A Simple Tool for the Overstimulated Mind
In our fast paced Bay Area lives, our minds often race ahead, trying to process everything we have seen, done, and thought throughout the day. This cognitive overload can leave our nervous systems feeling wired and unable to truly rest. When you struggle to digest the day, simple self care can feel impossible.
Associate MFT Rachel Lefkowitz Parnes, whose specialties include Nervous System Regulation and Stress/Burnout, offers this incredibly simple, yet potent somatic exercise to bring you back into your body and grant yourself a moment of true rest. This short video is a perfect daily tool to interrupt the cycle of overthinking. Doing this can help prepare your system for deeper rest.
60-Second Hand-Warming Exercise for Rest by Rachel Letkowilz Parmes, Associate MFT
Watch the video above, and/or follow the written instructions here:
Let’s do a little self care exercise.
- Take your hands, rub them together, and generate some heat.
- Keep going, cup the hands, and put them over your eyes.
- Find the heat of the hands to help you digest all that you have seen, all of the thoughts, all of the doing, allowing yourself to take this moment for some rest.
Take good care.
Why This Works: Tapping into Somatic Wisdom
This technique, often referred to as palming, works through simple somatic grounding and orients your nervous system toward rest. The hands, a highly sensitive area, create heat through gentle friction, giving the brain an immediate, focused sensation to anchor to, interrupting the cognitive loop of the overthinking mind.
The gentle warmth over the eyes, an area often strained by digital screens and constant visual input, signals safety and permission to rest, stimulating the vagus nerve and calming the nervous system. This small act of conscious self attention shifts your focus from external demands to internal care, immediately downshifting your nervous system from “doing” to “being.” Adding a self compassionate intention, to “digest all that you have seen and done,” deepens the restorative impact.
If you find yourself constantly battling an overactive mind, incorporating small, intentional somatic breaks like this can be transformative. Our therapists, trained in modalities like Somatic and Mindfulness, often share these micro practices to help clients build resilience and capacity outside the therapy room.
The Neurobiology of Rest: How Palming Shifts Your State
For those curious about the deeper science, this simple exercise is a sophisticated tool for Polyvagal Theory application. It works by deliberately engaging the body’s Social Engagement System to signal safety to the brain.
1. Stimulating the Ventral Vagal Complex
The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve, playing a critical role in regulating internal organ function, including heart rate and digestion. The uppermost branch of the vagus nerve, the Ventral Vagal Complex (VVC), controls the muscles of the face, neck, and inner ear, and governs our ability to be socially engaged and feel safe.
- The Sensory Input: The act of covering the eyes blocks the constant, stimulating input from the visual field. This deactivates the hypervigilance often associated with the sympathetic nervous system, allowing the eyes and surrounding muscles, which are directly innervated by the VVC, to soften.
- The Proximity of Warmth: The gentle, non threatening warmth of your own hands near the eyes and temples acts as a safety cue. This cue sends a direct, calming message up the neural pathways to the VVC, promoting a shift from the mobilized fight or flight state to a grounded state of rest and digest.
2. Anchoring Against Dissociation
When we are overwhelmed or in a state of cognitive overload, the mind tends to dissociate or float away from the present moment. This is a protective measure, but it leaves us feeling ungrounded and unable to integrate our experiences.
- Tactile and Thermal Input: Rubbing the hands to generate heat provides a clear, strong tactile and thermal anchor. By focusing attention on the specific physical sensation of warmth and the slight pressure of the hands on the face, you interrupt the mental loop of worry and pull your awareness firmly back into your body. This act of self awareness strengthens the mind body connection, which is a core goal of somatic therapy.
3. Facilitating Emotional Integration
The metaphor of “digesting” the day’s experiences is clinically significant. Stressful, emotionally intense, or confusing events often get stored as unprocessed energy in the nervous system. This contributes to anxiety and overthinking.
Creating Space for Completion
Intentional pausing creates a moment of VVC activation. This gives your body a chance to complete the stress response cycle. The cycle was likely unfinished during your busy day. This simple ritual acts as a cognitive and emotional reboot. It allows the nervous system to safely process the day’s residue. This integration paves the way for more restorative sleep. It also builds deeper emotional resilience. Understanding the power of micro practices, like palming, is important. You can build a deeper, more intentional relationship with your nervous system. This utilizes your body’s inherent wisdom. It helps you manage stress and anxiety.
Learn More:
- You can learn more about working with Rachel by reading her Conversations with Clinicians interview.
- Find Rachel’s bio and contact information in our therapist directory.
- Read Rachel’s blog posts: 3 Quiet Habits That Drain Your Energy (And How to Break the Cycle) and A Therapist’s View: Why “Not Enoughness” Is Everywhere Right Now. The latter includes another video that you might like.