SOMATIC EXPERIENCING EXERCISES
Somatic Experiencing, while a therapy for trauma, focuses at its core
on nervous system regulation. So, these exercises can help you find
calm during a charged moment or time of stress. Many of these
exercises ask you to tune into sensation and emotion. If that’s a
challenge for you, check out this resource that has excellent free lists
of emotions and body sensations that can help you name your
experience.
1. Notice Your Current Physical Comfort
Tune out of your circumstances for just a moment and bring attention
to your physical comfort in this Somatic Experiencing technique. Take
your time with each of these steps, so that you spend at least 1
minute with the entire exercise.
◦ While sitting in a chair, take a moment and notice your overall
experience.
◦ Move your feet on the floor, moving and shifting until you really
feel connected to the floor.
◦ Now feel your back and bottom on the chair, noticing how the
chair supports you. Ask yourself, “Am I perching on the chair or
allowing the chair to support me?”. Try to settle into the chair
just a bit more.
◦ Adjust until you feel your comfort spot. Take a few moments to
really enjoy the comfort of being supported by the chair and
stabilized by the floor.
◦ Look around and notice something that feels resourceful (e.g.
the tree right outside the window, a piece of art, a calming
color, the floor, etc.). Savor the resourceful feelings.
◦ What do you notice now about your overall comfort – physically
and emotionally? Do you feel the same as when you started or
somewhat different?
If you take your time with this exercise, it can be surprising just how
much settling you can achieve in your nervous system in just one
minute.
2. Containment With Safe Touch
Somatic Experiencing therapy sometimes utilizes touch because it
more directly intervenes with the nervous system. While the SE
therapist might touch you with your permission, touch can also
include self-touch. Touch is used for a variety of purposes in SE. This
Somatic Experiencing exercise keeps you grounded by re-establishing
a felt sense of containment in your body.
Again, take your time with each of these steps in this self-soothing
and containing exercise.
◦ Take a moment and notice your overall experience.
◦ Take your right hand and place it just below your left armpit,
holding the left side of your chest.
◦ Place your left hand on your right bicep (or shoulder or elbow –
whichever is most comfortable and natural to you).
◦ Take some time to notice the feeling under your hands without
judging it (e.g. does your body feel warm, what is the texture of
your shirt, can you feel your heartbeat). Then take at least 30
seconds to notice how you experience this self-touch and
maybe even savor it. Ask yourself, “Do I experience a sense of
containment from my hands and arms? Is it pleasant? What
happens if I tighten or loosen my hands and arms?”
◦ Now notice how the rest of your body experiences this touch
(e.g. your lower torso, your legs, etc.).
◦ What do you notice now about your overall experience? Do
you feel the same or somewhat different than when you started
3. Recalling a Kindness
This SE exercise invites your physiology to settle again through
recalling safety and kindness. Take your time with each of these steps
in this exercise.
◦ Take a moment and notice your overall experience.
◦ Recall a time when someone was kind to you.
◦ Remember everything you can about this kind instance – the
words, tone of voice, touch, gestures, or actions the kind person
used to soothe and comfort you or to provide you with help or
return you to safety.
◦ As you recall what the kind person did, notice how your body is
recalling the memory right now – body sensations, etc. Is it
almost as if you’re back there again?
◦ Recall the emotion you felt back then and notice what you feel
now in this moment as you recall the experience.
◦ If a negative aspect of the memory arises, set that part of the
memory on an imaginary shelf and come back to the sensory
aspects of this memory of kindness.
◦ As you come to a close, notice what you’re feeling in your
body now and your overall experience now compared to when
you started the exercise.
When you’re stressed, it can take all your energy to keep from
erupting with your frustration. Recalling kindnesses in this felt sense
way helps keep this kind of venting at bay.
4. When You Felt Most Like Yourself
Peter Levine, PhD, the developer of Somatic Experiencing, uses this SE
exercise to encourage settling and regulation in the autonomic
nervous system. The first part of this exercise can help you find
emotional and nervous system regulation and help to keep
grounded.
◦ Take a moment and notice your overall experience.
◦ Then recall a time in the last 24 hours when you felt most like
yourself – or the person you would hope to be more of the time.
(Extend the time frame if something doesn’t come to mind from
the last day.)
◦ As you remember this event in a detailed way – almost as if it
was happening again – notice what happens in your body
in this moment now. Especially notice your five senses in the
memory.
◦ Recall another time you most felt like yourself or the person
you’d like to be, this time within the last several weeks.
◦ Again, as you remember this event in a detailed way – almost
as if it was happening again – notice what happens in your
body in this present moment.
◦ What do you notice now about your overall experience?
This SE exercise can not only bring you back to your true north, it can
help you ground in the felt sense of the present moment again.
5. The Voo Sound
The Voo Sound is a powerful technique that can bring significant
settling. However, it can be stimulating for some people. So give it a
try for the first time when you’re feeling safe and calm. Also, because
this technique requires you to make a vocalization, you may want to
be by yourself when you use it (think the bathroom, your car, or
stepping outside).
◦ Take a moment and notice your overall experience.
◦ Now think of the sound a foghorn makes. (If you’ve never heard
one, here’s an example.)
◦ Take a deep breath then imitate the foghorn, making a sound
as low as you can in your vocal register that rumbles through
your torso. See if you can feel the vibrations of the sound all the
way down to your pelvic floor. (Note that this doesn’t
necessarily mean you have to make the sound loud. The key is
to make the pitch of the sound as low as you possibly can.)
◦ As you run out of breath on the Voo, let the next breath come in
naturally. Take your time.
◦ If you feel a settling in your system, stay with that and enjoy it. If
you feel your system more activated, which the Voo can
produce for some people, even if they’ve found the exercise
settling before, let go of this exercise for now and use another
one I’ve listed to settle your system.
◦ If you find the Voo to be settling, feel free to do make the Voo
sound again to see if you find even more settling. I don’t
recommend doing Voo more than 3 times in one sitting.
◦ As you finish the exercise, what do you notice now about your
overall experience?
This SE exercise can return a sense of ease, especially in your body’s
core. This is in part because it gently vibrates the organs and
structures of the torso, which can cause a relaxation in your overall
system.
copied from:
https://life-care-wellness.com/5-somatic-experiencing-techniques-that-anyone-can-use-to-stay-grounded/