How to Cope With Feeling Overwhelmed
5 Gentle Somatic Practices to Support Your Nervous System
If you’ve been searching for how to calm your nervous system or ease that constant sense of overwhelm, you’re in the right place.
In current times when the world feels overwhelming - too loud, too fast, too much. That sense of overstimulation isn't a personal shortcoming; it's your body's way of signalling a need for rest, slowing down, safety, and grounding. This is the intelligence of the human nervous system.
In moments of overwhelm, somatic practices can provide gentle pathways back to balance, helping you reconnect with your body's innate wisdom. Instead of forcing yourself to push through, these practices invite you to pause, slow down, soften, and choose care over mere coping.
You might be wondering, what are somatic practices?
In this blog, I explain what somatic means and guide you through five trauma-sensitive somatic practices that can support your nervous system. These practices are based on my work as a somatic practitioner and trauma-informed counsellor at New Leaf with Nisha. These practices are grounded in evidence-based approaches and designed to be accessible, nurturing, and regulating, especially during periods of emotional overwhelm, burnout, and chronic stress.
Whether you're new to somatic work or returning to your body after a challenging period, this is an invitation to reclaim a little more time to attend to yourself, be present for yourself, and establish inner safety - one step at a time when the world outside can feel a little too much.
What Is the Soma and How Do Somatic Practices Help?
“Soma” is a Greek word meaning “the body as experienced from within.” This includes muscles and bones, breath patterns, emotional sensations, and gut instincts - the body’s language of aliveness.
Trauma and chronic stress live in the soma within the tension we carry, the way we breathe, and how we hold ourselves. These patterns can influence nearly all biological functions, including how we respond to threats or safety.
Somatic therapy helps us gently reconnect with these inner cues, shifting from reactive survival states toward embodied regulation.
Research shows that somatic practices enhance interoception (awareness of internal states), help restore balance in the autonomic nervous system, and support trauma resolution (Kuhfuß et al., 2021; Payne et al., 2015).
1. Breath Awareness to Soothe Your System
Your breath is a built-in tool for calming the nervous system. However, when we’re living with stress or the effects of trauma, the breath often becomes shallow, restricted, or held without us even realising it.
Mindfully slowing the breath, especially the exhale, can gently activate the parasympathetic nervous system, the part of you wired for rest, digestion, and restoration. It signals to your body: it’s safe to soften.
If you’ve noticed that your breath feels shallow or different from others, know that this may be your body’s way of adapting to past overwhelm. This is a survival strategy. The invitation here is to explore breath with curiosity and care, not urgency.
Try this (if it feels accessible):
One hand on your chest, one on your belly
Inhale gently through the nose, belly expanding
Exhale slowly through the mouth, belly softening
You might experiment with a slightly longer exhale (e.g. inhale for 4, exhale for 6)
Even a few deep exhalations (reminder: whatever is natural for you) without force can begin to shift your internal state toward ease.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, somatic breathing slows your heart rate, relaxes your muscles, and supports whole-body regulation.
2. Ground Through the Senses
When your thoughts race or emotions flood, grounding into your senses can bring you back to now.
The 5-4-3-2-1 Sensory Grounding Technique. Try this:
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
This method helps discharge excess activation and reconnect with your body's capacity for presence. In somatic therapy, we often use sensory grounding to re-establish a sense of orientation and safety in the here and now.
Somatic approaches like this help reconnect the body to the present moment and release tension that is stored from past experiences of overwhelm and other challenging experiences, including trauma (Kuhfuß et al., 2021).
3. Allow Yourself to Move Gently, With Awareness
Somatic movement isn't about exercise , it's about choice, agency, present-moment awareness, curiosity, and connection.
Try this:
Rocking side to side
Gentle stretching or shoulder rolls
Lying on the floor and noticing where your body meets the ground
In trauma-informed practice, we use techniques like orienting (noticing your environment), pendulation (gently moving between comfort and discomfort), and resourcing (connecting with inner or outer sources of safety). These practices help the nervous system to feel the choices instead of collapse or freeze.
Somatic experiencing works with interoception and proprioception to discharge survival energy and restore balance to the nervous system (Payne, Levine, & Crane-Godreau, 2015).
Explore more: Trauma-Sensitive Yoga: An Evidence-Informed Approach to Healing.
4. Offer Self-Compassion
Many of us are overwhelmed with pressure or performance. But the nervous system responds more deeply to kindness than to criticism or correction.
Try this:
Placing your hand on your heart
Whispering: "It's okay to feel this way"
Asking: "What do I need right now?" And, kindly listening to the body's needs and honouring them.
As research suggests, self-compassion isn't indulgence; it's a powerful tool for nervous system regulation.
In my practice at New Leaf with Nisha, self-compassion is woven into breathwork, movement, and in the way we sit with discomfort. Your emotions and body deserve tenderness, not timelines.
Read more: The Mighty Impact of Small Wins in Life's Journey
5. Create a Calm Space That Feels Like a Sanctuary
Your surroundings can shape your internal state. A calm, sensory-friendly space can offer your nervous system a place to downshift.
Consider including:
Soft textures (a warm blanket, cushion, or scarf)
Warm, gentle lighting
Grounding scents (As an example: lavender, sandalwood, cinnamon)
A familiar photo, affirmation, or object of personal meaning
Studies show that calming environments help enhance interoceptive awareness and support nervous system regulation (Kuhfuß et al., 2021).
Curating a calm space doesn't need to be picture-perfect; it should resonate with your sense of comfort and safety. In therapy, we often explore how your environment can become a co-regulator, helping you feel emotionally anchored.
In Closing
You don't need to be less sensitive. In fact, you need to be more supported.
Your overwhelm is an invitation to listen, slow down, and come home to your soma.
If this blog has inspired you to explore this more deeply in a space where your nervous system, lived experiences, and inner longings are honoured- I'd be honoured to walk beside you.
📍 Brisbane & Online | www.newleafwithnisha.com.au
“Healing takes time, and asking for help is a courageous step.”
– Mariska Hargitay
References:
Kuhfuß, M., et al. (2021). Somatic experiencing – effectiveness and key factors of a body-oriented therapeutic approach to trauma. PMC8276649
Johns Hopkins Medicine, Office of Well-Being. Somatic Self Care
Payne, P., Levine, P. A., & Crane-Godreau, M. A. (2015). Somatic experiencing: using interoception and proprioception as core elements of trauma therapy. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 93
Dampsey, J. Nervous System Regulation: Somatic Experiencing® and Trauma Healing
