Three Powerful Somatic Practices to Reduce Overwhelm for New Mums (Backed by Research)

Summary for the busy mum

If you only have a scrap of energy, do one of these:

1. Move what you’re feeling for the length of one song

2. Steep in nature with your baby for 30 to 90 seconds

3. Reach for one safe person and ask to be met, not fixed

You do not need a hundred practices, just a few that are small, repeatable, and biologically effective.

Overwhelm is such a common feeling as a mother. I feel it most days and based on the stories I hear I know I am not alone.

Overwhelm is often the most sensible nervous system response to a culture that asks mums to do a village-sized job but with the village-sized support missing. I don’t need to go into the million things that are on a mother’s endless list and the pressures that they navigate. If you are here reading this blog you know it in your bones.

In SomaSoul Somatic Therapy, we’d say your system is doing exactly what a human system does when support is missing or very thin. Your body’s unconscious “scanner” for safety and danger is working overtime, and when it can’t reliably find enough cues of safety or support, it will often mobilise (anxious, wired, racing) or shut down (flat, foggy, numb).

So let me cut to the chase. You are overwhelmed and support is limited or non-existent. What can you do then to reduce overwhelm in your body?

You don’t need 100 somatic or mindfulness practices. You just need a few that are small, repeatable, and biologically effective.

Below are my three go-to powerful ways that have helped me as a mum, and they’re also backed by research.

1) Move what you’re feeling (non-linear movement method, 1 song)

When you’re overwhelmed, your body is rarely asking for more thinking. It’s often asking for supported completion of a held emotional experience.

One aspect of the Non-Linear Movement Method (created by Michaela Boehm) is a form of conscious movement that is about letting your body make the shapes of what you feel. It’s grounded, expressive movement.

In SomaSoul language, we’re bringing awareness to the body experience, staying with it, and letting movement become a form of connection and gentle discharge.

Try this (baby can be on you, beside you, or on a mat)

1. Start on hands and knees on the floor and put on a song (preferably one without lyrics).

2. Feel your body on the ground and tune into what your body is feeling (tight, heavy, buzzy, frozen, fiery).

3. Begin to let your body respond with one small movement that expresses this feeling: a sway, shaking, circular motions, erratic movement, or slow sticky foggy movements.

4. Keep following and tracking what you feel, and responding with movement.

5. At the end, reconnect to the ground beneath you by lying down. Place a hand on your heart and orient to any hint of compassion you can feel, even if it is tiny.

Why it works (the science)

Physical activity is linked with healthier cortisol regulation (one of the body’s key stress systems). A meta-analysis found meaningful associations between physical activity and measures of diurnal cortisol regulation.[1]
There is also strong evidence that even a single bout of exercise can reduce aspects of stress reactivity (like blood pressure reactivity during stress tasks), based on systematic review and meta-analysis findings.[2]
And importantly for mums who do not want “exercise”, dance and expressive movement-based interventions have shown benefits for stress and depression outcomes in systematic review and meta-analysis work.[3]

In a nutshell: it helps your body do something with stress, instead of holding it alone.

2) Steep in nature with your baby (micro ecotherapy moments)

Ecotherapy doesn’t need a big hike and a free weekend. In early motherhood, it can be a micro-dose. Something accessible you can do with a baby on your hip.

Nature is one of the most reliable sources of cues of safety because it offers a steady rhythm that your nervous system can borrow. Sunlight. Breeze. Birdsong. Watching leaves move in the wind.

Try this (pram, carrier, or feeding in the yard)

1. Step outside or near a window.

2. Choose one living thing to be with (tree, cloud, pot plant, bird, sunlight on the fence).

3. Let your eyes rest here.

4. Name three sensory details (colour, smell, temperature, movement, texture).

5. Then take 30 seconds (or more) to “steep” in it, like letting warmth soak in.

Why it works (the science)

A meta-analysis of studies on direct exposure to natural environments found evidence of stress reduction, including physiological indicators (such as cortisol and blood pressure) and self-reported stress.[4]
A separate systematic review and meta-analysis of nature exposure therapies also reports benefits for stress, depression, and anxiety outcomes.[5]

In a nutshell: nature helps your system downshift without you having to try harder.

3) Choose one safe person and let them meet you (co-regulation)

If I could give new mums one thing (besides sleep, because that seriously is a game changer), it would be this:

Don’t hold it alone.

We humans regulate through relationship. When we are with a safe person, our nervous system often shifts out of threat mode because it is finally receiving cues of safety and support.

And importantly, this isn’t about someone giving you solutions. No fixing. It’s about someone being with you, and allowing you to feel, and meeting you with steadiness.

Try this (quick call, message or voice note)

1. Pick one person who feels safest (or safest-enough).

2. Send one honest sentence:

   • “I’m having a big day and I don’t need fixing. I just need to borrow your groundedness for a moment.”

   • “Being a mum is hard today, and I know you have been there.”

3. Add one tiny request:

   • “Can you remind me I’m not alone in this?”

   • “Can you stay on the phone while I feed the baby?”

This is the practice of cultivating a “being with” energy. Presence rather than performance. Meeting rather than correcting.

Why it works (the science, and why it matters for mothers)

In the postpartum period, social support consistently shows up as protective for maternal mental health. A 2024 systematic review focused on postpartum social support describes it as a coping resource linked with better psychosocial outcomes.[6]
A separate review examining social support in the perinatal period also highlights support as a buffer against depression and anxiety.[7]
There is even longitudinal evidence suggesting perceived social support has a causal relationship with postpartum mental health in a nationally representative panel dataset.[8]

And beyond the postpartum-specific findings, research in affective neuroscience shows how direct connection can calm the threat response in the brain. In a well-known fMRI study, handholding (especially from a spouse) reduced neural threat responding during the anticipation of shock, illustrating a “social regulation” effect.[9]
Lab research also links social support with reduced physiological stress responding, including attenuation of cortisol or cardiovascular reactivity in stressful contexts.[10]

In a nutshell: for overwhelm, one of the most biologically effective supports is often another steady nervous system nearby.

A gentle ending for the mother who is doing too much with too little

So if you take anything from this, let it be this: choose one support you can repeat. All practices can support you no matter what state of overwhelm you are in - actived, ruminating, numb, ragey, exhausted or alone.

Tiny practices do help change the body over time. And the most powerful “practice” is not always something you do alone on a yoga mat or meditation cushion.

Sometimes it is just about letting yourself be held and met exactly as you are.

References (research)

1. Physical activity and cortisol regulation: A meta-analysis. Hormones and Behavior.

2. Marçal, A. C., et al. (2022). A single session of exercise reduces blood pressure reactivity to stress in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific Reports.

3. Systematic review and meta-analysis of dance therapy effects on stress and depression (2001–2024 search window).

4. The effect of exposure to the natural environment on stress reduction: A meta-analysis (31 studies; 1,842 participants).

5. The effects of nature exposure therapies on stress, depression, and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

6. Khademi, K., & Kaveh, M. H. (2024). Social support as a coping resource for psychosocial conditions in postpartum period: A systematic review and logic framework. BMC Psychology.

7. The effects of social support on depression and anxiety in the perinatal period (review). Journal of Affective Disorders.

8. Perceived social support on postpartum mental health: An empirical causal analysis. PLOS ONE.

9. Coan, J. A., Schaefer, H. S., & Davidson, R. J. (2006). Lending a hand: Social regulation of the neural response to threat. Psychological Science.

10. Robles, T. F., Slatcher, R. B., Trombello, J. M., & McGinn, M. M. (2014). Social support and stress physiology: A review on cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity. Current Opinion in Psychology (or closely related review outlet, depending on version accessed).

Continue Reading

Support Your Nervous System in Early Motherhood

It’s not you, it’s me (the system owes you a village)

A Letter to the Mother Who Feels Disconnected