A Guide to NeuroSomatic Healing for Chronic Pain and Anxiety: The 4-Step Reset

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1) Embodied states are always with us (and your body is listening)

Emotions like anxiety, hope, vitality, grief, and relief aren’t just passing thoughts in your head. They’re embodied states—felt in your breathing, your digestion, your posture, your muscle tone, even your sense of time.

This is happening every day, not only during “stressful seasons.” Your shoulders creep up while you answer emails. Your stomach tightens before a hard conversation. Your breath gets shallow when you feel pressure. Your body is constantly responding—because there’s a continuous dialogue between your brain and your body.

And here’s the part most people don’t get told: chronic pain and anxiety can behave like embodied states too. Not “imaginary.” Not “all in your head.” More like: your nervous system is doing its best to keep you safe… and it might be stuck in a loop.

2) Core concept: the nervous system is the gatekeeper (and pain/anxiety are protective outputs)

In NeuroSomatic Therapy, we work from a simple, science-rooted idea: your nervous system is the gatekeeper for what you feel, what you can do, and how safe your body decides it is to move, rest, digest, connect, and heal.

That’s why pain and anxiety so often travel together. Both can be understood as protective outputs—your brain and nervous system generating experiences meant to reduce perceived threat.

This lines up with the modern definition of pain from the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP):

"An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage."

Two things matter a lot in that definition:

• Pain is sensory and emotional (not just “tissue”).

• Pain can resemble what you’d feel with damage—even when the main driver is potential threat, prediction, or protection.

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So instead of constantly asking, “What is wrong with my body?” a more useful, healing question is:

“What is my brain protecting?”

Protection can be triggered by many inputs: a past injury, ongoing stress, sleep loss, threat memories, inflammation, trauma history, fear of movement, uncertainty, relationship stress, or simply a system that’s been “on” for too long. The body responds as a whole person—because you are a whole person.

(Quick note: this does not replace medical care. It’s a different lens that often helps when symptoms persist or don’t make sense on imaging.)

3) Signs of a protective state: 6 cues your system is on high alert

A protective state isn’t just a mindset. It shows up in patterns. Here are six common cues I see in adults seeking chronic pain relief and anxiety support:

If you recognize yourself here, please know: this is not a character flaw. It’s a nervous system pattern—and patterns can change.

4) What helps: 3 foundational principles of NeuroSomatic healing

NeuroSomatic Therapy is brain-based, gentle, and deeply practical. Here are three principles we build on (drawing from neuroplasticity research, polyvagal theory, somatic psychology, and movement-based learning approaches like the Anat Baniel Method® of Neuromovement® and the Feldenkrais Method):

Principle 1: Neuroplasticity (the brain can unlearn pain)

Your brain is adaptable. That’s neuroplasticity—the nervous system changes based on experience and repetition. Persistent pain and persistent anxiety are often learned protective patterns (built through repetition, fear, stress, and sensitivity). The hopeful part is: what’s learned can be updated.

In practice, we aim to give the brain new evidence: “This movement is safe.” “This sensation is tolerable.” “I can settle.” “I have options.”

Principle 2: Safety signals (calming the alarm)

Your brain is always asking, “Am I safe?” When the answer is “not sure,” it may turn up protection: pain, tension, anxiety, fatigue, avoidance.

Safety signals are not hype or positive thinking. They’re bottom-up cues your system can feel:

• steady exhale

• soft eyes / wider visual field

• warmth, contact, support under you

• predictable, slow movement

• soothing rhythm, orienting to the room

• relational safety (being seen and supported)

When safety increases, the nervous system can shift away from survival mode, and symptoms often soften.

Principle 3: Conscious slow movement (rewiring the input)

Fast, forced movement can feel threatening to a protective nervous system. But slow, deliberate, curious movement is different—it gives your brain clean sensory information.

In NeuroSomatic Therapy, we use slow movement to improve the brain’s body map, reduce guarding, expand mobility, and create new options. Not “push through.” More like: teach the brain a new story through sensation.

5) Practice: the 60-second “Safety Scan” (micro-practice)

Try this as a tiny reset—especially when pain or anxiety starts to ramp up.

Safety Scan (60 seconds):

1. Pause. Let your eyes gently look around the room (orienting).

2. Find one point of contact (feet on the floor, back on the chair, hands on thighs).

3. Name 1 neutral or pleasant sensation there (warmth, weight, texture, support).

4. Exhale a little longer than you inhale, 3 times.

5. Say (silently): “Right now, in this moment, I’m here.”

Small? Yes. But small is powerful when your system is protective.

6) The 4-Step Reset: the path forward out of persistent unpleasant states

This is the exact arc we use inside The 4-Step Reset for Chronic Pain and Anxiety—a practical path to help you get unstuck from “persistent unpleasant states” (pain, tension, fear, shutdown, overwhelm).

Step 1 — Notice the state (without judging it) Name what’s happening: “My system is bracing.” “I’m in a hurry state.” “This is protection.” Awareness reduces confusion—and confusion fuels threat.

Step 2 — Create safety (downshift the alarm) Use simple safety signals: longer exhales, orienting, contact/support, slowing, tapping (EFT), or co-regulation when available. You’re not trying to force calm—you’re offering your nervous system a safer context.

Step 3 — Change the input (slow movement + sensation) Introduce gentle, conscious, slow movement to give your brain new data. This is where mobility often improves and pain sensitivity can begin to decrease—because the brain updates its predictions.

Step 4 — Integrate (make it stick in real life) We anchor the changes into daily life: walking, sitting, working, sleeping, conversations, boundaries. Integration is what turns “a good session” into lasting chronic pain relief and more emotional resilience.

7) Safety line

If this increases distress, pause and return to a sense of safety; consider support as needed.

8) Go deeper with the self-paced program

If you’re done white-knuckling it—and you’re ready for a brain-based way forward—come join my self-paced program:

Register: The 4-Step Reset for Chronic Pain and Anxiety →

You’ll learn how to work with your nervous system (not against it), using NeuroSomatic Therapy principles for chronic pain relief, anxiety regulation, and real-life resilience.

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References (science-based)

• International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). Revised definition of pain (2020).

• Wiech, K. (2016). Deconstructing the sensation of pain: The influence of cognitive processes on pain perception. Science.

• Moseley, G.L., & Butler, D.S. (2015). Fifteen years of explaining pain: the past, present, and future. The Journal of Pain.

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Written by Joana Talafré, Director at NeuroSomatic Therapy (www.neurosomatic.org)