Using Your Body to Calm Your Mind Somatic Practices for Everyday Stress
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When Your Mind Is Racing, Sometimes Your Body Needs to Lead the Way
For some, seated meditation is the perfect practice. For others—especially those who are stressed, anxious, or carrying tension—the stillness can feel more like the “freeze” response than rest. The good news? Movement works too.
Using Your Body to Calm Your Mind is a complete toolkit of 47 somatic practices designed for everyday life. Compiled from a year’s worth of my weekly newsletter, this collection offers body-based techniques that meet you where you are—in traffic, at your desk, in the middle of a holiday gathering.
47 techniques • ~75 pages • PDF download • suggested donation $7
Try One First — The One Minute Micro Reset
This is one of 47 techniques in the book, reprinted here in full so you can see the style before you buy.
The moment you sense tension rising, stop for a moment. If your body is already tense, this may turn into a Two or Three Minute Reset, but that’s alright, too. Take the time you need.
First, begin by relaxing your shoulders; let them drop naturally. If already tense, raise your shoulders up as close to your ears as you can, and just let go, let them drop. Do that three or four times.
Second, feel your body being solidly supported either seated in your chair, or standing with your feet solidly on the ground. Give yourself extra points if you can do this outside with your bare feet in the grass.
Third, take a deep, slow, conscious breath, inhaling through your nose to the count of four. Hold it a few seconds. Exhale to the count of six. If you’re tempted to exhale quickly, purse your lips like you’re going to whistle—this will slow down your exhale.
Fourth, bring your awareness to your chest. You can put your palm or your fist on your chest. Feel your connection to your heart space, your connection to peace.
Please note, nothing here is forced. Forcing never works, it just makes you more anxious. A One Minute Reset lets you interrupt the automatic loop of stress long enough to reconnect with your non-anxious self.
Done frequently, perhaps daily in the morning or at lunch, One Minute Resets help create a new stress-reduced default setting.
Inside the Book
- Quick interventions: one-minute micro resets, humming, the cold water wrist trick
- Movement practices: qigong patting, ecstatic dance, progressive muscle relaxation, power poses, somatic shaking
- Mind-body bridges: journaling methods, the “Ahhhh Process,” HeartMath Quick Coherence
- Environmental factors: sleep orientation, heat safety, clean air during smoke events
- Lifestyle shifts: breaking the loyalty trap, subscription fatigue, enclothed cognition
Each technique includes step-by-step instructions, the science behind why it works, and notes on when to use it. Practices range from 30 seconds to 15 minutes. No special equipment required for most
About the Author
Michelle K. Wood is a Holistic Relaxation Therapy certified instructor, sylvotherapy practitioner, and photographer based in Boise, Idaho. She has taught meditation and qigong classes through community colleges and private groups for years, and draws from her own experience with PTSD recovery to create accessible, body-based stress relief techniques. She is the author of Pilgrimage To India: An American Woman’s Adventure and publisher of the nature photography collection Natural Healing Views.
Get Your Copy
[Get the Book — suggested donation $7]
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Volume 2 is planned for next year—new techniques are being collected in the newsletter every week.