Beyond the Mind A 10-Minute Somatic Reset for Anxiety.and Stress

Speaker 1: Hi there, and welcome to Calming Anxiety. Ten minutes Beyond the Mind, a somatic reset for anxiety. Welcome back. I'm your host, Martin, and to day we're going to do something just slightly different. If you've been searching for how to stop overthinking, or looking for anxiety relief that actually works when you're panicked, you might have noticed that traditional meditation doesn't always touch the sides. You sit there telling yourself to calm down, but your heart is still racing, your chest still feels tight, and your thoughts they're spinning. This is not because you're failing at meditation. It is because you are trying to use your mind to fix a body problem. This is what we call a bottom up approach to anxiety. You see when we are in that vital flight mode, or perhaps the freeze response where you feel stuck and numb, your body is flooded with cortisol and adrenaline. It is this biological event, not just a mindset issue. So to day we are going to do a sematic reset. We're going to use sematic exercises to signal safety directly to your nervous system by passing the thinking brain entirely. This is especially helpful for my neurodiversent listeners who might find sitting still impossible, specially when they're burned out. We are not going to think our way to calm. We are going to move our way there. I want you to find a space where you can stand up. If you cannot stand, sitting on the edge of your bed is absolutely fine. We're going to start with something called the adrenaline shake. In the wild, when an animal escapes a predator, it literally shakes its body to discharge that excess energy. Humans, however, well, we try to hold it in. We stiffen up, we clench, and that energy gets trapped in our muscles as tension. So let's get it out. Start with your right hand. I want you just to flick it, flick your wrist while you're trying to fling water off your fingertips. Now add the left hand. Just flick and shake. Speaker 2: Let that vibration travel up your forearms, past your elbows, and then into your shoulders. Now let's get the legs involved too. Keep your feet flat on the floor, but start bouncing your knees. Let your whole body jiggle. I know it feels silly, but I want you to imagine you're literally shaking off the stress of the day, shake of the emails, shake of the arguments, shake off the worry.

Let your jaw hang loose, as all of us hold so much tension in the jaw. Open your mouth slightly and let your cheeks bounce. We are physically discharging the buildup of adrenaline that keeps you in that high alert state. Keep going, Shake a little harder for ten more seconds five four, three, two one, and stop. Just stand completely still, don't move, close your eyes. If that feels safe. I want you to feel that tingling sensation in your hands and your legs. That is circulation, That is energy moving.

You are no longer frozen. Now that we have mobilized that energy, we need to apply the break. We are going to engage the vagus nerve. This is the main nerve that connects your brain to your body and controls your rest and digestive system. The fastest way to stimulate it is through vocal vibration. We are going to use a technique called the vou sound. It is not a chance like om. It is a deep glutteral fog horn sound. It vibrates the vocal cords and sends a direct signal to your heart to slow down. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly. Take a neat breath in through your nose, and on the out breath, I want you. Speaker 1: To make a low voo sound woo. Feel that vibration in your chest. Let's do it again inhale deeply. Speaker 2: Voo.

Speaker 1: Try to make the sound as low as you can. The lower the pitch, the better it stimulates the vagus nerve. Let the sound run all the way down until you are completely out of breath. One more time inhale woo.

Pause and notice you might feel a little yawn coming on or a need to swallow. This is a biological sign that your parasympathetic nervous system is kicking in. That is the shift we are looking for. Now, let's bring you back to the present moment. When we are anxious, our focus narrows, we get tunnel vision. We are going to use a technique called orientating to tell your brain that you are safe in this environment. Keep your head facing forward. Do not turn your head, but I want you to move your eyes all the way to the right. Look as far right as you can, as if you are trying to see your own ear. Hold it there. It might feel a little strained, is okay? Now slowly move your eyes all the way to the left, keep your head still. Just the eyes scan the room. Let your eyes land on a specific object, maybe a plant, a picture frame, a lamp. Notice the color, notice the textures. By moving your eyes and engaging with your surroundings, you are breaking the internal loop of worry. You are telling your primal brain I am here, I am safe, there is no tiger in the room. We are going to finish with one final breath to lock this in the physiological sigh. This is the most effective breathing technique for reducing stress in real time. It has two sharp inhales through the nose, followed by a long, slow outbreath through the mouth. Ready inhale deeply, now through your nose. Now sniff a little bit more air in at the top to pop open the airsacks in your lungs. And now long thin outbreath through purse lips, like you're blowing through a straw. Go On, let it all out. Let's do that one more time. Double inhale through the nose, sniff, sniff, and then a long, slow outbreath as we come to a close, just check in with your body one last time.

Notice that your shoulders are probably two inches lower than when we started. Your jaw is a looser, your tummy is softer. You didn't think yourself calm, you felt yourself calm.

Now wiggle your fingers and toes. Maybe take a deep breath in, and then as you exhale, stretch out those muscles in your arms and legs. Thank you for joining me Martin for this somatic reset. Remember, whenever you feel that panic rising, you don't always need to analyze it. Sometimes we simply need to shake it out. I'll see you in the next episode tomorrow. If you're new to calming anxiety, please do subscribe hit that noteification so that you join in every day to make mindfulness part of your daily routine, to take back control over the way you think, feel and react, and to live your best life. Take care, my friend, Smile often, positive thoughts whenever you can, and to your beautiful soul, be kind.