Comforting And Supportive Gestures

This audiorecording takes you through a series of physical gestures that you can do for yourself to comfort and soothe yourself when you feel anxious or upset. We do this for others all the time - we think nothing of putting an arm around a friend, patting them on the back, or giving them a hug. But we haven't been taught that it's okay to do this for ourselves - but we can! And it feels calming and so helpful!

Transcript

Soothing touch is an informal practice and allows us to bring comfort to ourselves just when we need it the most.

Different soothing touch gestures appeal to different people.

So let's try a couple of different ones.

So maybe putting your hand over your heart and noticing the slight pressure that you feel,

The warmth that you feel when your hand is on your heart.

Maybe putting two hands on your heart and noticing what that feels like.

Maybe putting one hand on your cheek.

Maybe gently stroking your cheek with the finger of that hand.

Maybe putting one hand on each cheek.

So kind of cupping your face with your two hands.

Maybe gently stroking one arm with the other hand,

Stroking the upper arm with your hand.

Or maybe crossing your arms and giving yourself a gentle squeeze.

Or maybe try gently rubbing your chest over your heart using circular motions.

Or maybe one hand on your abdomen and one hand on your heart.

And again noticing the gentle pressure.

Or cupping one hand in the other hand in your lap.

So you're kind of holding your own hands.

Maybe one hand in a fist over your heart with the other hand holding the wrist of that hand.

Or maybe just reaching over and gently giving yourself a pat on the back.

Maybe just one hand on your abdomen and noticing what that feels like.

So those are a number of soothing touch gestures.

You can choose one or more that bring you some comfort.

And the reason that this works is that there's actually a physiological explanation.

When we do this,

When we give ourselves physical touch,

Physical care in this way,

Our body releases oxytocin which is what we call the feel good hormone.

And so there's actually a change in the chemistry of our bodies that make us feel better.

So this is why when you pet a dog or you maybe pick up a,

Or you put your arm around a friend,

This is why this feels better because you're actually releasing oxytocin and opiates when this happens.

WeJs

Reviews

A lovely change of perspective. The touches, the care that I direct towards others directed towards me, by myself. And my heart warmed up, because we’re not taught that is ok to be gentle with ourselves. Thank you🌹