Calm your nervous system
from the body up.
Practical, science-based guides to get out of survival mode, release anxiety, calm your gut and feel safe in your body again. No extreme diets, no equipment, and no "just relax."
Four books, one connected system
Start with your nervous system, then take the same body-first approach to your gut, your hormones and chronic pain. Kindle and paperback on Amazon.
Unlock Your Nervous System
Somatic exercises to heal trauma, release anxiety, and activate your vagus nerve in 28 days.
Talking about stress works from the top down. This book works from the bottom up: breath, movement, sound and touch that send a direct safety signal to the part of your brain that runs your stress response. Daily practices take 5 to 12 minutes.
Reset Your Gut
Somatic healing to beat bloating, relieve SIBO, and calm your gut-brain axis in 21 days.
Flat in the morning, bloated by evening? When you eat in fight-or-flight mode, your gut shuts down and food ferments. This book switches digestion back on from the nervous system first, with a 21-day protocol and warm, gentle recipes. No food fear.
Rescue Your Hormones
Somatic healing to calm cortisol, support your thyroid, and restore your natural cycle in 21 days.
Labs "normal," but you're exhausted, cold and craving sugar? In survival mode, your brain cuts the budget for your thyroid and sex hormones to keep the stress response running. This book gives your body the safety, raw materials and rhythm it needs to make hormones again. No starvation diets.
Release Your Chronic Pain
A 21-day somatic protocol to rewire your brain, calm neuroplastic pain, and move without fear.
Scans "normal," but it still hurts? Persistent pain is often an overprotective nervous system stuck on alarm. This book uses pain neuroscience, somatic tracking and gentle micro-movements to teach your brain it's safe to stand down. No punishing stretches.
Researcher, reader and patient, all at once
Elena Vives has spent more than a decade studying the neurobiology of trauma, Stephen Porges's Polyvagal Theory and somatic regulation practices. She writes under a pen name so she can share her own story honestly: years in a high-pressure corporate career that ended in a health collapse conventional medicine couldn't explain.
Understand what your body is doing
Free resources to make sense of anxiety, tension and exhaustion from a nervous system point of view.
The nervous system & somatic health
Polyvagal Theory, the vagus nerve, the three states of your nervous system and how to regulate them.
Read the complete guide →Gut health & the nervous system
The gut-brain axis, SIBO, bloating, the microbiome and somatic tools for your digestion.
Read the complete guide →The blog
Vagus nerve exercises, Polyvagal Theory, the gut-brain axis, SIBO and afternoon bloating, explained in plain English.
Read the articles →About somatic health
What is somatic health?
Somatic health is an approach to well-being that starts with the body and the nervous system instead of focusing only on the mind. It uses body sensations, breathing and movement to regulate stress, release stored tension and restore biological balance. Elena's books turn this science into simple exercises you can do at home.
What are somatic exercises?
Gentle, mindful practices such as breathing, slow movement, self-massage and attention to body sensations, designed to send safety signals to your nervous system. Unlike regular exercise, the goal isn't physical performance but calming the stress response and activating the vagus nerve.
How do you activate the vagus nerve?
The vagus nerve responds to slow breathing with a long exhale, humming, brief cold exposure, certain neck and eye movements and conscious relaxation. Unlock Your Nervous System gathers these exercises in a step-by-step 28-day protocol.
Can somatic work help with anxiety and chronic stress?
The somatic approach is especially useful when your mind wants to calm down but your body stays on alert. Many people notice less anxiety, better sleep and less physical tension. It doesn't replace medical or psychological treatment, but it's a valuable complement.
Are Elena Vives's books available in English?
Yes. Unlock Your Nervous System, Reset Your Gut, Rescue Your Hormones and Release Your Chronic Pain are available in English on Amazon. Her menopause title is currently available in Spanish on the Spanish site.
5 exercises to calm anxiety in 5 minutes
Science-based somatic techniques to activate your vagus nerve and get out of alert mode. A printable PDF, free.
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