Slow Down and Calm Down | A 5-Minute Practice to Soothe Your Nervous System
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Ad-free episode (exclusively available to members of Somatic Healing Hub)
Soothe Your Nervous System With This 5-Minute Somatic Practice
There’s something deeply relieving about having a five-minute practice that can actually help your nervous system calm down.
That’s why I recorded this short episode. It’s a simple, gentle practice you can come back to whenever your system feels keyed up, stressed, or in need of a grounding pause.
In this practice, we work with three very direct and effective forms of support for the nervous system: soothing touch, slow breathing, and gentle somatic awareness.
Soothing touch as a signal of safety
The soothing touch we use is a self-Havening style “moving hug,” where you slowly and rhythmically stroke your arms in a comforting, predictable way. There is something very fundamental in the nervous system that responds to this kind of steady, reassuring contact. The skin is rich with sensory receptors that communicate directly with the parts of the brain that track safety and threat, and when touch is slow, rhythmic, and kind, it often sends a simple, powerful message: you don’t have to brace right now. Muscles can begin to soften, the breath can change on its own, and the whole system can start to settle without being pushed.
Letting the exhale slow things down
The breathing in this practice focuses especially on slow, unforced exhales, almost like you’re breathing out through a straw. The quality of the breath matters here more than the technique. When the exhale is allowed to lengthen gently, the body often begins to shift out of urgency and effort. The diaphragm can move more freely, the chest and belly can soften, and the nervous system starts to receive a very different signal than the one it’s been living in. Over a few minutes, this kind of breathing often creates a felt sense of more space inside, as though the body no longer has to work quite so hard to hold itself together.
How somatic awareness supports regulation
Alongside this, we bring in gentle somatic awareness, which means turning toward what you’re feeling in your body in a simple, curious, non-judging way. This does something quietly important. When you stay present with sensations rather than overriding them or analyzing them, the nervous system often begins to complete things it hasn’t had the chance to complete. Tension that’s been held can start to unwind. Subtle impulses toward movement or settling can arise. The body gets to do a bit of the organizing and rebalancing it’s always trying to do, when we’re not rushing it or pulling away from it.
If you’ve been wanting something that’s truly small, truly doable, and still genuinely supportive, this five-minute practice is a simple place to begin.
Try the 5-minute practice to soothe your nervous system now!
If this kind of gentle, body-based healing speaks to you, I’d love to invite you into Somatic Healing Hub - my membership community where we practice this work together.
With live classes, workshops, and coaching you’ll:
Create a steady rhythm of nervous system regulation, so you can feel calmer, clearer, and more grounded in daily life
Gently process the emotions held in your body, instead of getting stuck in reactivity, overwhelm, or shutdown
Break free from chronic stress patterns by addressing what’s underneath - not just managing the surface
Reclaim your attention from spiraling thoughts or anxiety, and reconnect with what your body is truly asking for
Feel supported and not alone, inside a community that honors your sensitivity and your pace
BONUS: You’ll also get AD-FREE ACCESS to my entire podcast library! (Somatic Healing Meditations)
How did that 5-Minute Somatic Practice to Slow Down and Calm Down feel to you?
What shifted within? And what was your favorite part?
Please let me know in the comments!
➡️ If you enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you would subscribe, rate, and review this podcast!
And please join me every Friday on this beautiful journey out of your head, and into your more embodied and authentic self. 🩷🩷🩷
Thanks so much for joining me today!
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Enjoy more like this: 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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