We all benefit when we have a better understanding of our bodies, so why do so many of us go about our daily lives carrying stress and tension as the norm? The answer is often straightforward: we’ve lost touch with our somatic side. In this article, we take a look at how Somatic Movement practices can help us work through our pain, keep us supple, and reconnect us with our bodies on a deeper level.
Modern society and modern technology appear to have made us more connected than ever with the world around us.
But this has come at a cost - because it’s well established by now that we’re less connected than ever with ourselves, meaning our own bodies and minds.
Most individuals in today’s world carry stress and tension as unwelcome companions in their everyday lives, often without being certain of how these companions got there or how they can be shaken off their shoulders (literally!).
With the daily grind of work, the endless demands of family and social life, and all of our modern-day environs that typically see us hunched over desks or peering at screens, it can feel like our joints, muscles, and bones are being made to bear all of our physical and mental struggles at once.
But bodies are wonderful things. They are inherently adaptable and deeply responsive to our internal experiences. When we move with awareness and listen to the body's cues, it becomes an instrument of healing, guiding us towards harmony, integrity and a sense of wellbeing.
The practice is designed to elevate your condition, with an emphasis on physical exploration and sensory awareness.
It is so valued by those who practice it, that it has been praised for quite literally healing bodies in physical discomfort.
Let’s take a look at how it can release tension and stress:
Firstly, what is Somatic Movement?
Somatic movement is a deeply personal approach to movement that begins with inner awareness rather than external form. Unlike traditional exercise or dance where we might focus on how a movement looks from the outside, somatic movement invites us to explore how movement emerges from within.
The practice emphasises listening to our body's subtle cues, understanding its natural rhythms, and moving in ways that honor our individual structure and needs.
At its heart, somatic movement is grounded in the understanding that the mind and body are inseparable. Each movement becomes an opportunity to explore not just physical patterns, but also the thoughts, emotions, and memories held within our tissues.
Whether we're making microscopic adjustments to our posture or flowing through gentle movement sequences, we're engaging in a form of embodied learning that can reshape both our movement habits and our way of being in the world.
This practice differs from conventional movement approaches in several key ways:
It emphasizes process over performance
It values sensation over appearance
It moves at a pace that allows for deep listening and integration
It recognizes each person's unique bodily expression and wisdom
It creates space for both movement and moment to pause
Through regular somatic exploration, individuals often discover not just greater physical ease and flexibility, but also heightened emotional awareness, reduced stress, and a deeper sense of embodied presence in their daily lives.
What is the connection between stress and the body?
Our bodies and stress share an intimate and complex relationship that goes far deeper than just feeling tense shoulders or a racing heart. When we experience stress, our body initiates a cascade of physical responses that affect every system - from our muscles and breath to our digestion and immune function. What begins as a thought or emotional response literally becomes embedded in our physical form.
Think of your body as keeping a detailed record of your life experiences. Challenging meetings, relationship tensions, or ongoing work pressure don't just disappear when the moment passes - they leave subtle imprints in our physical form. We might notice this as a clenched jaw, shallow breathing, or that knot in our stomach that appears during difficult situations. Over time, these responses can become so habitual that we no longer consciously register them.
This mind-body connection works in both directions. Just as mental stress affects our physical state, our physical tension patterns can maintain or amplify our stress response. It becomes a cycle: mental stress creates physical tension, which in turn reinforces our stress, leading to what many describe as being "stuck" in stress patterns.
Common physical manifestations of stress include:
Shortened, shallow breathing
Tightened shoulders and neck
Clenched jaw or teeth grinding
Digestive disruptions
Restricted movement patterns
Changes in posture
Decreased body awareness
Held tension in the diaphragm
Understanding this connection offers us a powerful entry point for change. By learning to recognize and release physical tension patterns, we can begin to interrupt the stress cycle. Simple practices like making a moment to pause, gentle movement, or moment-to-moment body awareness can help us develop a new relationship with both our stress and our bodies.
Somatics is a discipline that focuses on the inner experiences of the body, helping individuals to tap into their unconscious selves and understand the connection between their physical and emotional states.
What Else Should I Know About Somatic Movement?
Somatic movement has been developed and refined for decades, with many of the world’s leading, most trusted practitioners offering courses designed to help individuals understand their natural physical blueprint.
Somatic movement encourages individuals to ‘tune’ their bodies and find the places in their bodies where they might be holding stress. It is not simply about releasing stress in common areas like the hips and shoulders, it is also about helping individuals develop awareness and knowledge about why their deeper mindset is making them stressed - and how they can combat it.
Beyond this, somatic movement is designed to activate the stress-reduction parts of our bodies; including activating our parasympathetic nervous system, which helps lower cortisol levels and reduces feelings of anxiety. Again, somatic movement is not simply about making you less stressed some of the time - it’s about equipping you with transformative ways to access your body’s inner wisdom, thereby completely changing your physical, mental, and emotional mindset.
How Can I Learn More About Somatic Movement?
The best way to learn more about somatic movement is to reach out to skilled somatic movement educators. Many of the best educators practicing somatic movement have been teaching well-established methods for years.
The best place to find a trained Somatic Movement therapist is on the International Somatic Movement Educators and Therapists Association.
Somatic movement educators often prioritise compassion, as much as they prioritise their long experience and expertise.
“Life-changing Possibilities”
In a world where somatic movement practices offer life-changing possibilities to those willing to discover them, SomaSensing has been at the forefront of leading the change. SomaSensing is an ISMETA-approved training programme, meaning that professionalism is guaranteed.
For those curious about what makes it unique, SomaSensing offers a fascia-informed practice that gets to the heart of healing through the process of fascial unwinding - the body's intuitive way of healing in motion.
For those who want to find out more about everything above, you can access my Somatic Essentials Course for just $97.00.
For those who want to find out more, please visit ISMETA’s website.
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