Nervous System Soothing Meditation

This practice is designed to help you release tension, ground into your body, and regulate your nervous system. It combines simple somatic movements with breath to bring you back into balance, safety, and presence.

How to Prepare

  • Find a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed for at least 20 minutes.

  • Light a candle, dim the lights, and allow the space to feel like a small ritual — a threshold into stillness.

  • This practice begins standing, moves to sitting on a chair and ends by sitting in any way you feel comfortable with an erect spine.

The Practice

This meditation weaves together three simple but powerful tools:

  1. Shaking

    • Gentle shaking of the body releases excess energy, stress, or adrenaline.

    • It mimics the body’s natural way of discharging stress (as animals do in the wild).

    • This helps reset your system before entering stillness.

  2. Clenching & Releasing

    • Tensing different muscles (hands, shoulders, legs) and then letting go creates a wave of relaxation.

    • This practice helps you notice the contrast between holding and softening, so your body learns how to release tension more fully.

  3. Coherent Belly Breathing (Inhale 5, Exhale 5)

    • Placing your hand on your belly, you’ll breathe in for a count of 5, exhale for a count of 5, without holding at the top or bottom.

    • This rhythm — six breaths per minute — is scientifically shown to support vagus nerve activation, improve heart-rate variability, and regulate the nervous system.

    • It is grounding, balancing, and deeply calming.

Together, these practices:

  • Help discharge the stress of the day.

  • Teach the body how to move from fight/flight into rest and restore.

  • Create safety and regulation in the nervous system, which is the foundation for all deeper transformational work.

When to Use This Practice

  • After a busy or stressful day at work.

  • Any time you feel anxious, ungrounded, or overwhelmed.

  • As an evening ritual to unwind and prepare for sleep.

  • Before or after deep Threshold practices, to help integrate and settle.