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Simple Practices That Teach the Nervous System to Quickly Recover from Stress
Explore the Keystone Program's four Foundations. Practical, science-backed coping strategies you can use in the moment to calm the body, restore focus, and build long-term resilience.
The Science Behind the Foundations
We understand that stress is experienced in the body. The nervous system determines how we respond to challenge and how quickly we recover. The vagus nerve can play a central role in helping the body shift out of survival mode and return to balance.
Keystone translates this science into practical application. Through its four Foundations — Polyvagal Breathwork, Mindfulness, Emotional Freedom Technique, and Somatic Movement — the program teaches coping strategies that can be used in real time to calm the nervous system, reduce stress chemistry, and restore focus.
With consistent practice, these tools do more than ease stress in the moment. They strengthen the nervous system’s ability to recover, reshaping stress responses over time and support lasting physiological, emotional, and mental resilience.
Polyvagal Breathwork
Polyvagal Breathwork uses intentional breathing patterns to calm the nervous system and help the body return to balance during stress. This practice works directly with the vagus nerve to strengthen it and to help interrupt the stress response and support faster recovery.
Mindfulness
The Mindfulness Foundation within Keystone is designed to intentionally activate the parasympathetic nervous system, the body’s calming and settling response. Through guided awareness, integrated breathwork, and simple grounding activities, participants learn how to slow the mind, settle the body, and reduce mental overload.
Our Foundations
Mindfulness
Stay present and grounded
Tapping (EFT)
Reduce emotional stress
Somatic Movement
Release tension within your body
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT / Tapping)
Emotional Freedom Technique, often called EFT or “tapping,” is a body-based practice that combines acupressure with focused attention to specific areas to help calm the nervous system during moments of emotional or physical stress. Tapping helps interrupt the stress response by pairing gentle physical input with mindful awareness, signaling safety to the brain and body.
Somatic Movement
Somatic movement provides a way to release stress that is stored physically in the body through simple, intentional movements that reconnect the mind with the body. Paired with affirmations, this practice supports both physical release and emotional regulation.
