Body-Based Skills & Activities

Feeling overwhelmed by trauma, anxiety, or emotional distress that seems impossible to calm? This gentle yet powerful self-soothing technique harnesses your brain's natural ability to process and regulate emotions through rhythmic bilateral stimulation in just 2-3 minutes. The butterfly hug involves crossing your arms over your chest and gently alternating taps on your shoulders or upper arms, creating a calming pattern that activates both brain hemispheres simultaneously. Originally developed by EMDR therapists for trauma survivors, this evidence-based technique provides immediate emotional grounding and nervous system regulation through the therapeutic power of bilateral touch.

Feeling trapped by intense anxiety, panic, or emotional overwhelm that seems impossible to interrupt? This powerful technique harnesses an ancient evolutionary response to provide instant nervous system relief in just 1-2 minutes. Cold exposure involves briefly exposing your face or body to cold water, ice, or cold surfaces to immediately activate your body's parasympathetic nervous system and interrupt cycles of panic, anxiety, or emotional dysregulation. This evidence-based practice leverages the mammalian diving reflex—a built-in survival mechanism that rapidly calms your nervous system and grounds your attention in the present moment, providing one of the fastest and most reliable methods for emotional regulation.

Movement as regulation involves engaging in intentional, low-intensity physical activity to alleviate anxiety, physical tension, and restlessness. Regular gentle movement helps regulate the nervous system, enhance mood, and promote overall emotional and physical well-being.

Noticing and naming body sensations involves gently observing and explicitly identifying physical sensations occurring in your body, especially during intense anxiety, panic, or dissociation. This mindfulness technique helps ground awareness in the present, reconnecting mind and body, and enhancing emotional regulation.

Feeling tense, anxious, or struggling to sleep? Progressive muscle relaxation offers immediate, scientifically-proven relief that you can access anywhere, anytime. Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a systematic, body-focused technique that involves intentionally tensing and then relaxing different muscle groups in a sequential manner. This structured practice effectively reduces muscle tension, decreases anxiety, and promotes relaxation by directly intervening in physiological stress responses, facilitating deeper sleep and enhancing emotional grounding through enhanced body awareness.

Feeling overwhelmed by emotional distress, anxiety, or trauma that seems to resurface unexpectedly? This powerful self-soothing technique harnesses the therapeutic power of gentle touch to provide immediate emotional relief and nervous system regulation in just 2-4 minutes. Self-havening (self-tapping) involves rhythmically stroking or tapping specific areas of your body—particularly your arms, hands, and face—to activate your body's natural calming mechanisms. This evidence-based psychosensory practice leverages the profound connection between touch and emotional regulation, providing rapid grounding and nervous system stabilization through targeted sensory stimulation.

Feeling trapped by stress or trauma that seems stuck in your body? This powerful somatic technique harnesses your body's natural ability to discharge accumulated tension and emotional energy in just 3-7 minutes. Shaking or tremoring involves intentionally inducing gentle, rhythmic movements throughout the body to release built-up stress, anxiety, and trauma-related tension. This evidence-based practice leverages ancient neurobiological mechanisms that animals use instinctively after threatening experiences, helping you rapidly restore nervous system balance and emotional equilibrium.

Feeling overwhelmed and need immediate relief? This simple technique uses your body's natural calming system to quickly reduce anxiety and stress in just 2-5 minutes. Swaying or rhythmic rocking involves gentle, repetitive movements of the body—either standing, seated, or lying down—to soothe feelings of overstimulation, anxiety, or emotional hyperarousal. This evidence-based method leverages natural calming rhythms to promote immediate grounding, emotional regulation, and nervous system stabilization by engaging the body's innate sensory comfort mechanisms.

Feeling overwhelmed by stress, tension, or anxiety? The tense and release exercise offers immediate, drug-free relief that works in just 3-6 minutes. The tense and release exercise involves intentionally tightening and then relaxing specific muscle groups, systematically reducing muscular tension associated with anxiety and stress buildup. By deliberately engaging and then releasing muscles, this exercise quickly interrupts the physiological stress response, promoting rapid emotional grounding, nervous system relaxation, and improved sleep quality through increased bodily awareness and tension reduction.

Urge surfing involves mindfully observing and experiencing strong urges or cravings without acting upon them. By visualizing the urge as a wave that naturally rises and eventually subsides, this practice helps individuals effectively manage intense anxiety, cravings, or impulses, promoting emotional resilience and healthier behaviors.

Feeling anxious or overwhelmed and need a practice that calms both your mind and body? Walking meditation combines the proven benefits of mindfulness with gentle physical movement to create immediate relief from stress and anxiety. This accessible mindful practice involves deliberately paying close attention to the sensations of walking, such as the feeling of your feet touching the ground, the rhythm of your breath, and the subtle movements of your body. This grounding exercise effectively reduces mild to moderate anxiety, mental restlessness, and stress by integrating mindfulness with bodily movement, enhancing emotional stability and nervous system regulation.