Self Hug For Nervous System Regulation

This short track guides you through a soothing self-hug practice to help calm stress and regulate your nervous system. You’ll be invited to cross your arms over your chest, and either softly tap your upper arms (Butterfly Hug) or stroke down to your elbows (Havening). It’s especially supportive if you’re highly sensitive, neurodivergent, or feeling overwhelmed by sensory input or upset. Leave feeling grounded, comforted, and more connected to your body.

Transcript

Do you love a hug,

Like them or hate them?

I'm not a fan of hugs.

Today I'm going to show you two ways that you can give yourself a gentle self hug if you don't like hugs of other people.

Hugs are great,

They reduce your stress levels by lowering your cortisol and they increase the feel-good feeling by releasing oxytocin.

If you are a sensitive person or neurodivergent you might really not like hugs,

You might not like being touched or people in your personal space and because you've got a sensitive nervous system,

Energetic system,

All the noise of the external world can feel too much and you just don't want anyone near you and touching just it can be painful for some people.

So please always respect people's personal space before you go in for a ask them if it's okay.

There are many reasons why hugs might not feel safe for people.

If you do want to reduce your stress levels and feel better in yourself you might be overwhelmed,

Upset,

Stressed.

Here are the two ways you can give yourself a hug.

So what I want you to do is cross your arms over your chest and place your hands on the upper arms.

The first one we're going to do is just slowly,

Just slowly tapping the top of your arm.

This is called a butterfly hug and you can do this for as little or as long as you need and just helps you get out of your head and into your body and calm.

The second one is part of a behaving technique.

Again with crossed arms what you do is just slowly stroke your arm from your shoulders down to your elbow.

Again do for as little or as long as needed.

Give yourself a squeeze and slow your breathing.

So give it a try.

Next time you're overwhelmed,

Need a hug,

Don't want anyone else to hug you,

Try these two hugs and I will admit I do love a hug from an animal,

My dog.

To find what hug,

Find what hug works for you.

Oh I came a bit,

That felt a bit aggressive then so I'm going to calm that down.

Find a hug that works for you and I'm sending you a beautiful virtual heart hug today.

Save this so you can come back to it when you need it.