7 Somatic Exercises for Immediate Anxiety Relief

Anxiety has a way of hijacking your body, sending your heart racing, tightening your chest, and making it hard to think clearly. But what if you could counteract this stress response in real time? Somatic techniques—methods that use the body to calm the nervous system—offer a powerful way to regain control and find relief within minutes.

Understanding Anxiety and Nervous System Dysregulation

Anxiety is not just a mental experience—it is a symptom of nervous system dysregulation. When you feel anxious, your body is in a sympathetic state, also known as the fight-or-flight response. This is an automatic survival mechanism that prepares you to respond to danger.

However, in modern life, chronic stress, trauma, and unresolved emotions can keep your nervous system stuck in this high-alert state, even when no immediate danger is present.

The key to calming anxiety is shifting your nervous system from a sympathetic state (fight-or-flight) into a parasympathetic state (rest-and-digest).

This is where your body naturally restores balance, promoting relaxation, digestion, and healing. Somatic exercises can give you immediate anxiety relief by using either top-down (mind influencing body) or bottom-up (body influencing mind) approaches to signal to your nervous system that you are safe.

7 Somatic Exercises for Immediate Anxiety Relief

Here are five somatic techniques you can use anytime anxiety strikes:

1. Breathwork: The Fastest Way to Calm Your Nervous System

Breathing techniques work by directly influencing your autonomic nervous system, signaling to your body that it’s safe to relax. Try this method to quickly regulate your body’s stress response:

Steps for Box Breathing

1. Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds.

2. Hold your breath for 4 seconds.

3. Exhale slowly for 4 seconds.

4. Hold again for 4 seconds.

5. Repeat for a few rounds until you feel more centered.

Navy SEALs use box breathing to stay calm under pressure, and it works just as well for everyday anxiety relief.

2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Anxiety often shows up as physical tension. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) helps by systematically tensing and releasing muscle groups, sending signals to your brain that it’s okay to relax.

Steps for a Progressive Muscle Relaxation:

1. Find a comfortable seated or lying position.

2. Start with your feet: Tense them tightly for 5 seconds, then release.

3. Move to your calves, thighs, abdomen, shoulders, arms, and finally your face, tensing and relaxing each muscle group.

4. Take a deep breath and notice how much lighter and looser your body feels.

Progressive muscle relaxation not only relieves muscle tension but also shifts your focus away from anxious thoughts and onto your body.

3. Safe Place Visualization

Your brain doesn’t always distinguish between what’s real and what’s vividly imagined. This makes visualization a powerful tool for anxiety relief.

Steps for a Safe Place Visualization:

1. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths.

2. Imagine a place where you feel completely safe—maybe a peaceful beach, a cozy cabin, or floating on a soft cloud.

3. Engage your senses: What do you see, hear, feel, and smell in this place?

4. Spend a few minutes immersed in this scene, allowing your nervous system to settle.

4. The Butterfly Hug

The polyvagal theory explains how the vagus nerve influences our stress response. This somatic exercise helps regulate your nervous system and promote a sense of safety and connection.

Steps for the Butterfly Hug

1. Cross your arms over your chest, resting your hands on your upper arms.

2. Gently tap one hand at a time, alternating left and right.

3. Focus on slow, deep breathing as you continue tapping for a minute or two.

This technique soothes the nervous system and provides a sense of self-comfort.

5. EFT Tapping

EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques is a simple method of tapping on acupressure points and addressing emotional challenges that helps to release emotion, helping you feel better fast.

Steps for EFT Tapping

1. Using your fingertips, gently tap on specific acupressure points (such as the forehead, chin, and collarbone) while acknowledging your feelings.

2. Repeat calming affirmations like, “Even though I feel anxious, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

This method helps release stuck energy and regulate emotions.

6. The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise

When experiencing anxiety you can use the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise to bring you back into the present moment, reaffirming to your nervous system that you are safe.

Steps for the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise:

1. Identify 5 things you can see around you.

2. Identify 4 things you can touch.

3. Identify 3 things you can hear.

4. Identify 2 things you can smell.

5. Identify 1 thing you can taste.

This exercise anchors you in the present moment, reducing panic and overwhelm.

7. Somatic Shaking

Animals instinctively shake after experiencing stress to release built-up tension from their nervous system. Humans can benefit from this natural mechanism as well.

Steps for Somatic Shaking:

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.

2. Begin gently bouncing your knees, letting your arms and hands shake loosely.

3. Gradually intensify the movement, shaking your legs, arms, shoulders, and even your head (like you're shaking off stress).

4. Continue for 1-2 minutes, then slow down and take a deep breath.

5. Notice how much lighter and more relaxed your body feels.

Somatic shaking helps discharge excess adrenaline and cortisol, making it a fantastic tool for quickly resetting your nervous system after moments of high anxiety or stress.

Final Thoughts

Anxiety doesn’t have to take over your day. By incorporating somatic techniques like breathwork, progressive muscle relaxation, visualization, polyvagal-based exercises, and somatic shaking, you can take back control and calm your nervous system in minutes.

These tools work by either influencing the brain (top-down) or calming the body first (bottom-up), both of which help restore balance and shift you into a parasympathetic state.

These techniques work best when practiced regularly, so experiment with them and find what resonates most with you. Try one the next time you feel anxiety creeping in—and notice how your body responds!

For a deeper dive into the root-cause of anxiety, read this post about how Hypnotherapy can help you release the cause of your anxiety instead of focusing on symptoms.