What Are Some Somatic Therapy Hacks You Can Do At Home?
Harnessing the powers of the vagus nerve to your advantage is an important tool both for improving physical health and emotional resilience. The vagus nerve has key implications on our digestive system, breathing patterns and mental states. Somatic therapy can help with resetting your nervous system to create calm within and feeling grounded in the environment. But, there are many activities you can do at home - beyond somatic psychotherapy - to help your body feel settled.
We put together a list of “do-it-yourself” hacks to help you build an effective nervous system regiment outside of therapy sessions. Just remember that daily repetition and practice is key in retraining your mind and body.
Mindful somatic vibration through sound making (e.g., Humming, Om, Chanting loudly)… for a minimum of 10 minutes
Breathwork and meditation techniques
Hand reflexology
Emotional Freedom Technique (tapping to activate pressure points over various parts of the face and behind the earlobe)
Havening Technique (self-touch over various parts of the face, hand and arms)
Cold exposure
Yoga practices and postures
Walking barefoot on dirt in nature … for about 30 minutes
Looking For Technology-Based Therapy Solutions To Strengthen Your Vagal Tone?
Trauma and chronic stress can inundate our vagus nerve and grossly disrupt both our physiological and psychological functioning. In many situations, our nervous system needs extra support in order to restore functioning. This is where technology-based interventions can help speed up the process and give you the little bit of nudge needed to move forward in your healing journey. Below are some options for technology-based therapeutic tools to help repair maladaptive vagus nerve activity and improve somatic resilience:
BodyLENS therapy
Photobiomodulation therapy
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) training
HeartMath training
Cranio-Electro Stimulation (CES) therapy
Curious and have more questions? Reach out to us to see how Somatic Therapy and technology-based interventions can help you in the next chapter of your healing journey!
Depression, anxiety or PTSD? Tired of talking in circles? EMDR can make the change. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapy that uses bilateral eye movement to neutralize and help the brain digest triggers and painful memories. Our Richmond Hill team of psychotherapists combines these with Somatic Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Mindfulness Meditation and LENS Neurofeedback for best results.
