Orienting + Havening: My Favorite Quick Nervous System Regulation Tool
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Orienting + Havening: My Favorite Quick Nervous System Regulation Practice
When we want to feel more regulated, sometimes it helps to have a simple practice we can turn to that doesn’t take a lot of time or effort. One of my favorites is combining orienting with Havening. I turn to this practice all the time when I’m feeling stressed, anxious, activated, or caught up in my head, and I often find that within just a few minutes, I feel more grounded, settled, and calm.
Orienting
Orienting is a simple somatic practice that gently brings our attention out into the environment around us, allowing our eyes, ears, and other senses to take in where we are right now. When we’re stressed or activated, our attention can become narrowed around whatever feels threatening (whether that threat is happening in the present or our nervous system is responding to something we’ve experienced in the past). As we slowly look around, notice colors and shapes, listen to sounds, and become more aware of our sensory experience, we give the nervous system new information about what is happening right now. This kind of present-moment sensory awareness can support the nervous system and help our body begin to register cues of safety in our current environment.
Havening Technique®
Havening is a therapeutic technique that uses gentle, soothing touch on the face, arms, and hands to help calm the brain and nervous system. This type of slow, repetitive touch has been shown to create delta waves in the brain, which help down-regulate the amygdala, a part of the brain that plays an important role in our stress and threat responses. So as we use Havening touch, we’re giving the brain calming sensory input that can help reduce activation and support a more regulated nervous system state.
One of the reasons somatic practices can be so helpful for nervous system regulation is that we’re working directly with the body. Instead of relying on our thoughts to tell our nervous system to calm down, we’re using sensory experiences that can actually help shift our physiological state. Orienting gives the nervous system present-moment information through what we see, hear, and sense around us, while Havening adds soothing touch. Together, they give us a simple, body-centered way to support the nervous system when we want to feel more regulated.
In this episode of Somatic Healing Meditations, I’ll guide you step by step through this quick and simple combination of orienting and Havening. You can return to it whenever you’re feeling stressed or activated, when you’ve been spending too much time in your head, or anytime you’d simply like a little support finding more groundedness and calm.
Try Orienting and Havening now!
Episode timing:
00:00 - About this Quick Nervous System Regulation Practice
00:56 - Orienting + Havening Guided Practice
11:42 - Conclusion and Reflections
Related: More Somatic Regulation Practices
Learn more about Havening Techniques and the science behind them
Havening Techniques® is a registered trademark of Ronald Ruden, 15 East 91st Street, New York. www.havening.org
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Enjoy more like this: Havening Exercises, Regulation Exercises, Short Somatic Practices
About me
Hey, I’m Karena!
I’m a somatic emotional healing coach here to help you quickly identify and heal the subconscious blocks, old emotional wounds and self-sabotaging core beliefs that are holding you back!
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