When working within the Polyvagal nervous system regulation framework, we know that in order to bring someone out of a freeze and dissociated state, we need to gently mobilize their nervous system within their capacity.
We don’t want to overstimulate or overwhelm their system, but we want their system to experience a little bit of activation within their capacity. It’s in this way that their system will begin to experience expansion and their window of tolerance — what they can tolerate without moving into fight or flight — will grow.
Where you are on the nervous system “map” will determine which somatic exercises may be the most effective for you
In How to map your own nervous system, we discussed the three different subsystems of the Polyvagal system: Ventral vagal which is the state of connection and safety, the Sympathetic system, which is the state of fight and flight or mobilization, and the Dorsal Vagal system, which is the state of freeze and immobilization.
Many people are stuck in the Freeze state or what we call “functional freeze,” where they are able to function or even excel in their jobs, but feel numb and unfulfilled, self isolate, and feel like they’re in a fog when at home.
Others find themselves ping ponging between flight and flight state and freeze states. Often this looks like feeling exhausted and dissociated (detached from their bodies) but easily startled by sounds or activated by anything even remotely stressful and then they plunge back into freeze. In the Polyvagal world, this is called having one foot on the brake and one foot on the gas, and it’s exhausting to live like this.
Somatic exercises for freeze state
These Somatic exercises are some of my favorite practices to help you gently mobilize while staying well within your capacity. Try one or all of them and see whether any of them shift you .01%. You’re not looking for a huge shift — you want a tiny subtle shift. Then, you practice it every day. I know, that’s the hard part, but think of it as training your nervous system — creating new neural pathways… new neural habits, a tiny bit at a time. After 3 weeks, see what you notice.
This is my favorite somatic exercise for gently mobilizing when in a dissociated or freeze state. Often, when we’ve been immobilized, we also feel stiff because we haven’t been moving, so this addresses both the physical mobility as well as moving energy stuck in the joints.
When in freeze state, some people feel exhausted and can barely get out of bed or off the sofa, but as tired as they feel, they can’t sleep either. If you can relate to this, try doing this while lying in bed. Some people report falling asleep while listening to the audio. Doing only a few of the movements regulates them enough that their sleep improves. Think about it this way, when we feel safe, our bodies will do what they naturally need to do. Sometimes, the most important thing is to sleep deeply.
For this exercise, Moving the Joints, I’m sending you to my Insight Timer account for a free guided audio recording. You may need to download Insight Timer on your phone or go to insighttimer.com to set up a free account and then click on this link.
Click on this link for Moving your Joints audio recording.
Please follow me on Insight Timer for access to other free audio recordings.
Squeezing your arms and legs
This exercise is especially helpful if you feel dissociated in your limbs. It helps bring awareness back into your limbs. Begin by squeezing your upper arms, from your shoulder to your elbow and from your elbow to your wrist. Then do the same for your thighs and then lower legs.
Anchoring your container
Our hands take up 35% of the real estate in the sensorsy part of your brain. This means that your hands are influential when bringing attention and awareness to different parts of your body.
Often when we’re in freeze or dissociated state, we aren’t connected to parts of ourselves. We don’t feel our lower body or limbs.
What we’re doing in this exercise is using our hands to bring awareness to the parts of ourselves that feels disembodied and drawing the energy downwards in to our feet on the ground.
Exercise:
Begin by having your feet flat on the floor or ground. Wiggle your toes and feel the connection with your feet and toes. Then, place your hands on your upper body or lower body — wherever you feel disembodied — and begin to stroke downwards. You can do this on your head and face, arms, torso, hips, and then really focus your attention on your legs, knees, lower legs and feet. You continuously stroke downwards towards your feet and the floor. Spend extra time stroking your feet and heels, feeling the connection to the ground.
Orienting + grounding exercise
This is one of the most important exercises you can do daily. You’ll practice feeling your body on your chair or bed as well as looking around the room and orienting. Animals in the wild do this exercise naturally to let themselves know they’re safe. Babies orient constantly. When we practice these innate nervous system exercises, our brain recognizes these as familiar and signals to our brain and body that we’re safe.
Download Insight Timer free app or go on Insighttimer.com and click on the link below for a free 7-minute audio recording.
Click on this link for “Orienting + Grounding.”
Voo
This is an effective Somatic Experiencing® exercise that gently stimulates the vagus nerve by vibrating all of the organs.
When we’re in freeze, our body signals the brain that it’s not safe. Then the body operates at a low level and conserves energy. But when we Voo, we create a gentle vibration throughout the entire system and the vagus nerve connects all the internal organs and signals to the brain that the body (including the lungs, heart, organs, and digestive system) is safe, and the body slowly mobilizes.
Exercise:
To practice Voo, sit comfortably. Because the vagus nerve innervates both sides of your face and neck, you can place one of both hands on the sides of your neck so you can feel the vibration.
Take a deep breath in, and as you exhale, make a low, deep sound of “Voo.” Think of the Voo sound being like the low deep sound of a fog horn on the water at night.
When you complete your Voo, sit for a moment and feel yourself.
Then repeat once again. Only do this 2-3 times as it’s sneaky powerful and you don’t want to overdo it.
Sit with yourself for a few moments. Some people may observe some physical sensations, notice some images, emotions, or feel a little activated. If it feels like too much, do less next time. Our goal is to gently mobilize, so it’s okay to be a tiny bit activated as long as it feels completely tolerable and doesn’t put you in fight or flight. This builds capacity in your nervous system.
Remember that the nervous system is super sensitive and processes more slowly than your rational, thinking brain does. So don’t overthink or overanalyze or over judge what’s happening. You’re in new territory!