Finding Calm in the Storm: Managing Anxiety Attacks with Somatic and Mindful Practices

Anxiety attacks can feel like a wave crashing over you—sudden, overwhelming, and hard to control. Your heart races, your breath shortens, your body tenses, and your mind spirals. In those moments, it’s easy to feel powerless. But there are ways to meet anxiety with gentleness and tools that bring you back to steadiness.

Somatic therapy and mindfulness offer practical, body-based techniques that help you anchor yourself, calm your nervous system, and slowly rebuild a sense of safety. This article explores why somatic approaches are so effective, and gives you a toolkit for managing anxiety attacks with somatic and mindful Practices.

Why Somatic Approaches Work

Anxiety isn’t “just in your head.” It shows up in the body— tight chests, sweaty palms, dizziness, shaky legs. Somatic therapy recognises this and helps us connect with the body as a pathway to relief. By working directly with physical sensations, we can shift out of panic and into a calmer state, step by step.

Somatic Experiencing, developed by Dr. Peter Levine, focuses on gently releasing stored stress in the nervous system. Mindfulness-based practices complement this by training us to observe what’s happening without judgment, which helps reduce fear of the sensations themselves.

Practical Tools for Managing Anxiety Attacks

1. Orienting to the Present

When anxiety takes over, the body thinks danger is here. Orienting helps remind your nervous system that you’re safe.

• Look around the room. Notice five things you can see.
• Turn your head slowly from side to side, letting your eyes land on objects.
• Name colours, shapes, or familiar objects to bring your mind back to the present.

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2. Pendulation

In Somatic Experiencing, “pendulation” means gently moving attention between discomfort and comfort.

• Notice where the anxiety is strongest (e.g., tightness in the chest).
• Then shift your awareness to a place of ease (e.g., your feet on the ground, or a warm sensation in your hands).
• Move back and forth slowly between these sensations.

This helps the nervous system regulate instead of getting stuck in panic.

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3. Grounding Through Touch

Your body responds powerfully to touch.

Try:

• Pressing your feet firmly into the floor.
• Placing one hand on your chest and the other on your belly, noticing the warmth.
• Wrapping yourself in a blanket or holding a comforting object.

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4. Breath with Softness

Deep breathing doesn’t always work in the middle of an anxiety attack—it can even make things worse if forced. Instead, try softer breath practices:

• Sighing out: Exhale gently through the mouth, like a soft sigh, then allow the next inhale to come naturally.
• Extended exhale: Inhale for a count of 3, exhale for a count of 5. Longer exhales activate the parasympathetic (calming) nervous system.

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5. Anchoring with Mindfulness

Bring your attention to a single, steady focus:

• Notice the feeling of your hands resting in your lap.
• Listen for one sound around you, like birds outside or distant traffic.
• Repeat a grounding phrase such as “This moment will pass” or “I am safe right now.”

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6. Resourcing and Reassurance

“Resources” are inner or outer things that bring you comfort or strength.

• Imagine a safe place (real or imagined). Picture it vividly—colours, textures, smells.
• Recall a supportive person, animal, or memory.
• Use an object (a stone, scarf, or jewellery) as a physical reminder of steadiness.
• Keep post-it notes with reassuring words around your home or in your wallet. For example:
  • I am safe.
  • I have been through this before and survived.
  • I can breathe, I can slow down.
  • This feeling will pass.

👉 You can read more about building an Inner Resource or safe place in your mind in this blog post.

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Hot Tips for Everyday Practice

• Practice before you need it. These tools become most effective when familiar.
• Use small doses. Even 30 seconds of grounding makes a difference.
• Gentleness over force. Meet anxiety with curiosity and kindness, not control.
• Build your toolkit. Not every strategy works every time — have a few to choose from.
• Seek connection. These tools are valuable, but ongoing therapy and supportive relationships strengthen resilience over the long term.

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Closing Thought

Anxiety attacks may feel like they control you—but with somatic and mindful tools, you can create moments of choice and calm. Bit by bit, your body learns that it can ride the wave rather than drown in it.

You don’t have to make the anxiety disappear completely. The goal is to feel just a little more anchored, a little more steady, and to trust that the storm will pass.

I hope you find this toolkit for managing anxiety attacks with somatic and mindful Practices useful.

Let me know how you go, send me an email at lou@figcounselling.com.au, leave a comment on this article or book an appointment to come and work with me.

Thank you

Lou

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