3 Somatic Strategies for Emotional Overwhelm
Sometimes when we’re feeling upset, it can be hard to get out of cycles of swirling thoughts and judgments.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by emotions like anxiety, shame, or anger, here are 3 simple strategies you can try in the moment. These actions signal to our nervous systems that we are safe, slow our heart rate, increase blood flow to our frontal cortex and digestive system, and help bring us out of states of physiological and emotional overwhelm.
Slow your out-breath. Breathe in deeply, and then focus on breathing out slowly and evenly. The goal here is to elongate your out-breath so that it’s longer than your in-breath. Sometimes it can be helpful to envision trying to blow out on a spoonful of hot soup. Try to cool it without blowing all the soup out of the spoon. These long, slow, gentle out-breaths signal to your nervous system that you are safe and that it’s okay to release tension throughout your body.
Hum. Try humming a favorite song. If that feels too hard, just hum evenly while noticing the vibrations it creates in your body. This BBC video explains how the vibrations of humming can activate the vagus nerve, which signals the body to “rest-and-digest.”
Tense and Release. Trying to “just relax” can be incredibly frustrating, so this exercise helps us relax muscle tension by starting with the opposite—squeezing our muscles. It involves purposefully increasing the tension in your muscles, and then focusing on the sensation of releasing that tension. In your mind, you might think, “tense tense tense” and then, “release” as you let go of the tension and feel the difference in the relaxing muscles. You can do this with select muscle groups, like your arms or legs, and move from one set of muscles to another. As you release, try to let go of all of the tension in your muscle and pay attention to the sensation of your muscles relaxing. If you’d like to try a 10 minute audio track walking you through progressive muscle relaxation, here’s one and here’s another.
(If you’d like more information on the science behind humming and slow paced breathing, check out this recent article.)