Soothing Techniques

The blog below supports the Therapeutic Movement practice above.

Soothing the System Through Movement

When we’re looking at how to soothe the nervous system, it’s helpful to step back and consider what that really means. Soothing isn’t just one thing - it can come through many routes. We might find it through physical touch, through noticing where we are in space, or even through the internal dialogue we have with ourselves. There are many ways we can create that sense of access to ourselves, that allow us to begin letting go of the holding patterns we’ve built in self-protection or vigilance.

What we’re working with here is a shift into possibility. Reminding the body and brain that options are available. That we’re not stuck. This in itself can bring an openness that supports self-soothing, especially when we’re in states of anxiety or hyper-awareness.

Opening Up Options in the Stress Response

When we’re caught in a stress state, it’s very easy to feel trapped or limited in what’s available to us. That’s a natural part of the stress response - it narrows our viewpoint, reducing the ability to reflect or take in alternatives. Everything can feel black and white, all-or-nothing.

Through therapeutic movement we have the opportunity to widen that lens. Giving ourselves the space to come into a broader perspective, to remember that we do have choice. This allows us to shift towards a more reflective and responsive state rather than staying stuck in the loops of reactivity.

This movement from constriction to openness helps support a return to ventral vagal tone, that part of the nervous system that lets us feel present, awake, and aware, but also relaxed. It’s not a sleepy or checked-out state, it’s an embodied awareness that feels grounded and connected.

Grounding in the Present Moment

This practice invites us to notice, gently and without judgement, what is happening right now. What is the body saying? What is the breath doing? Can we look around the room and take in that actually, things may be okay in this moment?

This kind of relaxed attention can help bring us out of a fight-or-flight state. It’s not about pushing for calm or stillness, but about allowing the system to recognise safety, to soften, and to settle naturally.

Even the act of becoming aware of our contact with the ground, or the space around us, can begin to signal to the nervous system that it is safe to release. From there, soothing becomes something we can gently move towards, rather than something we try to impose on ourselves. 

Choice, Openness and the Body’s Language

Different techniques may work for different people, or for the same person at different times. Movement, touch, breath awareness, internal self-talk, these are all routes into presence. When we open up to that possibility, the nervous system has more room to shift from holding to release.

This is not about doing it ‘right’, but about being in relationship with your own body’s language. Being curious about what you notice, what feels helpful, what begins to create ease.

When we remember we have choices, we move away from the tight funnel of stress and into the spaciousness of possibility. And from there, soothing can become a natural, lived experience, not something we chase, but something we access from within.

Autogenic release

The specific Autogenic Training is featured in Charlotte's book Yoga & Somatics for Immune & Respiratory Health. This is a still practice that moves through a series of self-statements about heaviness and warmth in different parts of the body; relaying messages that we might relate to ease and parasympathetic activity. Such practices can help us to locate and feel the boundaries of the body as much as our energetic or emotional boundaries. You can use the words from this in any way that works for you. 

Heavy and Warm Focus:

1. Quietly say to yourself, “I am completely calm”.
2. Focus attention on the arms. Quietly and slowly repeat six times, “My arms are very heavy.” Then, “I am completely calm.”
3. Refocus attention on your arms. Quietly and slowly repeat six times, “My arms are very warm.” Then, “I am completely calm.”
4. Focus attention on your legs. Quietly and slowly repeat six times, “My legs are very heavy.” Then, “I am completely calm.”
5. Refocus attention on your legs. Quietly and slowly repeat six times, “My legs are very warm.” Then, “I am completely calm.”
6. Quietly and slowly repeat six times, “My heartbeat is calm and regular.” Then, “I am completely calm.”
7. Quietly and slowly repeat six times, “My breathing is calm and regular.” Then,” I am completely calm.”
8. Quietly and slowly repeat six times, “My abdomen is warm.” Then, “I am completely calm.”
9. Quietly and slowly repeat six times, “My forehead is pleasantly cool.” Then, “I am completely calm.”
10. Enjoy the feeling of relaxation, warmth, and heaviness.
11. When you are ready, quietly say to yourself, “Arms firm, breathe deeply, eyes open.”

If you'd like to study more on these mindful, somatic and therapeutic practices I invite you to look at my Therapeutic Somatics for Yoga Teachers certification. The 170 CPD hours are made up of my Somatics for Yoga Teachers course and Yoga & Somatics for Healing & Recovery.