Ever notice how your shoulders inch up to your ears when you’re anxious? Or how your stomach flips when you get bad news? That’s not just coincidence — it’s your body’s way of holding onto stress. And honestly, most of us have been walking around like clenched fists without even realizing it.
If you’ve ever read The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk (and if you haven’t, it’s worth a spot on your nightstand), you know that trauma and stress don’t just live in our heads. They live in our bodies, too. That’s where somatic therapy comes in — a body-based therapy approach designed to help you release what’s been trapped inside for way too long.
In this post, we’re diving into somatic therapy and easy, approachable stress release techniques you can start practicing today. No yoga mats, chanting circles, or fancy retreats required. Just you, your body, and a little curiosity.
What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a form of body-centered therapy that looks beyond talking through problems. It acknowledges that the body physically stores stress, trauma, and emotions, often long after the brain has “moved on.”
In simpler terms: your mind might forget, but your body remembers.
This approach blends traditional talk therapy with physical practices like breathwork, movement, grounding exercises, and mindfulness. It’s about getting out of your head and back into your body — learning how to notice, feel, and safely release what’s stuck.
Why Does This Matter?
Our nervous system is like the Wi-Fi router of our body. It constantly scans for danger, safety, and connection. When we experience stress or trauma, our body responds before our mind even registers what’s happening — think racing heart, tense muscles, clenched jaw.
If those stress responses don’t get resolved, they hang around in our body’s tissues, leading to chronic stress, anxiety, physical pain, digestive issues, and sometimes even autoimmune problems.
Somatic practices help discharge this stored stress, regulate the nervous system, and reconnect you to your body in a gentle, empowering way.
Simple Somatic Practices for Stress Release
You don’t need to book an expensive retreat or spend hours meditating in silence. These body-based practices can be done at home, in your car, or at your desk. Here are a few of my go-to techniques:
- Orienting
This is one of the simplest somatic practices to calm your nervous system.
How to do it:
- Sit comfortably and slowly look around your space.
- Notice what feels neutral or pleasant — the color of the curtains, a plant on the shelf, the way light hits the wall.
- Let your head and eyes move naturally, like you’re a curious animal in a new environment.
- Take a few deep, slow breaths.
Why it works:
This signals to your nervous system that you’re safe right now. It moves you out of fight-or-flight mode and back into the present.
- Grounding Through Touch
Sometimes, the simplest touch can help anchor you.
How to do it:
- Place one hand on your chest and one on your belly.
- Feel the warmth of your hands, the rise and fall of your breath.
- You can also press your feet into the floor, grip the arms of a chair, or hold a soft object.
Why it works:
Touch activates your parasympathetic nervous system (the “rest and digest” mode), helping ease anxiety and release stored tension.
- Vagal Toning with Humming
Your vagus nerve is a key player in regulating your stress response. And you can stimulate it through simple vibrations.
How to do it:
- Take a deep breath in.
- On your exhale, hum a long, steady sound.
- Feel the vibration in your chest, throat, and face.
- Repeat 5–10 times.
Why it works:
This gentle vibration calms your nervous system and shifts you out of hyperarousal.
- Shake It Out
Animals instinctively shake after a stressful event — we should, too.
How to do it:
- Stand up.
- Loosen your arms, legs, torso, and start shaking them out.
- Let your body move however it wants — bounce, shimmy, twist.
- Keep going for 1–2 minutes.
Why it works:
Shaking helps discharge excess adrenaline and cortisol, resetting your nervous system.
Why Somatic Therapy Matters Now More Than Ever
We live in a world that glorifies busyness and intellectualizing everything. But in doing so, we’ve become deeply disconnected from our bodies. Somatic therapy reminds us that healing isn’t just a mental process — it’s physical, too.
Especially in high-stress times (hello, 2025), reconnecting with your body isn’t just self-care. It’s survival.
Final Thoughts
You don’t have to overhaul your life or attend a week-long retreat to benefit from somatic practices. Start small. Try one of these techniques right now — even reading this, you might notice how your shoulders are tense or your jaw’s a little tight.
Your body keeps the score, yes — but it also holds the wisdom to heal.
Listen to it. Move with it. Breathe through it.
If you’re curious to learn more or want guided somatic exercises, I’d love to hear from you. Drop a comment below or message me — let’s get our bodies back on board.