Day 1: Signaling Safety

Morning — The Startle Shake: Stand feet hip-width apart. Bounce on your heels, knees soft. Vigorously shake your hands and arms as if flicking off water. Let your jaw hang loose, make a "Brrrrr" sound with your lips. Hold for 60 seconds, then stop abruptly and feel the tingling. Animals shake after a threat to discharge adrenaline — this manually completes the stress cycle.

Mid-Day — The Butterfly Hug: Cross arms over chest, hook thumbs together. Place fingertips below your collarbones. Alternately tap left and right hands in rhythm for 2 minutes while breathing slowly. Uses bilateral stimulation, similar to EMDR, to calm the amygdala.

Evening — Vagus Neck Massage: Place index and middle fingers behind your earlobes, find the soft hollow spot behind the jaw bone. Gently massage in slow circles down toward the collarbone, both sides, for 3 minutes. The Vagus Nerve runs through this area; touch signals the body to lower heart rate and prepare for sleep.