About This Webinar

When threat is invisible — like a virus, a global crisis, or an uncertain future — the nervous system doesn't know what to fight or flee from. So it does the next thing: it shuts down.

In this public webinar, Dr. Peter Levine (founder of Somatic Experiencing), Dr. Abi Blakeslee, Dave Berger, and Glyndie Nickerson — all senior SE faculty — come together to explain what's happening in your body during times of collective stress and, more importantly, what you can do about it.

What You'll Learn

The webinar covers the biology behind fear, anxiety, and shutdown responses — and introduces simple, accessible somatic tools anyone can use at home, with or without prior experience.

You'll explore why anxiety and panic are really just stuck survival energy looking for a way out, and how small moments of embodied awareness can begin to shift that. Dr. Levine demonstrates his signature Voo breath and self-hug exercise, while Dr. Abi and colleagues offer grounding practices, movement exercises, and guidance for regulating alongside children.

Key Concepts to Explore

• Fight, flight, and freeze – why an invisible threat drives us toward shutdown
• The Voo exercise – a simple vibration-based breath that settles the nervous system fast
• Movement as medicine – why wiggling, shaking, and even skipping matters
• Pandemic vs. panic-demic – you don't have to respond to one with the other
• Regulating with and for children – what kids pick up from your physiology, and how to help them feel safe

Try This Right Now

Soften your tongue, let it melt to the floor of your mouth. Notice if your breath shifts even slightly. That's your nervous system responding. From there, feel your feet on the ground. Let the support of the earth come up through your legs.

You don't need a lot of time. Even two seconds of genuine presence with your body is, as Dave Berger puts it, "a vacation from worry."

About the Presenters

This webinar features Dr. Peter Levine, founder of Somatic Experiencing and the Ergos Institute, alongside Dr. Abi Blakeslee, Dave Berger, and Glyndie Nickerson — all senior faculty at Somatic Experiencing International with backgrounds spanning clinical psychology, physical therapy, and somatic bodywork.

The SE Faculty Discusses Soothing Uncomfortable Feelings Associated with COVID-19

Join Dr. Levine and his Somatic Experiencing® Faculty as they discuss and demonstrate ways to soothe uncomfortable feelings associated with COVID-19. 40-minute lecture, including experiential exercises with Dr. Levine. Please share. This program is forever free. Be well during this time, Peter

To learn more about this work or to find a trained practitioner, please visit: traumahealing.org. ©2020, Dr. Peter A Levine. All rights reserved.

SE Lockdown Part 1