Six Ways to Nourish Yourself Right Now
Healing Arts Center | Virginia Beach
Written by Victoria Duarte, Neuro Somatic, Mindfulness Coach and Trauma Informed Reiki Practitioner
For years I lived with anxiety and did not know what to do with it. I tried grounding techniques that helped and approaches that made it worse. I worked with practitioners who genuinely supported my path and others who, to put it plainly, were more invested in keeping me stuck than helping me move forward. That experience is part of why Healing Arts Center exists and why ethical, honest care is not something we list on a website as a value. It is the reason we show up the way we do.
What I know now is that managing anxiety and nourishing yourself is not complicated, but nobody hands you the instructions. Here are six things that have made a difference, not just for me but for the people we work with every day in Virginia Beach and across Hampton Roads.
1. Get Honest About What You Are Consuming
There is a difference between staying informed and marinating in chaos, and your body knows the difference even when your mind tries to justify it. Give yourself set times to check the news and stick to them. Look at your social media feed and ask yourself honestly whether it is feeding you or depleting you. You are allowed to curate your environment. That is not avoidance, that is self-preservation.
2. Come Back to Your Body
When anxiety takes over, your body is the fastest way back to the present moment. You do not need a meditation cushion or a quiet room. You need thirty seconds and a willingness to try.
5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Name five things you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, two you can smell, and one you can taste. This pulls your attention out of your head and back into the room you are actually in.
Clench and Release Clench your fists as tight as you can for five seconds then let go completely. Notice the difference between the tension and the release. That contrast is your body remembering it has control.
Vagal Nerve Support Place an ice pack on the back of your neck for a few minutes or run an ice roller slowly along your jaw and cheekbones. This activates the vagus nerve and signals to your body that it is safe to settle.
Move Your Body A short walk, some gentle stretching, or even just shaking out your hands and arms helps your body discharge what it has been holding. Let your eyes move slowly from left to right across the room and back again. This takes less than a minute and is one of the most underused tools for nervous system regulation.
3. Let Small Things Count
You do not have to be doing something significant to make a difference. Water a plant. Send a message to someone you have been thinking about. Put five dollars toward something that matters to you. These things are not small, they are how care moves through the world. Find your people, the ones who are trying to show up too, and lean on each other. Coming back to your purpose on the hard days, whatever that looks like for you, is enough.
4. Feel What You Feel
Anger is not a problem to be managed. Grief is not something to push through. These are honest responses to genuinely difficult circumstances and they deserve to be treated that way. The goal is not to get rid of them but to move through them without getting stuck.
Create something. Write, paint, dance, build, cook, or do whatever lets you externalize what is inside. You do not have to process everything alone and you were never meant to.
5. Feeling Good Is Part of the Work
Resting, laughing, and feeling good are not things you earn after you have suffered enough. They are part of how you stay capable of caring about anything at all. Watch something that makes you laugh. Sit outside. Listen to music that reminds you of who you are when things are not this heavy. Mark and I have a running list of favorite stand up comedians we share with each other, because sometimes the most restorative thing you can do is laugh until your stomach hurts. When you are genuinely taken care of, you are more present, more patient, and more able to show up for the people who need you. That ripple effect matters more than you realize.
6. Reach Out
If you are struggling, say so. You are not a burden for needing support and you are not alone in feeling this way. The people around you are carrying things too and connection, the kind that is honest and without performance, is one of the most powerful things available to you right now.
You can read more about the practitioners and modalities we offer at https://www.healingartsvb.com/blog/one-roof-many-modalities-the-healing-arts-center-collaborative-in-virginia
You can read more about how we show up for the people who trust us at https://www.healingartsvb.com/blog/our-care-philosophy
Self care is not indulgence. It is defiance against everything that taught you to keep going until you break. With every act of care you reclaim something that was always yours.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis please call or text 988.
If you are in crisis or need immediate support, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
At Healing Arts Center we are here when you are ready. All are welcome here.
Schedule your appointment at https://www.vagaro.com/healingartscenter or visit us at https://www.healingartsvb.com
Healing Arts Center, 4652 Haygood Rd A, Virginia Beach, VA 23455 (757) 251-9301 info@healingartsvb.com
