Learning to regulate instead of fighting keeps us mobilized, not trapped in trigger mode.
How often do you feel like you’re constantly being pushed toward reaction—fight, freeze, fawn, or flight. But what if revolution wasn’t about being in a constant state of battle? What if true change came from learning how to regulate, how to rest as resistance, and how to stay in our bodies instead of being hijacked by survival mode?
Regulation Is Not Apathy—It’s Power
When we talk about revolution, we often picture action—protests, speaking out, dismantling systems. But what happens when the body is too dysregulated to sustain that action? Burnout. Shutdown. Numbness. Somatic work teaches us that regulation is about reclaiming our agency, not about being passive.
- Instead of reacting, we respond.
- Instead of spiraling, we stay with discomfort.
- Instead of burning out, we build resilience.
Somatics is about feeling them fully without being consumed by them.
Audre Lorde and Rest as Resistance
Audre Lorde said it best: Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.
Rest, slowing down, and listening to our bodies are radical in a world that wants us disconnected from ourselves. Somatic therapy teaches us how to come home to our bodies—how to listen to what tension, breath, and sensation are telling us. It’s a skill, a practice, a way to refuse the conditioning that tells us we must be in constant struggle to matter.
For marginalized communities—queer, neurodiverse, chronically ill, and non-conforming individuals—rest isn’t just about taking a break. Somatic work helps us understand that we should work towards refusing a system that benefits from our depletion. It helps reclaim agency over our bodies and nervous systems in a culture that profits from burnout.
So, How Do We Start Somatic Work?
Here are three simple ways to start regulating today:
- Orienting: Pause. Look around the room. Notice what feels safe. Let your nervous system register that you are here, at this moment.
- Grounding: Feel your feet on the floor, your hands on your body. Name three things you can feel physically.
- Breath Awareness: Instead of “taking a deep breath,” try just noticing your breath as it is. No force, no fixing—just noticing.
These practices aren’t about instant fixes; they’re about building capacity to stay present, even when things get uncomfortable.
Suggested Reading to Get You Started
If the idea of rest as resistance resonates with you, here are some powerful resources to deepen your exploration of somatic work, nervous system regulation, and radical self-care:
📖 Rest Is Resistance: Free Yourself from Grind Culture and Reclaim Your Life – Tricia Hersey
This book is a must-read for anyone ready to challenge hustle culture and embrace rest as a revolutionary act. Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry, breaks down how capitalism conditions us to believe that exhaustion equals worth—and why reclaiming rest is a form of liberation.
📖 The Body Keeps the Score – Bessel van der Kolk
A deep dive into trauma, the nervous system, and how our bodies store past experiences. This book is a cornerstone for understanding why somatic therapy is so essential for healing.
📖 My Grandmother’s Hands – Resmaa Menakem
Focusing on how trauma is passed down through generations, this book explores the intersection of racialized trauma and somatic healing—offering practical tools to break the cycle.
Somatics & The Work of Unlearning
Revolution is outside work but it’s also deeply internal. Somatic work asks:
- How do we hold both rage and rest?
- How do we stop letting our nervous system be dictated by systems that don’t serve us?
- How do we unlearn urgency culture and reclaim our pace?
If you’re ready to explore this work further, Shadowbox Therapy is a space where we untangle these narratives together. Because healing isn’t separate from revolution—it is revolution.
Want to go deeper? Check out Why I Welcome Resistance to explore how discomfort fuels growth.
