#somatic exercises

[natasa-pantovic]

Beyond the Individual Systemic Practices - Prisms Workshop with a Police Psychologist  🌟🌱✨in Malta.

🌟 Mindfulness and Systemic Approaches for Youth & Adults 🌟Beyond the Individual Systemic Practices - Prisms Workshop with a Police Psychologist  🌟🌱✨in Malta. Join Nataša Pantović, author of Mindful Being and Conscious Parenting courses, as she joins the Systemic Erasimus + workshop "Beyond the Individual." In this session, the Police Psychologist explores mindfulness techniques that help children and adults develop emotional resilience and self-awareness, drawing from over 15 years of experience in alternative education and family work within the prison environment. 🌱✨ Learn how to incorporate the present moment, family dynamics, techniques, and even music & yoga into your mindfulness practices! Whether you’re a parent, educator, or executive, this session provides practical tools for creating a mindful, connected, and holistic environment at home, in the workplace, and beyond. 🎶🧘‍♀️ What you’ll learn: 🧠 How to integrate mindfulness into family and work life 🎶 Using music and poetry for self-expression and connection 🤝 Interactive yoga exercises like shaking hands to foster mindful presence 💡 Techniques for exploring individual and group dynamics ✨ Practical tips for integrating mindfulness in daily interactions with others Somatic Full Practice-Calming Sessions Body Scan. ... Conscious Breathing. ... Releasing Weight through Ideokinesis. ... Trigger Point Release with Props. ... Freeing the Spine. ... Grounding Your Weight. ... Moving Our Weight. ... Moving Conversations – Partner or Group Exercise. Training Course on Systemic Practice in the Youth Field was organised for professionals working with young people. Prisms Malta has organised "Beyond the Individual," an Erasmus+ training course designed to enhance the understanding of systemic practice in youth work. <3

[tarajudellee]

Ultimate Guide to Somatic Exercises

Stress relief. Body awareness. Emotional reset. This is your moment to reconnect. How often do you feel stiff, sore, or just... off? If your answer is “too often,” you’re not alone. After long hours at a desk, especially since remote work became the norm, that creeping shoulder tension or low back ache? Totally common. But there’s a way to reset from the inside out. It’s called somatic movement, and it’s not just a trend—it’s a way back into your body. Whether you're exploring this on your own or heading toward a somatic yoga teacher training, this guide is your starting point.

What Are Somatic Exercises?

Somatic means “of the body” (from the Greek soma). But it’s more than that—somatic exercises are gentle, mindful movements that reconnect you with your body’s internal experience. You move not to perform, but to feel.

You’re not just stretching a muscle—you’re inviting it to relax.

It’s used in practices like:

Somatic yoga

Free-form dance

Breathwork & grounding

Restorative somatic retreats

These practices help calm your nervous system, ease chronic tension, and improve how you move and feel.

Examples of Somatic Exercises

Here are a few techniques you can try right now:

1. The 4-7-8 Breath

Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, exhale for 8. Do 3-5 rounds. Focus on how the breath feels in your body. It’s like a nervous system reset button.

2. Pelvic Rocking

Lay on your back, knees bent. Gently tilt your pelvis forward and back, slowly. Notice the sensations along your spine. Feel how your body moves with the breath.

3. Somatic Yoga Flow

Think: slow, intentional yoga. Not about the pose. All about the feeling. This is the heart of many somatic yoga certifications—learning to move with presence, not performance.

Why Somatic Movement Works

Rewires Your Brain: It’s called “neuromuscular re-education.” Your brain learns new, healthier patterns of movement. Releases Chronic Tension: Especially in places like your neck, jaw, and hips. Supports Emotional Healing: Trauma and stress live in the body. Somatic movement helps release what words sometimes can’t. Improves Posture and Mobility: Gently, gradually, naturally.

How Often Should You Practice?

Even 5-10 minutes a day can make a difference. Try:

5 minutes of breathwork before bed

Gentle rocking before getting out of bed

A short somatic yoga sequence in the morning

Thinking of Going Deeper?

If you’re feeling the call, there are ways to immerse yourself further:

Somatic Retreats: A weekend or week to drop in, rest deeply, and explore this work with experienced facilitators. Think quiet mornings, grounding movement, and real nervous system healing.

Somatic Yoga Certification: Learn to guide others. Programs blend yoga, neuroscience, and somatic theory. (Psst—many also count toward yoga alliance CEUs).

Somatic Yoga Teacher Training: Go even deeper into anatomy, trauma-informed practice, and how to create safe spaces for healing movement.

Tips to Begin Your Somatic Practice

🔹 Start simple. Focus on 1-2 movements a day. 🔹 Don’t force it. Somatic work is subtle. Less is more. 🔹 Be curious. Each body responds differently. There’s no “perfect” way to move. 🔹 Reflect after. What did you notice? Where did you feel ease? 🔹 Stay consistent. It’s like watering a plant. Small sips every day.

Not performance. Not perfection. Just presence.

You don’t need to be flexible. You don’t need to “do it right.” You just need to show up for yourself—one breath, one movement at a time.

Let's Connect

Have you tried somatic movement before? What helps you feel grounded?

👇 Drop your thoughts in the comments. 📥 Save this for when life gets overwhelming. 📎 Tag a friend who could use this.

[freeonlineworkouts]

Somatic Exercises Benefits

[chryso-poeia]

Fast and effective exercise to shift the body into relaxation (parasympathetic state/rest and digest)

This is a somatic exercise, often referred to as the ”Rosenberg Reset”. This exercise resets the vagus nerve, activates the parasympathetic nervous system, reduces muscle tension, promotes deep breathing, enhances body awareness, calms the nervous system, improves focus, supports emotional regulation, and facilitates relaxation and better sleep.

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Steps:

1. Sit up straight. Turn your head all the way to the right as far as you can go comfortably. Notice any tension in neck and shoulders.

2. Turn your head all the way to the left, as far as you can go comfortably. Notice any tension in neck and shoulders.

3. Sit up straight, clasp your hands at the back of your head and feel the weight of your head in your hands. Keep your head leveled and looking forward. Now using only your eyes, look all the way to the right and keep your eyes like that for between 30 secs to a 1 min or until you get an involuntary swallow, sigh or yawn. When that happens bring the eyes to center again.

The involuntary bodily reactions occur during the exercise because your vagus nerve is being stimulated and activated, leading to your nervous system shifting from sympathetic activation (fight-or-flight) to parasympathetic activation (rest-and-digest).

4. Again, using only your eyes: look all the way to the left and keep the eyes there for 30 secs up to 1 minute or until you get another involuntary swallow, yawn or sigh. Again when it happens, bring the eyes centered again.

5. With your head again now, look all the way to the right and then left. You’ll notice that you can look further right and further left now.

[healing-arts-center]

That’s a beautiful life you have. Not because you were lucky— but because you chose truth over comfort. Boundaries over burnout. Stillness over performing. And not once—but again and again. That’s what self-trust looks like. That’s what a regulated nervous system feels like. You didn’t just survive. You built something sacred. — somatic coaching • nervous system support virtual & in-person | healingartsvb.com

[somaticpsychology]

Best Somatic Exercises to Release Trauma from the Body

This article presents several of the most impactful somatic techniques to help release trauma stored in the body. These somatic trauma release exercises aid in recognizing trauma and also assist in transforming your nervous system, promoting enduring healing.

[jbfly46]

My treatment approach to chronic pain is to utilize a diet that will improve the underlying condition causing the pain, have the patient do time on and time off of medications treating the pain, and during the time off, have them put themselves in as relaxed a state as possible, doing somatic exercises if able/necessary, so that during their time on their medications, they are able to accomplish more of their daily tasks, because they should have more energy from relaxing during their time off. Medications here only includes pain medications, muscle relaxers, and possibly benzodiazepines. Any other medications used to treat pain are illegitimate, and it should be made illegal to prescribe other medications for pain, if not made illegal to prescribe some of them period.

[youremyheaven]

female (yin)-centric exercises and movement practices

i am personally all for the burgeoning popularity of somatics and i think the rise of pilates is wonderful.

for a long time, "exercise" meant hitting the gym and painfully enduring sessions that felt like physical torture. unless you're a high performance athlete, i dont really see the merit in resistance training tbh. obviously everybody has different tastes and preferences and some people probably find somatics and pilates too boring and slow and want something more high intensity which is 👍🏼

however, for many of us who struggle to keep up with these and repeatedly admonish ourselves for being "lazy" due to our inability to thrive or be consistent or enjoy these workouts, there are manyyyy other forms of practices that are wonderful and fun to do and are perhaps better suited for our bodies, temperaments, lifestyles etc

first of all, the concept of "exercise" has become synonymous with either losing weight or making gains. we are told that we have to "exercise" to stay fit. but exercise can mean manyyy different things, its not just cardio and weights. and this means a lot of people think if you're not trying to gain or lose anything, you dont "need" to "exercise".

but this is not true, i think "movement" is a better word and everybody regardless of their weight, age, gender or whatever else needs to move their bodies. we were not meant to just sit, stand and lay down, we need to move. not to serve some moral purpose of "fitness" (another flawed concept) but because its spiritually, physically and emotionally bad for us to not move. we feel more alive when we move. our culture has become so dopamine fried, sex addicted, toxic eating and drug abusing in large part because our lifestyles are so sedentary and we crave stimulation. we wouldnt depend on external substances to feel "alive" if we felt that aliveness within us every day.

you dont need to "exercise" but you def need to move!!! when we dont, we feel lethargic, stagnant, our joints (from years of inactivity) become more sensitive, our body hurts, our immunity suffers and aging can bring aches of all kinds but this does not have to be anybody's reality. we change this!!

you're not lazy for not exercising, if you liked how doing an activity made you feel, you would do it all the time. dont punish yourself!!!

i personally think strength training works for many people. this can mean, swimming, cycling, hiking, dancing, pilates, yoga, barre etc

now about somatic movement practices,

somatics is all about the mind-body connection and intentional movement. pilates (which was basically developed from yoga) and yoga are examples of somatic practice

but there are other methods as well:

Rolfing

Alexander method

Feldenkrais method

Laban movement analysis

Fascia training (myofascial release)

and somatic practices also include things like progressive muscle relaxation, emotional freedom technique, body scanning etc

i know it can all be a little overwhelming but tbh there is a lot of overlap between all of these practices so dont feel like you're missing out by not trying them all,, stick to what feels right for you and focus on that.

yin yoga and restorative yoga (very similar but also different) are also helpful

the reason i put "female centric" in the title is bc i feel like the world of diet and exercise is dominated by a masculine worldview of doing things the hard way/aggressive way and by acting with resistance/restraint instead of a more open/whole approach and valuing "slow" progress over quick and easy ones. the reason why ppl hit the gym make quick progress and then relapse is bc its genuinely difficult to put up with a gym routine for most people who aren't physically immune to pain. movement does not have to "hurt", be "draining" or a proof of your willpower as a human being. its fun, easy, natural, fulfilling and a part of life<333 you can proceed more slowly and make progress over time but tbh you'll be lost in the flow so you wont bother checking to see if you have and life is long so there's no rush!! what we gain slowly will last us forever!! bc we alter our body's alignment and our own relationship with it + our lifestyle/routine to truly embody it instead of a "crash and burn" style that leads to burnout.

remember, the river wears out the rocks not through force but simply by flowing<3

anybody can do these exercises btw, not just women lol

if you have doubts or questions, feel free to ask me <333

[cat-eye-nebula]

Tips & Tools for Releasing Stored Trauma in Your Body

🌻Somatic Experiencing: Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, Somatic Experiencing can release trauma locked in the body. This method is the result of a combination of stress physiology, psychology, neuroscience, medical biophysics and indigenous healing practices. (Videos on youtube)

🌻Mindfulness and Movements: going for a walk, bike ride, Boxing, Martial arts, yoga (or trauma-informed yoga), or dancing. People who get into martial arts or boxing are often those who were traumatized in the past. They’re carrying a lot of anger and fighting is a great release for them. Exercise helps your body burn off adrenaline, release endorphins, calm your nervous system, and relieve stress.

Release Trapped Emotions: 🍀How to release anger from the body - somatic healing tool 🍀Somatic Exercises for ANGER: Release Anger in Under 5 Minutes 🍀Youtube Playlist: Trauma Healing, Somatic Therapy, Self Havening, Nervous system regulation

🌻 Havening Technique is a somatosensory self-comforting therapy to change the brain to de-traumatize the memory and remove its negative effects from our psyche and body. It has a calming effect on the Amygdala and the Limbic system. 🌼Exercise: Havening Technique for Rapid Stress & Anxiety Relief 🌼Exercise: Self-Havening with nature ambience to let go of painful feelings 🌼Video: Using Havening Techniques to rapidly erase a traumatic memory (Certified Practitioner guides them through a healing session)

🌻Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy technique often used to treat anxiety and PTSD. It incorporates rhythmic eye movements while recalling traumatic experiences. This combo changes how the memory is stored in the brain and allow you to process the trauma fully.

🌻Sound & Vibrational Healing: Sound healing has become all the rage in the health and wellness world. It involves using the power of vibration – from tuning forks, singing bowls, or gongs – to relax the mind and body.

🌻Breathwork is an intentional method of breathing that helps your body relax by bypassing your conscious mind. Trauma can overstimulate the body’s sympathetic nervous system (aka your body’s ‘fight-or-flight’ response). Breathwork settles it down.

Informative videos & Experts on Attachment style healing: 🌼Dr Kim Sage, licensed psychologist  🌼Dr. Nicole LePera (theholisticpsychologist) 🌼Briana MacWilliam 🌼Candace van Dell 🌼Heidi Priebe 

Other informative Videos on Trauma: 🌻Small traumas in a "normal" family and attachment: Gabor Maté - The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture 🌻Uncovering Triggers and Pattern for Healing: Dr Gabor Maté  🌻Understanding trapped emotions in the body and footage of how wild animals release trauma

Article: How Trauma Is Stored in the Body (+ How to Release It)

Article: 20 self-care practices for complex trauma survivors

[simder-talia-blog]

source: theworkoutwitch_ on IG

I am a fan of some of the posts from this account, they are very insightful, as well as the creator advocating for somatic exercises for those who are experiencing difficulty finding that peaceful release or healing from even known relaxing exercises like yoga. As a sufferer from chronic illness and chronic pain I find it especially useful.

Just passing it on for anyone else who could benefit from the info 💗

[freeonlineworkouts]

Somatic Exercises: Is Yoga a Somatic Exercise?

[healing-arts-center]

The heaviness of constant striving, of endless self-improvement, of perpetual becoming - it all stems from forgetting one simple truth: your existence itself holds worth.

This isn't about fixing or changing. It's about remembering. About letting the shoulders drop, the breath deepen, and the constant chase pause.

What might fall away if we stopped trying to earn our place here?

📍Virginia Beach, VA

[scobbe]

I was actually just thinking yesterday about how annoying it is that emotional wounds - ie trauma - have no visible manifestation, unless you count all the unhealthy coping mechanisms, autoimmune problems, cortisol issues, etc. that spring up from them. But they are more symptoms than the wound itself. Like if you had knee surgery so you were limping you could show someone the 12” incision on your leg, but you can’t show someone your childhood trauma when you’re having a panic attack. They just see the panic attack.

The more work and study I do around invisible things the more staggering a problem this appears to me. Just about all of us are walking around with old wounds, new wounds, festering wounds, healing wounds, that no one can see - and we can’t even see them ourselves, if we’ve distracted or numbed ourselves enough. And I’d dare say this bridges into spirituality, because the more I read about asceticism etc. the more clearly it becomes all about seeing and tending and ‘ordering’ our emotions - which are gifts from God that help us survive in the world - and nurturing our reason or rationality, which is derived directly from the Divine. This is why the goal of the early monastics, the Desert Mothers and Fathers (along with the Stoics) was apatheia - which isn’t truly our idea of “apathy” or no longer caring (which would be a sin) but rather having the right emotions at the right time and always under the control of reason. So you absolutely might yell and get mad and even shed some tears if someone broke your favorite coffee mug, but you’d no longer be overwhelmed with the desire to gut punch them in return.

I firmly believe most of our desires to gut punch people actually stem from our invisible old trauma wounds, which makes their invisibility a huge problem because we can’t stop wanting to gut punch people when we can’t see why we are in such a state of pain that lashing out is almost an automatic response. If you had an open wound and someone touched it accidentally nobody would think less of you for instinctively batting their hand away. But we can’t see all this going on so we live in this culture of constant conflict and chaos and violence. And the worst part is we start to think it’s normal, “That’s how the world is,” because the alternative, a society of the healed and healing being kind to one another, is so rare.

[tvslashers]

well the only thing left is substance abuse

[a-yarn-of-purple-prose]

There's a awkward story on why, exactly, I bought some incense this week, but the point is that I bought amber, oud, and lavender.

Since I hardly ever burn incense (I said it was an awkward story) I just left the boxes over my dresser, thinking that maybe I'd give some to my mom later, as she actually enjoys incense.

But they're good, high grade incense, the sort that will scent the place just from existing there, so I just left them there. It was nice even if made the whole room smell just a little bit like a temple.

It's been 5 days and now I guess I have to admit that not only the combination is pretty comforting, the nice incense sticks are making me sleep through the night.