Body-First Healing Podcast

How to Break a Nervous System Pattern Somatic Practice

• Britt Piper • Episode 44

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If you keep ending up in the same pattern, it does not mean you are failing. In this episode, Britt explores why nervous system patterns repeat, what they are really protecting, and how to start interrupting them with more awareness and safety. She also guides you through a 15-minute somatic practice to help you begin breaking a stuck pattern in real time.


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SPEAKER_00

Welcome to the Body First Healing Podcast. I'm Britt Piper, Survivor Turn Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Aut. If you feel stuck in old patterns, overwhelmed by your emotions, or disconnected from yourself, you're in the right place. Each week, I'll share practical somatic tools, personal stories, and conversations to support you in building a more regulated and embodied life. Because you can't talk your way through healing. You have to feel your way through. Together, we'll explore what it means to come back to yourself and create a life that feels safe enough to fully live in. I am so glad that you're here. Hello, my friend, and welcome back to the Body First Healing Podcast. I am your host, Britt Piper, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Trainer, author, and

What Being Stuck Really Means

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survivor. For most people, the word stuck is not just a description. Like it can feel like shame because it comes with this kind of quiet fear that maybe you are the problem, that maybe you've done all of this work and nothing is changing. That maybe you've healed a lot and yet you still keep looping in the same place in the same patterns. Now, for some people, it shows up as a relational pattern that keeps repeating. For others, it might be the way that you overwork and then crash or how you start something and then retreat right when it feels like it's starting to matter. Sometimes these patterns can touch into your relationship to money, your health, your confidence, your voice, or just your ability to truly receive. So whatever it is, wherever you land on that spectrum, you can often feel that you are not dealing with one isolated issue. You are dealing with a system, right? Like a loop, a groove that you keep falling back into, even when your mind is begging for something different. And I just want to start by saying this very gently, but also very clearly. If you are still stuck, it does not mean that you are failing. It does not. It does not mean that you are not trying hard enough. It does not mean that you're broken. It usually means that your nervous system has not yet experienced enough safety to choose a different response.

3 Ways We Can Start To Break A Pattern

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So, how can we start to break a pattern in real life without force? I want to bring this into the practical because I know that some of you are listening and thinking, okay, Britt, but like, what do I do tomorrow? Like, how do I actually break the loop when it shows up? So here is the truth. You don't break patterns by declaring them broken. You break patterns by catching the moment that the nervous system starts to run it and creating, again, just enough space or safety, we could say, for a new choice. So the first step is not action. The first step is recognition. And most of us don't notice the pattern until we're already inside it, right? So the first win is noticing earlier. I called this the upstream effect. And we work on this in the Body First Healing program. So instead of, for instance, catching ourselves when we're in the act, when we're in the pattern, when we're coming down the waterfall, which we can't stop it now. Instead, we want to catch it upstream and notice the earlier patterns that predict the later, bigger impulse. So we do that by noticing the body cue that precedes it. It might be a tight chest. It could be a clenching jaw. It could be a leaning forward feeling or a buzzing urgency. And it can even be like a sense of numbness or even heat. That somatic cue is the doorway. And then the second step is going to be resourcing. Okay. And this doesn't mean like forcing calm. This is not breathwork performance here. We are talking resourcing, something that tells the nervous system, shows the nervous system, I am here. I am supported. That could be your back against the chair. It could be your feet on the floor. It could be your eyes orienting to the room, a hand on the body or chest. You can even go into a memory of safety or think about a person that you trust or even a place that you love. Now, the third step then is staying with sensation long enough for it to move. And this is where I would say most people bail, okay, because the sensation part is really unfamiliar and likely scary. Sensation feels like danger when you were raised to survive by leaving the body. But remember that patterns don't change by leaving. Patterns change by staying right there with a little more support than you used to have. And then from that place, action becomes possible. Not forced, okay,

Somatic Practice For Breaking A Nervous System Pattern

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but possible. Okay, so now let's put this into practice. And just a quick note before we begin: if at any point, okay, you start to notice that you're getting overwhelmed, remember that you can always, always pause the episode and come back when you feel more supported. And if you instead just need a moment, remember that you can always open your eyes wider. You can look around the room slowly, you can stand up, you can stretch, right? Your pace is the right pace. Okay. So I'll invite you now to just kind of let yourself settle just where you are. Okay, feel the surface beneath you. And can you let your body just be held? If you're driving, of course, keep your eyes on the road and just bring attention to maybe like contact points, you know, hands on the wheel, back against the seat. That can be a good grounding. Now, from this settled place, can you bring to mind one pattern in your life that feels stuck? And just one. Okay. Something that you loop in. And of course, don't pick the biggest trauma. Pick the one that is maybe present enough that your body recognizes this loop, but not so big that it floods you. And as you bring this to mind, can we start to just notice like what your body does? Okay, not what your mind says, but what your body does. And from here, just take a moment and let your attention just scan your internal landscape. Maybe you notice your chest tighten, maybe your belly is gripping, maybe there's constriction in your throat, or your shoulders are rising. Perhaps there's an urge or like an impulse to move away to turn off the episode. That urge is information. Okay. Now, instead of pushing this impulse, this pattern away, can we see if we can name it gently? So you might say inside, like, this is the part of me that braces, or this is the part of me that rushes, this is the part of me that shuts down. This is the part of me that tries to control. And remember, we're just naming it without judgment. And by doing this, we're already bringing in more space. Okay, so now let's bring in some support, right? Some of that resource. Can we feel our back? Just notice how the spine might be supported right now, or even just the sit bones. Can we notice the back of the head? Oh, the shoulder blades, the ribs, the hips. And just allowing the nervous system to remember that support exists here and within you. If it helps, you can place a hand somewhere on your body that feels neutral or comforting. For me, it's usually just right over my chest. Maybe it's your shoulders, maybe it's just a self-hug, maybe it's a hand on the belly. Remember that we're not trying to fix anything here. We're just letting the body feel contact, feel safety. Now, here's the key question. Okay, can we start to ask slowly and then wait? What does my body believe will happen if I do not run this pattern? If I don't allow it to loop through? What does my body believe will happen, for instance, if I stop people pleasing? If I rest, if I speak up in this moment, if I receive, if I do the new thing. And remember, we don't need to rush for an answer here. We can let the answer arrive as sensation. You might notice tightening. Maybe there's a pulling back, a sinking. You might notice an image or a memory or an emotion come up. Or maybe nothing at all. Whatever shows up is enough. Now can we say quietly inside that makes sense? This pattern has been protecting me from something. And then let that land. Not as a concept, but as compassion. Okay, so now can we start to just gently orient the eyes to the room or the space that we're in? Okay, just letting the eyes take in something neutral, something pleasant. Maybe it's a plant, maybe it's a corner of the ceiling, light through the window, or maybe a color that you like. Just let your nervous system track safety in the environment that you're in. And then I would invite you to just kind of stay there for a few breaths. Alright, so now let's return our attention to the place in the body that was activated. That could have been the chest, the belly, the jaw, and then just notice from here if there's been any shift. Even 1%. If it softened, can we notice that? If it didn't, that's okay. Remember, our job here is not to force change. Our job is to start to build relationship. And from here, okay, we're now going to offer the body a new option very gently. So I'll invite you now to ask what's one small next move that would be safe enough. Okay, not the biggest brave action, the smallest true one. So, as an example, that might look like sending the text without overexplaining or saying no and just letting it stand. So sometimes it's just doing the scary thing for just long enough that your body can realize it survived. So from here, again, let the body choose the smallest step that it can tolerate. Now imagine yourself doing that step while staying connected to support. Can you again feel your breath, feel your feet, and let the image just be slow and then just notice what happens. If resistance rises, that is also information. If fear rises, that is information. Okay, you're not failing, you're meeting the place where the pattern lives. So within your own capacity, can you stay with it? And then the final thing I want to do here, okay, is put a time stamp on your life right now. Can you remind your nervous system, I am here, I am safe enough. This is a new moment. You might even say your name inside.

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Okay.

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Can you say your age? Can you say the year? Something that that really anchors you in the present. And then just let yourself feel the difference between now and then, even if it's just subtle. Okay, the body might not fully believe it yet, but it can begin to sense into it. All right, so let's take one more breath. Not a force deep one. Just kind of let the breath complete itself. And then when you're ready, we can bring our attention fully back. Okay, and just allow yourself to look around, maybe wiggle your fingers or your toes, feel the room again.

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Okay.

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Amazing. So this is what it looks like to interrupt a pattern without criticism towards self. Not by overpowering it, but by meeting it with enough of safety and support for something new to become possible. Thank you so much for tuning into the Body First Healing podcast. If this episode resonated with you, I would be so grateful if you subscribed, left a review, or shared it with someone that you love. I'll see you back here next week. And until then, be gentle with yourself. You're doing the best you can with what you have, and that is more than enough. Just a quick note this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Always consult a qualified provider for personal support.