Life can get overwhelming, leaving us feeling lost and stressed. If you’re caught up in despair, hopelessness, or panic, you’re not alone. Today, let’s take a breather and do a few easy exercises together. These steps can help you break free from the chaos and shift to a place of mindfulness, joy, and grounding. Join me on this journey to rediscover serenity and embrace a more balanced and peaceful life.
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Why Consider Somatic Practices
When you find yourself in a lower or even a higher energy state, overwhelmed and a bit disconnected from yourself or the world, this simple exercise is designed to help you explore and reconnect with the beauty of your body.
2 Somatic Practices You Can Do to Avoid Overwhelm
1. Body Tapping
The first technique is called body tapping. You can literally tap all aspects of your body, moving through and bringing your awareness to each part. Notice how you feel. What’s happening? Can you feel the vibration throughout your body? Can you feel the fascia, the network of sensory nerves in your body? By bringing awareness and noticing what’s happening, you can do this at your own pace—fast or slow. This technique is excellent for fostering flexibility in both your mind and body.
2. Butterfly
The second technique is called the butterfly. For this, cross your arms, feel that connection, and then open up wide. I recommend pairing this with your breath—inhale as you close and exhale as you open. Feel the connection, perhaps rounding a bit to release any tension you might be holding, and then open up.
Key Takeaway
With both of these exercises, there’s no specific time limit. Instead, focus on what you’re feeling. Consider your physical sensations—do you notice pain, discomfort, or tension? Pay attention to the emotions or thoughts that arise. This reflection is a great way to connect with your experience and be present. When thoughts take you down a rabbit hole, shift your attention to your body. Ground yourself in the present moment by getting into your body.
I hope these exercises were helpful. If they were, please give it a like, share it, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, The Movement Paradigm, for weekly tips on mindset, nutrition, and movement. For more content, check out our app with various programs and exercises.
We also offer one-on-one services and group programs. Feel free to reach out, and we hope to assist you on your journey. Meanwhile, explore our other content, including vagus nerve exercises, somatic practices, nutrition, gut health, and movement to support your health journey.
How often do you check in with yourself, truly connecting your mind and body? If you’re looking for ways to enhance this vital connection, you’re in the right place.
In this blog, we’ll dive into three powerful self-somatic release practices that can bring a new level of awareness and harmony to your life. Get ready to explore the transformative potential of somatic therapy and unlock a deeper understanding of yourself. Let’s jump right in!
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Understanding somatic therapy
Somatic therapy is rooted in neuroscience and is specifically geared toward your physical movements, bodily sensations, past experiences and potential traumas that you may have undergone.
How it differs from traditional talk therapy
Unlike traditional talk therapy, which focuses primarily on verbal communication, somatic therapy addresses our neurological and physiological responses.
It is a unique form of therapy, and there are practitioners you can seek out, as well as self-somatic practices you can do on your own to help connect with potential past emotions, suppressed or repressed emotions, or even traumas.
What to consider
When engaging in these exercises, always make sure you are in a safe place and feel secure while performing them.
At its core, somatic therapy helps us appreciate that emotional distress and past traumatic experiences are stored within the body. This can manifest in various ways, such as chronic pain, chronic fatigue, autoimmune disease, chronic illness, anxiety, and depression. With somatic therapy, our goal is to tap into these emotions and past experiences, integrating and processing them.
Considering how humans relate more with non-verbal communication than verbal communication, it becomes essential to address the healing of the body, especially regarding emotions, through our physical body.
A helpful framework to understand our experience and resilience is the “resilience zone.” Within this zone, there is a middle section representing the present moment. However, we can easily be pushed out of this zone into a hyperarousal state, characterized by hyper-vigilance and anxiety, or into a hypoarousal state, marked by shutdown and depression. These states are normal and part of life, but past traumas can keep us stuck in them.
To regulate and return to the resilience zone, somatic practices are valuable. Body awareness practices, breath practices, and movement can be utilized for this purpose.
Although I will share specific techniques, it’s important to acknowledge that any form of body movement can be powerful. Walking, dancing, and fluid-like motions that ignite a sense of flow can all be incredibly impactful.
3 self-somatic release exercises
Today, we’re going to go over three different exercises that you can begin to explore in your body, mind, and life and see how they are for you.
Exercise 1: Progressive relaxation
The first exercise is called progressive relaxation. We will move through the body and create tension in each part, and then relax it. We’ll start at the feet.
I’d like you to think of curling your feet tightly and then relaxing them. For the calves, point your toes, tighten them, and then relax. When you reach the quads, squeeze them and then relax.
As you do this, bring awareness to the creation of tension and then the release of it. Notice that some areas might already be tight as you progress. Squeeze your glutes together and then relax, letting go of that tension. Continue to bring more awareness to your body.
Next, think about curling up your abs slightly, as if you’re doing a mini crunch, and then relax. Now, let’s move to the hands. Make a fist and then relax. We can also curl the arms and then let them go. Bring your shoulders up towards your ears, tighten them, and then let them go. Progress through the body systematically, creating tension and then relaxing, allowing everything to let go.
Exercise 2: The flower
The next exercise is called the flower. While lying on your back, start with your palms down, shoulders rolled in, and feet together, with your knees bent.
From here, open the hands so you’re facing your palm towards the ceiling at the same time as opening your hips. Think you’re opening up like a flower, moving nice and slowly, and then coming back, rolling the hands down towards the floor. Shoulders are going to roll off the ground, and you’re going to feel a little tension in the neck for just a moment.
When you feel comfortable, pair that with your breath, so you can inhale as you’re coming down, opening, and then exhaling, moving at a very slow pace. Pay very close attention to your physical sensations and what’s happening in your body throughout the exercise.
Exercise 3: Tapping exercise
The next exercise is called tapping. You can do this all over your body anytime during the day. It’s a great way to start your morning if you’re feeling slightly stressed or anxious and want to bring your awareness back to your body. Tapping involves making a closed fist and gently tapping your body, moving all around, down the arms and legs, and reconnecting with your physical self.
These are just three examples of the many somatic practices you can explore. The key is understanding that we may store emotional distress or traumas in our bodies, which can manifest in various ways. By becoming embodied, we can have a significant impact on our emotional, mental, and physical well-being.
If you found this helpful, please like and share. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, The Movement Paradigm, for weekly tips on mindset, nutrition, and movement. Make sure to check out all the vagus nerve exercises available here as well, as they can also be incorporated into this somatic practice.
