Somatic Anchors to Ground You on Low Energy Days
Some autumn days arrive already grey, inside and out. You feel foggy, flat, oddly far away from your own life, as though you are watching it through misted glass.
This is a common experience for sensitive nervous systems, especially as the days shorten, the temperature drops, and the air pressure changes. I talk about this a lot during the Autumn. It is very common for people with soma-divergent bodies to experience a very real drop in energy and an increase in symptoms during Autumn.
This can be very unsettling, yet there are gentle, physical ways to come back to yourself. You do not have to think your way out of the fog. You can come home through the body.
Why the fog descends
That flat, faraway feeling is a kind of seasonal shutdown, a nervous system dialling itself down when things feel like too much. It is not laziness or coldness. It is protection.
When a system has been carrying a heavy load, sometimes it lowers the volume on everything, feeling included, as a way of coping. Autumn, with its extra demands on a sensitive body, can tip more of us into this state more often. I’ve always thought of it as a kind of cyclical burnout because it arrives sometime in October or November and can last well into January or February. (Reverse this if you’re in the southern hemisphere).
All bodies will want to do less in the winter. As mammals we are governed by the rhythm of day and night and the shift in seasons. Winter demands that we slow down and conserve energy. Having to maintain the same rhythm through the dark months as we did during the lighter months pushes against something instinctual and ancient.
Understanding this matters. When we do nurturing somatic exercises to help us anchor and find peace in our body through the winter months, we aren’t trying to reverse this ancient biological wiring, we are honouring it while also supporting ourselves to survive the demands of modern life.
Anchors that bring you back
The aim on a foggy day is clear, distinct sensation, something vivid enough to reach you through the misty glass. I tend towards something gentle and accessible, and perhaps much shorter than you might manage in the lighter parts of the year.
Cool water: the mammalian dive reflex truly is our friend. Running your wrists under the tap or splashing cool water on the face stimulates our nervous system through sensation while also applying the vagal brake. The vagal brake is part of the parasympathetic nervous system. It slows the heart and breathing rate without us having to consciously do anything. When we wake in the morning, we get a spike of cortisol to help us get up. This can feel uncomfortable for some people. Splashing water on wrists and/or face can return us back to centre more quickly.
Connection: You do not need to talk. Simply being near a calm person, or a steady animal, can help your own system find its way back to centre. If you can, let yourself be quietly near someone safe on a foggy day. Co-regulation is not weakness. It is one of the oldest and most natural ways human beings return to themselves. We all need it.
Movement: This doesn’t have to be vigorous exercise. If you have a sensitive soma-divergent body, then you may not find the gym or going running is accessible to you. Instead, go for gentle movement. It might be to a piece of music you love, just gently moving your body in time to the beat. It could be going for a slow, gentle walk where you pick up leaves and notice mushrooms and birdsong. It might be soft stretches or just moving instinctively for a few minutes. It could even be gently shaking or swaying when you feel activated.
Breath: Not everyone can find their breath and that is okay, but if you want to try or you are okay with doing a little bit of breathwork, then this can be a pretty magical way to connect with your nervous system. There are two breaths I use in the autumn;
To Calm: Coherent breath
Breathe in for 5 counts, breathe out for 5 counts. You’re aiming for a steady, even in and out breath with no breaks in between. Around 5-7 breaths a minute which synchronises with the heart rate, calming the nervous system.
Start with around 30 seconds of breathing and build up to around 3 to 5 minutes over time.
To Boost: Breath of joy
We do three short inhales and then one longer exhale. With straight arms throughout, the first inhale brings your arms out in front at shoulder height. The second inhale arms go out to the sides like you’re making a cross shape with your body. The third the arms go overhead.
On your exhale, the arms can soften back to your sides, or you can also do a lovely forward fold.
This is quite a vigorous and stimulating breath, so start with just a minute and build up over a few weeks to around 3-5 minutes.
Texture: Texture helps too, something with a strong feel under your fingers, a rough blanket, a smooth stone, warm fur if you are lucky enough to have a willing animal nearby. Feeling something and really noticing the texture takes us out of our spinning thoughts and into the body, while also allowing us to focus externally for a moment.
