Areas › After harm › Safety and grounding
Breathe out longer than you breathe in, a few times. A slow breath tells the body it is safe.
You cannot argue a frightened body calm, but you can breathe it calm. Long, slow exhales do the talking.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Remember when He gave you sleep as a reassurance, to make your hearts strong and your feet firm (Quran 8:11). Calm is something He settles into the body.
إِذۡ يُغَشِّيكُمُ ٱلنُّعَاسَ أَمَنَةࣰ مِّنۡهُ وَيُنَزِّلُ عَلَيۡكُم مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءࣰ لِّيُطَهِّرَكُم بِهِۦ وَيُذۡهِبَ عَنكُمۡ رِجۡزَ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنِ وَلِيَرۡبِطَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِكُمۡ وَيُثَبِّتَ بِهِ ٱلۡأَقۡدَامَ
Remember when He gave you sleep as a reassurance from Him, and sent down water from the sky to cleanse you, to remove Satan’s pollution from you, to make your hearts strong and your feet firm
Qur’an 8:11read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
Slow, controlled breathing measurably shifts the nervous system toward calm and increases feelings of comfort and control. The body leads the mind back to safety.
Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., Garbella, E., Menicucci, D., Neri, B. and Gemignani, A. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience doi
Slow, controlled breathing shifts the nervous system toward calm and increases feelings of comfort and control.
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Why it works
Slow breathing with extended exhales down-regulates the body's alarm and restores a sense of control.
Where this sits: Stage 1, Safety and Stabilization (Herman); grounding.
This one is still a draft. It is waiting on a scholar and a clinician to read it before it is published.
Near this one
Build one place or time in your day that reliably feels safe, and return to it when you need steadying.
When the past floods in, name five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can touch. Come back to now.
When fear rises, being near a calm, safe person, or turning to God's remembrance, helps your body borrow that steadiness.