Breakthrough Anxiety: Your Nervous System Toolkit - by Scarlett Grace

COURSE

Breakthrough Anxiety: Your Nervous System Toolkit

With Scarlett Grace

When you feel anxious your body feels unsafe. It's as simple as that. It does not believe it's ok and instead remains in an active 'fight or flight' state. That's why when you feel extremely stressed or anxious, no amount of affirmations or simply trying to relax will help. Your cognitive brain switches off and your survival brain is running the show. But did you know there's a nerve that runs through your body that, when activated, will take you out of that anxious state? It's called the vagus nerve and I'm going to teach my go-to powerful toolkit of exercises to bring anxiety down instantly. If you've been struggling up until now, you might have been focusing too much on the thinking brain and not yet harnessed the power of somatic practices. This course is going to empower you with quick, easy practices to lower anxiety and feel regulated.

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Meet your Teacher

Scarlett Grace
London, UK

Scarlett is an experienced therapist and meditation teacher. Through her many years of working in clinical practice, she's seen how effective polyvagal theory is and the importance of working with the body when it comes to anxiety. Just talking at the cognitive level is often not enough to bring anxiety down. She teaches that for the mind to feel safe, the body has to feel safe.

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12 Days

1.8k students

4.9 stars

9 min / day

Anxiety

English

Lesson 1

Polyvagal Is Your Missing Key

Let's start with understanding what the vagus nerve is and why it's so essential regarding anxiety. If you've been trying to talk your way out of anxiety, this will help you to understand why that hasn't been working. Polyvagal theory is your missing key; this course lays the foundations for tapping into this all-important nerve.

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Lesson 2

Unlock The Power Of Eye Movement

Did you know a simple eye movement can instantly reduce anxiety? I often use this in my therapy practice because of how effective this is. This is because your vagus nerve runs around the back of your eyes, so this practice will send the message to your body that you are safe. Hence it can help to take you out of fight or flight mode.

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Lesson 3

Acupressure For Nervous System Regulation

Simply stimulating points in your ears can quickly reduce anxiety. This is because that all-important vagus nerve runs through your ear (as well as other important acupressure points). This lesson teaches you another area of your body you can use to soothe anxiety. The beauty of these practices is they can be done anywhere at any time.

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Lesson 4

Enhancing Relaxation with The 4-8 Method

Having this breathing technique in your toolkit is essential, especially if you struggle with panic attacks. This is because 4-8 breathing can be adjusted based on how anxious you're feeling. Breathing out for longer than you breathe in, gives your body the impression that it's safe (otherwise you'd be shallow breathing to get ready to fight or flight). In a way, this can trick your body into believing it's safe, even if you feel anxious.

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Lesson 5

The Butterfly Hug For Vulnerability

This practice is such a beautiful go-to especially when anxiety is making you feel vulnerable. When you're learning how to self-soothe or have experienced past trauma, the butterfly hug can help. Again, like all these practices it's not just because it sounds nice that we do it. It's because of the science and psychology behind it. This uses bilateral stimulation to calm your nervous system.

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Lesson 6

Ear Massage For Nervous System Soothing

We're back at the ears again today, focusing on another area the vagus nerve runs through. As you're doing this practice see if you can imagine that all important nerve being stimulated and visualize your body receiving the signal that all is safe and well. Remember on a biological level that is literally what happens when we activate the parasympathetic nervous system. And if nothing else, enjoy this soothing massage.

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Lesson 7

When Breathwork Makes You Anxious

I've sat with clients in my practice who know they could benefit from breathwork but have many negative associations with it. That can be due to panic attacks, shortness of breath, memories around breathing, fears, etc. This is when I tell my clients to forget about focusing on breathing if it feels too triggering. In this practice,e we're going to pay attention to belly movement, which will train your body for deeper breathing. As and when you feel comfortable, you can team this with your breath and I'll show you how. However, the belly movement alone will deepen the breath without you necessarily realizing it.

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Lesson 8

Hum Your Way To Vagal Toning

We get into vagal toning in this practice. Stimulating the vagus nerve takes on many forms and today we're going to look at sound and vibration in the body. A simple practice to use humming as an effective way to calm your body in moments of anxiety. As with all these practices, it's great to use them when you're not always feeling anxious too, as it helps your body to 'regulate regularly'.

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Lesson 9

Mastering Ujjayi For Nervous System Support

We're staying with sound and vibration today but teaming this with the breath. I find this is a great go-to when I have a lot of nervous/excess energy that's built up. Remember what's so powerful about this is you don't need to find a spare 30mins in your day to do it. Once you get the hang of it you can do this sitting at your desk, out for a walk, on the bus, etc.

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Lesson 10

Transforming Anxiety Through Tapping

Tapping is a practice that uses bilateral stimulation to activate both sides of the brain. Bringing your focus into your body like this when you're feeling anxious is a sensory stimulation that can effectively calm your body. Again it helps the parasympathetic nervous system to step in, giving your body the signals that it is safe.

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Lesson 11

Candle Breathing For Visual Support

I think it's always helpful to have a visual tool as part of your go-to's, as it can instantly provide a calm focus. The breathwork in this practice itself will activate your parasympathetic nervous system, while the candle visual will help you in moments of anxiety, when it feels hard to remember how to calmly breathe.

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Lesson 12

Finding Balance With Deliberate Movement

You can add all the practices in the world to your toolkit but if you then go straight back into fast-paced, anxious stimulation, you'll continue to fire up your nervous system. In this practice, we'll learn how deliberate, slower-paced movement can keep your nervous system regulated throughout your day. Well done for making it to the end of this course! I'd recommend going back to try your favorites, making a personal toolkit, and teaming this with my other anxiety courses.

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4.9 (66)

Recent Reviews

Angela

February 14, 2026

Very helpful, easy-to-use info and techniques.

Catherine

February 3, 2026

This is very enjoyable to listen to. The last day is exactly what is hard to handle.... adults expected to race around when in fact a slower, more methodical approach helps to feel calmer and regulated. Struggle with this and how to get things done fast yet regulated. Thank you for the toolbox. 😌

Yana

December 10, 2025

Definitely broad spectrograph handy tools to manage the anxiety. Highly recommend! Thank u X

Heather

November 29, 2025

Wonderful course with many great ideas for reconnecting with our bodies and hearts. Very grateful for all of the guidance!

Kristen

November 23, 2025

I really enjoyed this course. I’ve been doing nervous system work for the latter part of this year, so many of the exercises were familiar to me and have been used. I love the reminder at the end of slowing things down. When I think back and notice the times when I’ve really been intentional and slower in what I’m doing compared to when I’m rushing around (cleaning the house in a rush was a great example), there’s a noticeable difference in my body. Lovely course and tools 🤍

Nicole

September 27, 2025

While there are some very basic tools in this tool kit, there are some you probably don’t know. The last lesson, number 12, was especially poignant for me as I have spent most of my long life rushing around. Now, in my 70s, I am starting to slow down. I wish I had done it sooner. As someone who has practiced tapping for years, I would suggest you look up other tapping resources on the insight timer to get a feel for what the protocol is like when you use it for a specific issue. The example in this course was simply to familiarize you with the points, not the full practice.

Marilee

August 3, 2025

Very useful, clear lessons. I am already using my toolkit !

Fraser

May 29, 2025

Calm , considered and practical . I will use some of the methods to regulate and have already seen a dip in anxiety by doing so . Well worth investing your time in

Leigh

April 25, 2025

Thanks Scarlett. This course has many good reminders of the simple rools always available to us.

Marika

April 19, 2025

I really enjoyed this course and I found it on a time I needed it a lot. I’m taking with me a lot of helpful techniques to calm myself down. Thank you so much for this

Dawn

April 17, 2025

Some great tools here for calming the body down! I’m going to repeat a few days to lock in the ones that worked for me. Thank you so much, Scarlett! 🙏🏻💚

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