Resources for Your Healing Journey
Curated tools, evidence-based books, grounding techniques, and support resources to support your trauma recovery, grief processing, and spiritual integration.
Get Your Free Grounding Techniques Guide
Learn 5 proven grounding techniques you can use anywhere—at home, at work, or in moments of overwhelm. Includes step-by-step instructions and printable quick-reference cards.
- 5-4-3-2-1 sensory grounding
- Box breathing techniques
- Body scan exercises
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FREE Grounding Techniques Guide
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Free Grounding Exercises
The 5-4-3-2-1 Sensory Technique
Name 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, and 1 you taste. This brings you into the present moment and calms an activated nervous system.
Best for: Anxiety, flashbacks, dissociation
Box Breathing (4-4-4-4)
Inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. This simple breathing pattern activates your parasympathetic nervous system and creates calm in minutes.
Best for: Panic, overwhelm, racing thoughts
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Systematically tense and release different muscle groups from your toes to your head. Releases stored tension in your body and signals safety to your nervous system.
Best for: Chronic tension, hypervigilance, sleep
Bilateral Stimulation
Alternating left-right stimulation (tapping knees, eye movements, or sounds). Used in EMDR and effective for processing trauma and soothing your nervous system.
Best for: Intrusive thoughts, trauma processing, nervous system reset
Body Scan Meditation
Slowly bring awareness through different parts of your body, noticing sensations without judgment. Rebuilds the mind-body connection and releases dissociation.
Best for: Dissociation, disconnection, body awareness
The Freeze Release
Move your body intentionally (shaking, stretching, dancing) to release the freeze response. Completes the fight-flight-freeze cycle and helps discharge trauma.
Best for: Freeze response, stuck energy, emotional release
Recommended Reading
Trauma & Healing
The Body Keeps the Score
By Bessel van der Kolk
Essential reading on how trauma is stored in the body and innovative approaches to healing including mindfulness, neurofeedback, and somatic therapy.
What Happened to You?
By Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey
A compassionate guide to understanding trauma's impact and developing a trauma-informed perspective on behavior and healing.
It Didn't Start with You
By Mark Wolynn
Explores generational trauma and how ancestral wounds affect us, with practical exercises for healing family patterns.
Waking the Tiger
By Peter Levine
Introduces Somatic Experiencing and explains how to safely discharge trauma from the nervous system.
Attachment & Relationships
Attached
By Amir Levine & Rachel Heller
Explores attachment theory and how early bonds shape our relationships, with practical insights for healing attachment wounds.
How to Do the Work
By Dr. Nicole LePera
Integrates psychology, neurobiology, and spirituality to address childhood wounds and create secure attachment within yourself.
The Body Remembers
By Babette Rothschild
Focuses on somatic approaches to trauma and how the body holds relationship patterns and trauma memories.
Hold Me Tight
By Sue Johnson
Applies attachment theory to adult relationships, helping you understand and heal relational patterns.
Nervous System & Somatic Work
The Polyvagal Theory
By Stephen W. Porges
Groundbreaking science on how your nervous system responds to safety and threat, and why regulation is key to healing.
Anatomy of an Illness
By Norman Cousins
Inspiring account of healing through mind-body integration, hope, and the power of positive emotion.
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers
By Robert M. Sapolsky
Explains how chronic stress and trauma affect the body and nervous system, with clear science on healing.
The Window of Tolerance
By Janina Fisher
Practical guide to understanding your nervous system window and building capacity for emotional regulation.
Grief, Loss & Spiritual Integration
The Year of Magical Thinking
By Joan Didion
Profound exploration of grief, loss, and the disruption of meaning after devastating loss.
Rising Strong
By Brené Brown
Explores how to recover from disappointment, shame, and grief with courage and vulnerability.
When Breath Becomes Air
By Paul Kalanithi
Beautifully written reflection on mortality, meaning, and spiritual integration in the face of loss.
The Gifts of Imperfection
By Brené Brown
Guide to wholehearted living, embracing vulnerability, and finding meaning and belonging after loss.
Crisis & Emergency Resources
If you're in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, please reach out immediately. These resources are available 24/7.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
988 (call or text)
Free, confidential support 24/7. Trained counselors available to talk about depression, anxiety, trauma, and suicidal thoughts.
Visit Website →Crisis Text Line
Text HOME to 741741
Text-based crisis support available 24/7. Anonymous conversations with trained crisis counselors.
Visit Website →SAMHSA National Helpline
1-800-662-4357
Free, confidential support for mental health and substance use issues. Referrals to treatment services available.
Visit Website →National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-7233
24/7 support for domestic violence. Confidential, multilingual support and safety planning.
Visit Website →The Trevor Project (LGBTQ+)
1-866-488-7386
24/7 crisis support for LGBTQ+ youth and adults. Text START to 678678 or chat online.
Visit Website →RAINN (Sexual Assault Hotline)
1-800-656-4673
Support for sexual assault survivors. Confidential, 24/7 phone and online chat support.
Visit Website →If you're in immediate danger, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
You deserve support. Reaching out is a sign of strength, not weakness. Whether you're experiencing suicidal thoughts, domestic violence, sexual assault, or any kind of crisis, trained professionals are ready to help. You are not alone.
Ready to Go Deeper?
These resources are powerful starting points. For personalized support on your unique healing journey, Jess offers private coaching, group circles, and the transformative SoulShift90 program.
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