The Rhythm of Healing: A Practice for Nervous System Recovery
This morning I woke from a nightmare.
It’s a familiar thing for me to be woken in a surge of physical panic. This particular experience reminded me that although it is not pleasant, I know the panic will recede. Eventually. It is the rhythm of life. In the Kaśmir Śaivism tantric yoga lineage, one word used to describe this phenomenon is spanda. It means the expansion and contraction of all things. The way that tidepool creatures ascend and submerge with the tides. The natural routines and rituals that shift with the light of the seasons. The internal shifts that allow us to move out into the world and towards ourselves again and again. The steady beat of our heart.
Lying there, I felt a rush of sensation move through my body, immediate and almost paralyzing. My system was activated and frozen at the same time. This kind of nighttime event has happened many times throughout my life, and it is actually a vital physical response. The surge of alertness and fear exists to help us escape danger when we are physically in danger. But the body doesn’t always know the difference.
For all of us, the body has been primed to react to an imminent threat. The mechanism works like a smoke alarm. When the body smells smoke, the alarm goes off. There might be increased heartbeat, panic or sudden clarity, extra strength in the limbs, or the urge to move. This is a survival response. It is your sympathetic nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do.
But it's not so useful when you just woke up from a bad dream. Or when you're navigating any number of daily stressors that probably won't kill you, if your thinking brain were fully online.
When the body and brain are engaged in a survival response, clarity and logic are simply not available.
The body is made to recover. It's built to cycle through stress and then find relief. But sometimes the activation, the smoke alarm, gets stuck in the on position.
I used to have a cat named Bat, who would paw at me from under the furniture, as cats do. I would jump in panic, scream, sometimes burst into tears, and often lose the ability to speak. It would take my nervous system hours to recover. And because cats don't just do something once and stop, my already wound-up system would get hit again with another swipe before it had found its footing.
In my experience as a therapist working with complex and attachment-based trauma, this is not uncommon. The body smells smoke when there is no smoke, and reacts accordingly. It took time for me to understand that this was an overactivation of my nervous system, not my inherent failure as a human.
You know the relief that washes over you when the smoke alarm finally goes quiet? That sigh of relief or full breath that arises spontaneously?
Our body is built to recover, to complete the stress cycle. But sometimes it needs help remembering how.
These days, my responses are different. Last week, a giant 13-year-old client thought it would be hilarious to jump-scare me at 8am. It worked. I startled and yelped loudly. She laughed. I said, "well, now my nervous system is really awake and ready", without the shame or self-judgment I used to carry. By the time I made the less-than-one-minute walk to my office, the activation had settled.
This has been the result of integrating practice, both independently and with the support of a somatic therapist. My nervous system is less agitated in general. I still get rattled, but I more easily find my way back to the steady rhythm of regulation.
An Embodied Practice for Returning Rhythm
This practice is for times when you feel like you are out of sync. You can do just the first part, or the whole thing.
Instructions
It’s always a good idea to take a moment to land where you are. Maybe gently recognizing the effect that gravity is having on you at the moment. Do you feel the weight of your own being on the earth? Are you trying to not? Remember that any way you are currently experiencing yourself is ok.
Place one hand, or a couple of fingers in a place where you can feel your heartbeat well. Softly center the beating of your heart in your attention until you feel well acquainted with it’s current rhythm. Then, lightly match the beat of your heart with a finger tip or a toe tap. It can be a very subtle echo. Allow yourself to rest fully in the rhythm. You’ll know when you are finished.
I will be accepting new clients in Washington State starting July 1, and I look forward to hearing from you!
A note on my work: In September, I graduated from Antioch University with a Master's in Couples and Family Therapy and have been working as a therapist at a local community mental health clinic since January 2024. My focus is somatic and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy. Both are body-centered, relational approaches that support people navigating trauma. I am currently completing the Somatic Experiencing Professional Training Program, working toward the SEP credential. In July, I will be opening a private practice in Olympia and online throughout Washington State, accepting new clients starting July 1st. If you are looking for a therapist who works compassionately with trauma and the body or know someone who is, you can reach out here.