Everything you need to start a somatic exercise practice: what somatic exercises are, how they release stress from the body, and a free exercise you can try right now.
Try this free somatic exercise: seated hip circles
- Sit cross-legged and let your hips feel heavy. Slowly roll your hips in a circle, allowing your torso and spine to move naturally with you.
- After about 1 minute, switch directions. Breathe deeply and keep the circles small and comfortable as you release tension through your hips and lower back.
Why this exercise works
Seated hip circles open your hips and release tension in your lower back. Keeping the circles small, even tiny, lets your muscles let go without strain.
Your hips and jaw are also linked. Releasing tension in your hip joints increases range of motion in your jaw, and the reverse is true too, so many people notice their jaw relaxing as their hips release.
Somatic exercises are tiny, gentle movements that release stress from the body.
Stress, pain, and trauma keep your nervous system switched on, and your muscles hold onto that tension.
Somatic exercises signal safety to your nervous system so your body can let that stress go, in about 10 minutes a day.
What are somatic exercises?
Soma is the Greek word for the body. Somatic exercises are tiny, gentle movements you do slowly while paying attention to what you feel in your body.
That combination of slow movement and attention works directly with your nervous system. It's how your body learns it's safe to release the tension it has been holding, often for years.
Who can do somatic exercises?
Anyone. Somatic exercises need no flexibility, strength, or fitness experience. They work for all ages and levels, including people with chronic pain or limited mobility.
How do somatic exercises work?
When you're under stress, your nervous system shifts you into fight, flight, or freeze. When the stress passes, your body is supposed to come back down. After long-term stress, pain, or trauma, your body stays in that protective state. It shows up in three places:
Somatic exercises show your body that it's safe to let go.
Signs your body is holding stress
all of these are signs your body is holding stress, and that is exactly what somatic exercise releases
Somatic exercises for common problem areas
Lower back and hips
Your lower back and hips hold a lot of stress. Small, slow movements of the pelvis and spine, like the hip circles above, release tension in the muscles around your lower back, hip flexors, and glutes.
Sciatica
Tension in the glutes, hips, and lower back puts pressure on the area around the sciatic nerve. Releasing that tension with gentle somatic movement gives your body more space to move with less pain.
Jaw
Jaw clenching and night-time teeth grinding are common signs of stored stress. Somatic exercises for the jaw release tension in the muscles around the jaw joint, which also eases tension headaches.
Neck and shoulders
Your shoulders lift and your neck tightens every time you're stressed. Slow, gentle somatic movements let those muscles relax back down so your neck and shoulders feel lighter.
Anxiety
Long-term anxiety keeps your nervous system in fight or flight. Somatic exercises signal safety to your body, so your nervous system can come out of survival mode and feel calmer.
Trauma
Trauma leaves stress stored in your nervous system and muscles. Find out where trauma and stress are stored in your body.
The research
In a 2017 randomized controlled trial, 63 people with PTSD were split into two groups. The group that received 15 weekly sessions of somatic experiencing, a body-focused trauma therapy, had significant improvement in both PTSD symptoms and depression compared to a waitlist group.
The findings support what our students experience: when you work with the body, your nervous system can recover.
Source: Brom D, et al. "Somatic Experiencing for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Outcome Study." Journal of Traumatic Stress, 30(3), 304 to 312, 2017. Read the study.
How do I start doing somatic exercises?
You need no equipment. Somatic exercises are done at home, on the floor or even in bed.
10 minutes a day is enough. Short guided video classes walk you through every movement, so there's nothing to figure out on your own.
Most students feel a difference in the first 3 days. The full-body tension release takes about 6 weeks, and nervous system regulation takes 6 to 8 weeks.
Start your somatic exercise program
The Heal Your Nervous System bundle takes you from fight-flight-freeze to regulated with three courses, sequenced over 60 days:
- Release Stress & Stored Trauma (30 days): release the stress and trauma stored in your body
- Free Your Shoulders & Neck (15 days): let go of the tension in your upper body
- Release Your Jaw (15 days): release jaw tension and clenching
- BONUS vagus nerve exercises: support your nervous system in moving out of freeze
Instant access. Yours forever. Money-back guarantee.
Your body has been holding on long enough.
60 days. 10 minutes a day. No equipment. Just your body finally releasing what it's been holding onto, and a nervous system that's no longer stuck in fight-flight-freeze.
I want this!Price increases periodically. Lock in your lifetime access today at the best rate.
Questions about starting somatic exercise
What are somatic exercises?
Somatic exercises are tiny, gentle movements that release stress from the body. You move slowly and pay attention to what you feel, which signals safety to your nervous system so your muscles can let go of the tension they have been holding.
Can beginners do somatic exercises?
Yes. Somatic exercises need no flexibility or fitness experience and work for all levels, including people with pain or limited mobility. A simple first exercise is seated hip circles: sit cross-legged and slowly roll your hips in a small circle for about 1 minute in each direction.
Do I need equipment for somatic exercises?
No. Somatic exercises need no equipment. You can do them on the floor or in bed in about 10 minutes a day.
Can I do somatic exercises at home?
Yes. Somatic exercises are designed to be done at home, on the floor or even in bed. Short guided video classes walk you through every movement.
How long does it take for somatic exercises to work?
It varies from person to person. Most students feel a difference in the first 3 days. The full-body tension release takes about 6 weeks, and nervous system regulation takes 6 to 8 weeks.
Can somatic exercises relieve back pain and hip pain?
Somatic exercises release tension in the muscles around your spine, hips, and pelvis. When those muscles stop holding protective tension, many students feel less back and hip pain and move more easily.
Can I do somatic exercises for anxiety?
Yes. Long-term anxiety keeps your nervous system switched on. Somatic exercises signal safety to your nervous system, so your body can come out of survival mode and feel calmer.
What courses are in the Heal Your Nervous System bundle?
The bundle includes Release Stress & Stored Trauma (30 days), Free Your Shoulders & Neck (15 days), and Release Your Jaw (15 days), sequenced over 60 days, plus bonus vagus nerve exercises. You get instant access, lifetime access, and a money-back guarantee.
Liz Tenuto, The Workout Witch
Liz is a somatic exercise instructor with 15+ years of teaching experience and a degree in Psychology from UC Santa Barbara. She is certified in Pilates and Reiki and spent six years being mentored in teaching the Feldenkrais Method. After decades in survival mode from childhood trauma, somatic exercise gave her relief from insomnia and chronic pain. She has since guided 250,000+ students out of survival mode with somatic exercise, the tiny, gentle movements that release stress from the body.