The Science Of Slowing Down - why it matters for trauma recovery and resilience
How Somatic Awareness Builds Capacity
This journal helps clients understand that slowing down isn’t avoidance it’s nervous system regulation. It weaves together trauma science, polyvagal theory, and accessible somatic practices to show how going slow actually increases the ability to feel, stay, and heal.
Why Slowing Down Feels So Hard
If you’ve ever tried to rest, pause, or sit still
and immediately felt uncomfortable, overwhelmed, or restless
you’re not alone.
For many trauma survivors, slowing down feels unsafe.
Not because they’re doing it wrong,
but because their nervous system was trained to survive at speed.
When your body learns that danger might be just around the corner,
it adapts by staying alert.
By moving fast.
By bracing physically and emotionally.
So when you try to slow down…
your system says: “Are you sure we’re safe?”
This is why we build the capacity to slow down gently, over time.
And this is why somatic awareness is key.
What “Capacity” Really Means
Your window of capacity is the range within which you can feel emotion, sensation, and connection without shutting down or getting overwhelmed.
When you’re inside your window, you can:
Feel emotion without losing control
Stay present with discomfort
Notice a sensation and remain grounded
Move toward integration, not collapse
When you’re outside your window, your system may shift into:
Hyperarousal – anxiety, panic, racing thoughts
Hypoarousal – numbness, flatness, disconnection
Our goal isn’t to avoid these states, it’s to expand your capacity to stay with what’s here, without getting pulled out of presence.
How Somatic Awareness Builds Capacity
The more we practice noticing what’s happening in the body without rushing to fix it the more our nervous system learns that it’s safe to feel.
This might include:
Tracking the sensation of breath in the chest
Naming the weight of the body against the chair
Noticing tension in the jaw, without changing it
Gently orienting to the room when intensity rises
Using pendulation moving attention between comfort and discomfort, ease and edge
These practices work with the nervous system to renegotiate trauma, not retraumatise.
Because trauma healing isn’t about how much we can release.
It’s about how much we can stay with.
Why Going Slow Isn’t “Doing It Wrong”
Some clients feel frustrated in early somatic work.
They say:
“I don’t feel anything.”
“I just want to get to the root.”
“Why does it feel like nothing’s happening?”
Here’s the truth:
Slowness is the work.
When your system has been stuck in hypervigilance or dissociation, stillness and sensation can feel foreign even threatening.
But the more we practice staying, even for a few seconds longer, the more your capacity expands.
That moment when you notice a tightness and don’t run from it?
That’s healing.
That breath you take before reacting…
That’s healing.
That decision to pause before processing…
Also healing.
Small Slowness, Big Change
You don’t have to push to transform.
You don’t need to force your system open.
In somatic therapy, we use rhythm, breath, and body awareness to slowly rewire your relationship with sensation.
And from there, your body begins to learn:
It’s okay to slow down.
It’s okay to feel this.
I don’t have to rush to be okay.
That’s what builds capacity.
That’s what makes space for real healing to happen.
You’re not behind.
You’re learning a new pace
one your body can trust.
Guided Practice: Slow Enough To Stay
I have created a somatic practice gently supports your nervous system in building tolerance for slowness, a key skill in healing.
You’ll be guided to orient to your environment, track internal sensation, and stay present with breath and rhythm. Each of these steps supports nervous system regulation, helping expand your window of capacity without pressure or overwhelm.
You don’t have to feel a lot. You don’t have to “get it right.”
You just have to go slow enough to stay.
