What exactly is somatic exercise, how is it different from other approaches, and how do you know if it’s right for you?
Somatic exercise offers a different way of relating to and moving your body. Through gentle, guided movements, you can begin to notice patterns of tension, reconnect with physical sensations, and explore new ways of moving and relaxing.
Unlike approaches that focus primarily on stretching muscles or building physical strength, somatic exercise emphasizes your body’s sensations and movement patterns. It’s an opportunity to slow down, get out of your head, and pay attention to what your body might need.
How Does Somatic Exercise Work?
When we experience chronic stress, our bodies adapt. We might clench our jaws, tighten our shoulders, brace our abdominal muscles, or hold tension in our hips without even realizing it. Our breathing might become shallow, and we might find ourselves rushing through the day with a persistent sense of urgency.
These responses make sense. Our nervous systems are designed to detect threats and prepare us to respond. This survival response can be helpful in the short term, but when stress becomes a constant part of life, we may have fewer opportunities to return to a more settled state.
Modern stressors don’t always look like immediate physical danger. Deadlines, relationship conflict, social anxiety, and the pressure to continually meet life’s demands can all contribute to ongoing stress.
Over time, we may become so accustomed to feeling tense or activated that we stop noticing it.
Somatic exercise helps you slow down and become more aware of these patterns. Through gentle, repetitive movements, you can practice releasing tension, exploring different ways of moving, and developing greater awareness of your body’s signals.
Somatic approaches work with the body’s natural responses to stress, such as yawning, sighing, trembling, and shaking. These movements may occur spontaneously during practice, sometimes alongside emotional responses like laughing or crying. Not everyone experiences these responses, and they’re not something you need to force or achieve.
The goal isn’t to make something happen. It’s to create space for your body to move, rest, and respond in ways that feel supportive.
Curious about the science behind the stress response? These resources offer more information about how stress and trauma can affect the body and brain:
Understanding the Stress Response — Harvard Health
Stress Effects on the Body — American Psychological Association
Ways Trauma Changes Your Brain and Body — Anxiety & Depression Association of America
Why Work With the Body Instead of Just the Mind?
We live in a culture that places a lot of value on thinking, analyzing, and understanding. These are useful skills, and psychotherapy can be a meaningful way to process experiences, explore emotions, and develop new perspectives.
But understanding something intellectually doesn’t always change how we experience it physically.
You might understand why you’re anxious and still notice your shoulders creeping toward your ears. You might have spent years working through difficult experiences in therapy and still struggle to relax at the end of the day. You might know you need rest but find yourself feeling restless the moment you slow down.
That’s because our experiences affect us both emotionally and physically.
Somatic exercise offers another way to work with stress by bringing attention to the body itself. Rather than focusing on talking about experiences, you’ll practice noticing physical sensations, exploring movement, and developing new patterns of tension and relaxation.
Repetition is an important part of this process. With consistent practice, you can become more familiar with different ways of moving and responding to physical tension.
This is where neuroplasticity comes in: our nervous systems can adapt through experience and practice. Somatic exercise draws on this capacity by giving you opportunities to develop new movement patterns and greater awareness of your body’s responses.
Somatic exercise can complement psychotherapy or offer a different avenue for people who want to explore a body-based approach to stress.
How Is Somatic Exercise Different From Yoga or Other Workouts?
Yoga, strength training, running, and other physical activities can offer valuable benefits for physical and mental well-being. Somatic exercise isn’t meant to replace them.
Instead, it emphasizes gentle, intentional movement and awareness of physical sensations. The goal isn’t primarily to stretch, strengthen, or improve endurance. It’s to explore how your body moves, notice where you’re holding tension, and practice different patterns of movement and relaxation.
For example, running or lifting weights might help you work through a stressful day. But if you’re already feeling chronically activated, you might also benefit from movement that encourages you to slow down and settle.
Neither approach is inherently better. They serve different purposes, and your needs may change depending on what you’re experiencing.
Who Can Benefit From Somatic Exercise?
Somatic exercise may be a good fit if you’re interested in exploring the physical side of stress and developing a different relationship with your body.
You might consider it if you:
Experience chronic stress, anxiety, or a persistent sense of being on edge.
Notice recurring tension in your jaw, shoulders, hips, or other areas of your body.
Struggle to relax, even when you have time to rest.
Experience overthinking or difficulty slowing down.
Want to explore a body-based approach alongside psychotherapy.
Are interested in developing greater body awareness and mobility.
Feel disconnected from your physical sensations or tend to push through discomfort without noticing what you need.
You don’t need to have a history of trauma to benefit from somatic exercise. Everyday stress and the demands of modern life can be enough to leave us feeling disconnected, tense, or perpetually on the go.
Somatic exercise isn’t psychotherapy, though it may be a useful addition to other forms of support. If you’re already working with a psychotherapist, for example, body-based movement may offer another way to explore your experiences..
While emotions may arise during a session, the focus is on movement, physical awareness, and self-regulation rather than processing trauma or providing mental health treatment.
My somatic exercise practice is informed by specialized training in this approach. You can learn more about the training and methodology through Liz Tenuto and The Workout Witch.
Check out my next blog to learn more about what a class looks like here.
Is Somatic Exercise Right for Everyone?
Although somatic exercise can be helpful for many people, it’s important to consider your current needs and circumstances.
Somatic exercise is not designed to provide crisis intervention or replace mental health treatment. If you’re experiencing an acute mental health crisis, feeling suicidal, or struggling to maintain your immediate safety, establishing safety and appropriate support must come first.
It’s also worth considering how you respond to physical sensations and changes in your emotional state.
Somatic exercise may be a good fit if you can explore your body’s sensations with some degree of curiosity and remain present when mild discomfort arises. You don’t need to feel completely comfortable in your body, but it helps to have some ability to notice what’s happening without immediately becoming overwhelmed or disconnected.
If tuning into your body feels frightening or quickly becomes overwhelming, that doesn’t mean body-based work is off the table. It may mean that a different starting point, additional support, or a more gradual approach would be helpful.
The goal is to work within your capacity, not push through discomfort or force a release.
Exploring a Different Way to Work With Stress
Our bodies are part of how we experience the world. Stress affects not only our thoughts and emotions but also our breathing, muscle tension, movement, and sense of physical safety.
Somatic exercise offers an opportunity to slow down and pay attention to those experiences. Through gentle, consistent practice, you can explore the patterns your body has developed and experiment with different ways of moving, resting, and responding to tension.
It’s not about fixing your body or achieving a particular physical or emotional response. It’s about developing a more attentive relationship with yourself and discovering what becomes possible when you give your body time and space to respond.
Curious about working together?
If you’re looking for a gentle way to slow down and reconnect with your body, somatic exercise classes offer a space to explore mindful movement at your own pace. Learn more about somatic exercise.
