The Havening Technique is a gentle, yet powerful, mind-body tool that helps create a sense of safety. By using soothing touch and kind words, you can calm your nervous system and begin releasing stored stress.
How to Do The Havening Technique
Take a deep breath in and let it go.
Allow your shoulders to soften and the muscles in your face to relax.
Let your breathing return to its normal rhythm.
Very gently stroke your face with your hands.
From your forehead, stroke down the cheeks to the chin.
Do this a few times.
Stroke your arms.
Stroke downwards gently from the shoulders to the elbows.
Give yourself this gentle stroking hug.
It might produce tears. It is okay if it does, and it is okay if it doesn’t.
Rub your hands.
Stroke one hand against the other.
Brush the energy off the end of your fingertips.
Say this to your heart.
“I accept myself just as I am in this moment”
Repeat these words again, as you repeat the first few steps.
This simple phrase combined with the gentle touch of Havening Technique can help to create connection and self-regulation.
Why it Matters
Havening helps guide you out of fight, flight, or freeze states. Instead of endlessly searching for a “cure,” this practice draws you into a feeling of safety. Over time, it can ease anxiety, rumination, and negative thinking, giving you a gentle way to process feelings.
When you’ve finished, consider taking a short rest or awarding yourself with something soothing 💗
Video introduction to havening
You can follow along with Amari here to begin to use the Havening Technique.
The Science of Havening Technique
The Havening Technique is based in evolutionary biology and offers you the opportunity to immediately see your own pain and symptoms lessen.
Havening is one of the techniques being used to gently start to resolve chronic conditions, and to help people to process their feelings, their thoughts and to reduce their suffering.
The word itself, Havening is from the word haven, meaning a safe place. And as you are discovering, creating safety has relevance for you in the first phase of this recovery journey.
The Havening Technique uses gentle touch applied to arms, hands and face. This touch, via touch receptors in your skin produces delta brain waves which relax your body and mind and allow your subconscious to process hidden stressors.
This practice – more formally known as Amygdala Depotentiation – is a psychosensory therapy which is being used in the mainstream to help with deep rooted anxiety, rumination, severe negative thinking and depression. It can also be used to access – or start to process – the full range of human emotion.
Healing is a journey, not a destination. Be kind to yourself along the way.
INTEGRATING THIS PRACTICE
Well done for trying this healing practice. The Havening Technique is one way to cultivate a compassionate presence, offering your nervous system a chance to self-regulate. 🌸
🌿 Try the Havening Technique whenever you need to settle the nervous system — perhaps upon waking, or during a moment of overwhelm. Notice how it feels in your body, in your mind and in your heart.
💗 Explore more gentle self-regulation tools in the free resources section of this website.
💗 Trust in the process. It means something that you are here. Thank you for being you.
With warmth and care,
Amari
