About This Bundle
For decades, mental health work focused mostly on thoughts and feelings. We now know that the body is the place where most of the action happens. Trauma is held in the body. Anxiety is felt in the body. Healing, when it comes, comes through the body. Somatic work is the practice of working with the body directly: noticing what is happening physically, learning to regulate the nervous system, and building the
capacity to be fully present in your own skin.
This bundle introduces the foundational somatic practices drawn from Polyvagal Theory, Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and the broader trauma-informed field. The aim is not to make you a somatic therapist; the aim is to give you a set of accessible, practical skills you can use daily to regulate your nervous system, build interoceptive awareness, and live with greater embodied presence. Christianity has always held the body in high regard. We are not souls trapped in bodies; we are embodied creatures, made in the image of God. The Incarnation tells us God himself took on a body. The resurrection promises bodily life, not its escape. Somatic practice, far from being a distraction from spiritual life, can deepen it: a settled body listens better, a regulated nervous system prays more attentively, and embodied presence is the very ground of contemplative life.
What's Included:
Bundle description: Twelve worksheets walking you through foundational somatic and body-based practices for nervous system regulation, embodied awareness, and trauma-informed healing. Drawn from Polyvagal Theory, Somatic Experiencing, and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, integrated with Christian theology of the body. For anyone who has worked with thoughts and feelings and is ready to do the deeper work in the body itself.
01 Introduction to the Body and Nervous System — A foundational map of how the autonomic nervous system works, its two branches, and why the body matters in healing. Reframes the relationship between mind, body, and faith.
02 Window of Tolerance — Recognising the three zones: hyperarousal (anxious, reactive), the regulated middle, and hypoarousal (numb, shut down). Includes mapping your own window and a plan for returning to it.
03 Polyvagal Map — Stephen Porges' three nervous system states (ventral vagal, sympathetic, dorsal vagal) and how to recognise each in your own body. Includes a daily state-tracking exercise.
04 Body Scan — The foundational somatic practice of bringing attention to each part of the body, slowly. Includes a step-by-step guide and a body map for noticing what is there.
05 Grounding — Using the senses to anchor in the present when activation rises. The 5-4-3-2-1 practice plus six other grounding tools, with a personal grounding plan.
06 Orienting — Using the eyes to scan the environment and signal safety to the nervous system. A small, simple practice that a settled animal does naturally — and one most modern humans have stopped doing.
07 Pendulation — Moving attention deliberately between activation and calm to build nervous system flexibility. Teaches the body that difficult states are temporary.
08 Resourcing — Building an internal library of felt-sense safety: people, places, memories, body sensations, spiritual presence. The foundation that pendulation and trauma work depend on.
09 Co-regulation — Using safe human connection to settle your system. Mapping your co-regulation network and learning the often-forgotten skill of receiving comfort from others.
10 Vagus Nerve Practices — Six well-researched daily tools (long exhale, humming, cold water, gargling, slow movement, social engagement) plus the Voo breath and the Physiological Sigh.
11 Tracking Sensation — Building interoceptive awareness as a daily practice. Includes a sensation vocabulary, a week-long tracker, and a worksheet for linking each emotion to its body location.
12 A Daily Somatic Practice — The capstone. A three-time daily rhythm (morning, midday, evening), a weekly tracker, troubleshooting common obstacles, and integration with prayer and worship.