safety and out of anxiety.
Remind yourself that your ability to connect with your senses is a sign that you are, in fact, safe and okay. If there was a threat (i.e. a tiger or a fire), you would not be able to pause and connect with your senses.
Somatic Approaches to Anxiety
If you are looking for a somatic approach to anxiety, we offer somatic therapy for anyone in the state of New York and in-person in Brooklyn, NY.
Somatic therapy is a great way to gain control of your life, your nervous system, and start listening to the wisdom of your body.
Book a call with a somatic therapist in Brooklyn, NY, today, or access our free somatic therapy dashboard, loaded with tools to help calm your anxiety.
More notes on somatic therapy:
Julie Goldberg is a licensed therapist and the founder of Third Nature Therapy. Her practice focuses on helping individuals better understand their inner world, befriend their nervous system (instead of working against it), and navigate changing relationships. She offers somatic therapy, EMDR intensives, and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy in Brooklyn, NY.