Somatic Therapy: Exercises and Techniques for Healing the Mind-Body Connection

Somatic therapy is a groundbreaking approach to mental health that shifts focus from the mind to the body, offering a fresh perspective on trauma, stress, and emotional healing

The concept itself was developed by pioneers like Peter Levine, and it treats the body as a reservoir of emotional experiences, helping individuals release stored tension and restore balance to the nervous system.

In this guide, we’ll tell you everything you know about somatic therapy and how it can help you.

How Does Somatic Therapy Work?

Unlike traditional talk therapy or psychotherapy, which targets thoughts and behaviors, somatic therapy uses body awareness as its foundation.

Here’s how it works: Practitioners guide clients to tune into physical sensations, like muscle tension, breath patterns, or subtle shifts in posture, to process trauma and regulate emotions. This is done through three key principles:

• Trauma Storage: The body retains memories of overwhelming experiences, creating a “stuck” stress response. Somatic therapy helps release this pent-up energy through gentle movement or breathwork.
• Nervous System Regulation: Clients learn to calm their autonomic nervous system by focusing on bodily sensations, reducing anxiety and hyperarousal.
• Mind-Body Integration: Techniques like body scanning or imagery bridge the gap between physical tension and emotional states, fostering self-awareness.

Okay, but why is it different and powerful?

Unlike cognitive therapies, somatic therapy doesn’t require verbalizing emotions.

Instead, it listens to the body’s language, making it ideal for those who struggle with articulating trauma or emotions, making it especially effective for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Who Needs Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy is especially effective in these cases:

Individuals Recovering from Trauma

People who have experienced traumatic events often find that conventional talk therapy alone isn’t enough. When someone experiences a traumatic experience, the body’s natural response systems can become dysregulated.

A somatic therapist specializes in healing trauma therapy that remains stored in the body long after the traumatic event has passed.

Through various body psychotherapy approaches, these individuals can release trapped energy and begin healing at a physiological level, not just a cognitive one.

Those Struggling with Chronic Pain

Many people living with chronic pain have found significant relief through somatic therapy modalities. Traditional medical interventions sometimes fall short because they don’t address how emotional distress manifests physically.

Somatic practices help individuals identify patterns of tension, activation, and constriction in their bodies that may be contributing to their discomfort.

This works by bringing awareness to these physical sensations in the present moment, people can develop new relationships with their pain. As strange as this sounds, it actually works.

Anxiety and Stress Sufferers

Those who suffer from non-stop anxiety or stress often benefit greatly from somatic approaches.

Where cognitive behavioral therapy might help change thought patterns, somatic therapy addresses the physical manifestations of anxiety, like racing heart, shallow breathing, muscle tension.

Through techniques like pendulation (moving between states of comfort and discomfort) and titration (exposing oneself to small amounts of activation at a time), individuals learn powerful self-regulation skills that complement other treatment approaches.

Those with Attachment and Relationship Difficulties

People who struggle with forming or maintaining healthy relationships may have early attachment wounds that manifest in their bodies.

Body psychotherapy can help these individuals recognize how their bodies respond in relationships and develop new patterns of engagement.

When such people work with a somatic therapist, they learn to identify physical cues that signal emotional triggers and develop healthier ways of responding.

Individuals with Dissociative Tendencies

Some people tend to disconnect from their bodies when they are subjected to overwhelming experiences. Such people can benefit significantly from sensorimotor psychotherapy and other somatic approaches.

These modalities gently guide individuals back into their bodies, helping them safely reconnect with physical sensations they may have learned to avoid.

People Who Have Reached a Plateau in Traditional Therapy

Sometimes, you may find that you’ve made progress with traditional talk therapy but still feel “stuck.” When cognitive understanding doesn’t translate to felt change, somatic interventions can bridge this gap.

The body holds wisdom that the conscious mind may not access, and working directly with bodily sensations can unlock new pathways to healing.

Those Seeking Deeper Self-Awareness

Even without specific trauma or mental health concerns, many people turn to body psychotherapy for personal growth.

Somatic therapy can help healthy people increase awareness in the present moment and gain valuable insights into their emotional patterns.

Think of it as a preventive measure that strengthens your mental strength to make you less susceptible to mental struggle.

5 Somatic Therapy Exercises to Try at Home

Although optimal, somatic therapy sessions don’t always have to be with a professional. Here are five exercises to improve your mind-body connection at home.

1. Grounding Through the Five Senses

Duration: 5-10 minutes

This fundamental somatic experiencing technique helps people reconnect with their physical presence when feeling anxious or disconnected.

You start by identifying five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.

Here’s how:

1. Sit or stand in a comfortable position and take three deep breaths.
2. Look around your space and name out loud five things you can see.
3. Touch four different objects around you. Notice their texture, temperature, and weight.
4. Close your eyes and identify three distinct sounds in your environment.
5. Notice two scents in your space. If needed, open a spice jar or smell a piece of fruit.
6. Take a sip of water or tea, or place a small mint on your tongue, focusing on the taste.

The practice activates multiple sensory pathways in the brain, which neuroscience research shows can interrupt stress responses.

This simple but effective approach appears in “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel van der Kolk.

2. Body Scanning

Duration: 10-15 minutes

Body scanning involves systematically bringing attention to different parts of your body from head to toe.

You lie comfortably and direct focused attention to each body region, noting any sensations without judgment. Somatic experiencing practitioners often guide clients through this process to help them identify areas of tension related to traumatic memories.

Steps:

1. Lie down on your back on a comfortable surface.
2. Close your eyes while limiting your eye movement and take several deep breaths.
3. Begin with your toes. Squeeze them tightly for 3 seconds, then release.
4. Move attention up to your feet, then ankles, calves, and knees.
5. Continue upward through your thighs, hips, abdomen, chest, fingers, hands, arms, shoulders, neck, and finally your head.
6. At each area, notice any sensations: warmth, coolness, tingling, heaviness, or lightness.
7. If you find areas of tension, breathe into them and visualize the tension dissolving.
8. When you reach your head, take three more deep breaths and slowly open your eyes.

Regular practice is necessary here. You may not feel a difference immediately, but it increases your ability to notice subtle physical cues before they escalate into overwhelming emotional states.

3. Container Exercise

Duration: 5-10 minutes

The container exercise, developed within somatic psychology, helps people manage overwhelming emotions. You visualize creating a container of any kind (box, safe, chest) and mentally place distressing thoughts, images, or sensations inside it.

Here’s an example:

1. Find a quiet space and sit comfortably.
2. Take several deep breaths to center yourself.
3. Visualize a container of your choice (a box, chest, safe, bottle, etc.).
4. Make it as detailed as possible: color, size, material, and special features like locks.
5. Identify a thought, memory, or feeling that feels overwhelming.
6. Visualize placing this difficult content into your container.
7. See yourself closing and securing the container.
8. Choose where to store this container until you’re ready to open it (with a therapist or during a designated time).
9. Place your hand on your heart and remind yourself that you control when to access this material.

4. Pendulation

Duration: 7-10 minutes

We’ve talked about pendulation a bit earlier. It represents a core somatic experiencing technique where you move attention between areas of comfort in your body and areas of discomfort or activation.

Start by focusing on a place in your body that feels okay or neutral. Then briefly shift attention to a place that holds tension or discomfort before returning to the comfortable area.

Here’s how you can do that:

1. Sit in a comfortable position with your feet on the floor.
2. Close your eyes and take several deep breaths.
3. Scan your body and find a place that feels comfortable, neutral, or pleasant.
4. Spend 30 seconds focusing on this area, noticing all its sensations.
5. Now, briefly shift attention to a place in your body that feels tight or uncomfortable.
6. Stay with this sensation for only 5-10 seconds.
7. Return your attention to the comfortable area for 30 seconds.
8. Repeat this back-and-forth movement 3-5 times.
9. End by focusing on the comfortable area for a full minute.

This gentle back-and-forth motion teaches your nervous system that it can experience activation and return to safety.

Many practitioners consider this technique particularly valuable for clients who have not responded well to traditional talk therapy or EMDR.

5. Resource Tapping

Duration: 5-7 minutes

Resource tapping combines physical touch with positive memory recall to create new neural associations. You identify a positive memory or strength and recall it vividly while gently tapping alternating sides of your body (often the knees or shoulders).

Steps:

1. Sit comfortably and identify a memory of when you felt strong, capable, or peaceful.
2. Recall this memory in detail, noticing what you saw, heard, and felt.
3. When the positive feeling is present, begin tapping slowly and alternately on your knees.
4. Tap the left knee, then the right knee, at about one tap per second.
5. Continue tapping while holding the positive memory for 1-2 minutes.
6. Take a deep breath and notice how your body feels.
7. Try another positive memory with the same tapping pattern.

A randomized controlled outcome study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress showed that similar bilateral techniques significantly improved well-being scores in trauma survivors.

The technique works by simultaneously engaging both hemispheres of the brain while accessing emotional resources.

Final Words

Somatic therapy is an evidence-based approach to wellness that does work in calming down physical symptoms.

Yet, somatic psychotherapy is but one of many therapies we offer at Recreate Life Counseling. We are experts in all frontiers in psychology, starting from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) all the way to Telehealth and virtual therapy.

Contact us today, and let us take your mental health to the next level.

---

Published on: 2025-04-01
Updated on: 2025-04-02