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Somatic Exercises

A beginner's guide to body awareness practices

Somatic exercises are slow, gentle movements (or stillness) that help you notice what is happening inside your body. They are not about burning calories, building strength, or improving flexibility. They are about learning to feel.

What Are Somatic Exercises?

The word "somatics" comes from the Greek word soma, meaning "the body as felt from within." A somatic exercise turns your attention inward. Instead of watching your body from the outside, you pay attention to the sensations happening inside.

This is a different kind of practice. You might lie still and scan your body for tension. You might breathe slowly and notice where your breath gets tight. You might shake gently and feel where that vibration travels. The "exercise" is the noticing itself.

Somatic exercises can help with:

  • Releasing chronic muscle tension
  • Calming the nervous system
  • Reducing anxiety and stress
  • Processing stored trauma (with professional support)
  • Building body awareness and presence
  • Improving sleep and energy

No special equipment or experience is needed. These practices work for all ages, fitness levels, and body types.

Before You Begin

What you need: A quiet place where you won't be interrupted. A mat, chair, or bed. Comfortable clothing. Nothing else.

What to expect: Somatic exercises can feel unfamiliar at first. You may notice emotions, memories, or unexpected sensations. This is normal. Go slowly. You are always in control.

A note on trauma: If you are working with significant trauma, chronic pain, or a mental health condition, somatic practices are most effective and safest when guided by a trained practitioner. These exercises are a gentle starting point, not a substitute for professional support. See our FAQ and Research pages for more.

The Practices

These practices are shared across somatic modalities. They focus on cultivating internal body awareness (interoception) to better understand and regulate the mind–body connection. By bringing attention to present-moment sensation, they support the release of stored stress and trauma and improve overall functioning. Try one at a time. Start with whichever feels most accessible. There is no required order.

Foundational Awareness : What am I experiencing?

Purpose: Develops the ability to perceive internal bodily sensations as primary information, supporting self-awareness, regulation, and embodied choice.

Instructions: Sit or lie comfortably. Bring attention inside the body and notice one internal sensation (pressure, warmth, tingling, tension, etc). Stay with it for 30–60 seconds without trying to change it, simply sensing its qualities.

Facilitated Example:

Time: 5–10 minutes  |  Position: Lying down or sitting

Purpose: Builds internal mapping and differentiation by systematically directing attention through each part of the body. Develops interoception, the ability to sense what is happening inside you. One of the most widely used somatic practices.

  1. Lie down or sit comfortably. Close your eyes if that feels safe.
  2. Bring your attention to the soles of your feet. Just notice: warmth, pressure, tingling, or nothing at all.
  3. Slowly move your attention upward: feet, ankles, calves, knees, thighs.
  4. Continue through your hips, belly, chest, back, shoulders, arms, and hands.
  5. Move through your neck, jaw, face, and the top of your head.
  6. Notice without judging. There is no right or wrong thing to feel.
  7. When you reach the top of your head, take a few slow breaths and open your eyes.

Facilitated Example:

Orientation & Regulation : How do I find ground and safety?

Time: 2–5 minutes  |  Position: Sitting or standing

Purpose: Establishes a felt sense of stability, orientation, and presence through contact with support and gravity. Especially helpful when you feel anxious, overwhelmed, or disconnected.

  1. Sit in a chair with both feet flat on the floor, or stand with feet hip-width apart.
  2. Feel the weight of your body pressing down. Notice the floor or chair pushing back up to support you.
  3. Press your feet gently into the floor. Feel that contact.
  4. Take a slow breath. Feel your body being held by the surface beneath you.
  5. Look around the room slowly. Name five things you can see. This adds sensory grounding.
  6. Stay here for a few minutes, returning your attention to the feeling of support whenever your mind wanders.

Facilitated Example:

Time: 5 minutes  |  Position: Any comfortable position

Purpose: Uses awareness of breathing as a direct entry point to sensing and influencing internal state and nervous system tone. Bringing attention to the breath can quickly calm the nervous system and shift your state.

  1. Sit or lie comfortably. Place one hand on your belly and one on your chest.
  2. Close your eyes and breathe normally. Do not try to deepen or slow your breath yet.
  3. Notice: Does your belly rise first, or your chest? Where does the breath feel easy? Where does it feel tight?
  4. Follow the full cycle of each breath: the inhale, the brief pause, the exhale, the pause before the next breath.
  5. If your mind wanders, gently return to the sensation of breathing. No judgment.
  6. After a few minutes, allow your breath to naturally slow and deepen if it wants to.

Facilitated Example:

Time: 2–3 minutes  |  Position: Sitting

Purpose: Comes from Somatic Experiencing, developed by Peter Levine. Mimics the natural way animals scan their environment for safety, helping signal to your nervous system that you are safe.

  1. Sit comfortably. Let your eyes rest softly, not staring at anything in particular.
  2. Slowly allow your eyes to move around the room. Let them land on things without forcing or rushing.
  3. Let your head follow your eyes naturally. Move slowly.
  4. When your eyes rest on something neutral or pleasant, such as a color, a texture, or a familiar object, pause there for a moment.
  5. Notice any shift in your body: a softer jaw, a slower breath, a release in your shoulders.
  6. Continue for a minute or two, moving slowly around the room.

Active Exploration : What is happening and how does it move?

Purpose: Trains sustained attention on immediate sensory experience as it changes, reducing habitual reactivity and increasing perceptual accuracy.

Instructions: Choose one sensation (such as breath at the nostrils or contact with the chair). Follow how it subtly shifts over time for one minute, returning attention whenever it wanders.

Facilitated Example:

Purpose: Uses slow, intentional movement to explore sensation and coordination, allowing patterns to reorganize through awareness rather than effort.

Instructions: Slowly raise and lower one arm while paying attention to the felt experience of movement. Move at half your normal speed and notice where the movement feels easy or restricted.

Facilitated Example:

Time: 5–10 minutes  |  Position: Sitting or lying down

Purpose: Builds resilience and capacity by gently moving attention between areas of comfort and discomfort. A Somatic Experiencing technique that teaches the nervous system it can return to comfort, gradually reducing the hold of tension.

  1. Sit or lie comfortably. Take a few slow breaths.
  2. Notice an area in your body that feels tense, tight, or uncomfortable. Do not try to fix it. Just notice.
  3. Now find an area that feels neutral or comfortable, perhaps your hands, feet, or somewhere in your chest.
  4. Move your attention slowly from the tense area to the comfortable area.
  5. Rest your attention in the comfortable area for a moment. Feel it fully.
  6. Slowly move your attention back to the tense area. Notice whether anything has shifted.
  7. Continue moving back and forth slowly. Over time, you may notice the tension softening.

Facilitated Example:

Purpose: Restores adaptability by allowing habitual tension to release while inviting engagement in underused or inhibited areas.

Instructions: Gently clench the hands into fists for a few seconds, then slowly release and notice the sensations afterward. Compare the feeling of effort and release.

Facilitated Example:

Time: 2–5 minutes  |  Position: Any

Purpose: A core technique in Hanna Somatics, developed by Thomas Hanna. Works by gently contracting a muscle group and releasing very slowly, resetting the nervous system's relationship with that muscle. (You do this naturally when you yawn and stretch upon waking.)

  1. Bring your shoulders slowly up toward your ears. Contract gently, not forcefully.
  2. Hold the contraction for 3–4 seconds while breathing.
  3. Very slowly, slower than feels natural, lower your shoulders back down.
  4. Let them drop completely. Rest for a breath.
  5. Notice the difference in how your shoulders feel compared to before.
  6. Repeat 2–3 times. You can apply this same pattern to other areas: jaw, hands, belly, lower back.

Time: 5–10 minutes  |  Position: Standing

Purpose: Animals shake naturally after a threat passes to discharge stress hormones. Humans rarely allow this. Gentle, voluntary shaking can help discharge nervous system activation. Draws on the principles behind TRE (Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises).

  1. Stand with feet hip-width apart. Soften your knees slightly. Do not lock them.
  2. Begin gently bouncing on your heels, letting your knees bend and straighten in a relaxed rhythm.
  3. Allow the vibration to travel up through your legs and into your hips and belly. Do not force it.
  4. Let your arms hang loose and shake if they want to. Let your jaw relax.
  5. Breathe naturally. Stay with the movement for 5–10 minutes.
  6. To finish, slow the movement gradually. Stand still. Feel your feet on the floor. Take three slow breaths.

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How Often to Practice

Consistency matters more than duration. A short daily practice builds more lasting change than an occasional long session.

  • Daily (5–10 minutes): Choose one practice. Do it at the same time each day. Morning or before bed works well for most people.
  • Weekly (30–60 minutes): Work through several practices in one session, or take a guided class in Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, yoga, tai chi, or qigong.
  • Throughout the day: Brief grounding or breath awareness moments, even 60 seconds, deepen awareness over time.

If you are working with trauma, chronic pain, or a complex mental health condition, these practices are a starting point. A trained somatic therapist can guide you more safely and effectively. See our FAQ for how to find a qualified practitioner.

For more on the science behind these practices, visit our Research page. To understand why somatic practices affect the nervous system, see How Somatics Works.

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