Feeling stressed? You need to try somatic workouts – here's how
A somatic workout may be the answer to finding calm and restoration in a chaotic world filled with stress and everyday hurry. Requiring you to tune into your inner experience, it's a mind-body exercise that helps to increase physical awareness of your body's sensations, promoting relaxation and improve overall wellbeing. You can count relieved tension, enhanced mind-body connection as just a few of the improvements you'll experience. With 5.4k of you searching for 'somatic workout' monthly, it's clearly a practice you're keen to get to grips with.
Somatic movement teacher of the Non-Linear Movement Method, Gabriella Espinosa, and Breaking Ballet Founder, Sarah Aspinall, guide us through what a somatic workout is, benefits of a somatic workout, and example somatic workouts.
Meet the experts: Gabriella Espinosa is the founder of Women’s Body Wisdom. She is a certified women’s health coach, a yoga and somatic movement teacher and instructor of The Non-Linear Movement Method®, a powerful somatic modality that promotes greater awareness of your internal body world. Sarah Aspinall is a Royal Academy of Dance ballet teacher and founder of Breaking Ballet, ballet-inspired somatic workouts for menopausal and perimenopausal women.
What is a somatic workout?
The term 'somatic' comes from the Greek meaning 'the living body', explains Espinosa. Somatic movement was developed in the 1970s by educator and movement therapist, Thomas Hanna. It is a body-based approach of movement that emphasises the internal perception and experience of the body – physical sensations, emotions, feelings, thoughts.
When we are better able to feel within our bodies, we can access the body’s intelligence and subtle cues to support healing, wellbeing and living our fullest potential. From this place we can welcome the full spectrum of being human – the comfortable and the not so comfortable – with greater compassion, acceptance and self-love.
As Aspinall elaborates, a somatic workout is a form of exercise that fosters a connection between the mind and body, focusing on controlled, mindful movements that enhance body awareness. 'The focus is on how you’re feeling, rather than meeting a specific fitness goal,' she says. Ballet-inspired somatic workouts prioritise movements that improve flexibility, balance, and posture, while also promoting a profound sense of calm and well-being.
However, practising somatic movement is different from doing yoga or dancing, which have a directive or stylised quality to them, clarifies Espinosa. 'In order to experience its benefits, somatic movement should be performed as slowly as possible, preferably with the eyes closed to tune in more deeply to your experience,' she notes.
What are the benefits of a somatic workout?
1. Increased self-awareness
Connecting to our internal body world through somatic movement facilitates self-awareness, explains Espinosa, allowing us to better listen to the signals from our body when it is in need of nourishment, movement, rest, healing and human connection. This in turn can translate to improved, clearer physical boundaries, understanding what works for your body, and better emotional regulation and self control.
2. Relieved stress and emotional tension
When the body is stressed, the sympathetic nervous system is activated, which triggers the 'fight or flight' response, says Espinosa.
Somatic workouts regulate this stress response by stimulating the vagus nerve, the longest cranial nerve in the body that travels down through the face, neck, lungs, heart, diaphragm, abdomen and pelvic floor. It acts as a 'super information highway' communicating between the brain and our body’s systems, regulating our mood, digestion, heart rate and immune response.
'The vagus nerve activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the "rest and digest" process. Heart rate and blood pressure decrease, breathing becomes deeper, and blood is diverted back to the digestive system,' Espinosa continues. The vagus nerve also helps to release hormones that promote relaxation and reduce stress, such as oxytocin and acetylcholine.
Aspinall notes that physically relaxing the body like this can also result in greater hormonal balance and pain management.
3. Enhanced mind-body connection
Espinosa notes that somatic workouts improve the connection between your body and mind. Participants also report a greater sense of connection with the world and people around them. Stimulating the mind through this kind of movement may also lead to enhanced cognitive processing and better decision making.
Aspinall echoes her, elaborating that somatic workouts like ballet, with its emphasis on controlled movements, balance, and fluidity, create a profound mental and physical connection. This in turn improves flexibility and coordination.
4. Increased self confidence
Somatic workouts are exploratory in nature, always focused on the internal experience of the movement, and on your physical sensations, emotions and feelings rather than on the end result or what the movement looks like, says Espinosa. This way of connecting to oneself leads to embodiment, an experience of being comfortable in one’s own skin and feeling more engaged with life.
5. Increased intensity of feeling
Somatic workouts allow you to process emotions and trauma patterns by letting them rise and release, so the body is able to feel more deeply, says Espinosa. 'One of the marked results of sensitising the body is the ability to experience increased aliveness, intuition, pleasure and wellbeing, opening up space for creative expression and internal wisdom.'
Sample somatic workouts
Espinosa suggests that during these somatic exercises, you stay curious and ask yourself: 'What does it feel like to be in my body?', 'How did my body and emotions feel before I did this?', and 'How did my body and emotions feel after I did this?'
1. Breathwork
A) Standing or sitting, place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly.
B) Close your eyes and notice the rhythm, flow, temperature of your breath. Be present to the sensations of your breath without judging or changing anything.
2. Body scan
A) Either lying down or sitting in a chair, close your eyes and begin to slow scan your awareness from the top of your head to the tips of your toes, pausing at each body part to notice sensations, emotions, and thoughts.
3. Non-linear movement
A) Bring yourself to standing, arms relaxed by your side.
B) Close your eyes and begin moving your body in a non-structured or non-linear way. You can move one body part at a time starting with your head, shoulders, arms, hips or legs. Notice what it feels like to move your body in a non-structured way, allow your body and feelings to guide the way you move.
4. Shaking
A) Start by standing and begin by gentle moving and shaking one body part at a time – legs, hips, arms, shoulders, head.
B) Then move to gentle whole body shaking. You can add bouncing, breathing, sound. When you are done, notice the change in your feeling state.
5. Hug rolls
A) Lie on your back with legs bent and feet hip-distance apart.
B) Wrap your arms around you in a gentle embrace and start to rock and roll gently from side to side making a gentle 'Shhhh' sound through your mouth.
C) Return to stillness and release your arms by your side.
6. Port de bras ('carriage of the arms')
Aspinall provides a ballet-inspired somatic exercise: the full port de bras ('carriage of the arms'). This exercise is performed with a focus on arms, and controlled breathing and body awareness.
A) Standing tall, with the feet in first position (heels together with the toes flared out), and your arms in bras bas (the arms are held in an oval shape with the hands in front of the thighs, directly beneath each shoulder), move the arms through first (the oval shape is lifted to the front) and second position (the arms are curved out to each side just below shoulder height) as you inhale.
B) Then begin to bend your body forward on the exhale as the arms come down towards the floor.
C) Continue to move your body into a full forward bend over your legs.
D) Your arms then pick you back up as you come to stand with the arms overhead in fifth position creating a soft, rounded shape, opening the arms back out to second position and bras bas.
E) The focus is on the sensation of the arms moving through space, the engagement of the shoulder muscles, and the elongation of the spine. Breathing is synchronised with the movement, inhaling as the arms rise and exhaling as they lower, promoting relaxation and mindfulness.
How often should you do somatic workouts?
Aspinall advises that it’s safe and beneficial to practice somatic workouts daily for up to 15 minutes (or just for five minutes on busy days). 'This frequency allows for consistent improvement in flexibility, strength, and emotional wellbeing, without overtaxing the body,' she advises.
'Regular practice will help in managing the physical symptoms of menopause, such as joint stiffness and muscle weakness, while also supporting mental health. Even practicing these exercises once a week can be beneficial, especially for maintaining a connection to the body and reducing stress.'
Does a somatic workout really work?
Yes, says Espinosa. 'The purpose of somatics is to give us greater access to our inner world of emotions, sensations , thoughts and feelings,' she says. The stress, anxiety and overwhelm we face daily in a culture that prioritises productivity leads to discomfort, numbing, disconnecting from your body. Engaging in somatic movement provides a doorway to experiencing a greater sense of embodiment. 'This journey opens up a compassionate dialogue with your inner world of sensations, emotions and feelings, raising your whole body's ability to be present.'
Aspinall confirms that a somatic workout is highly effective for perimenopausal and menopausal women. The focus on gentle, controlled movements makes it accessible to those who may be dealing with joint pain, stiffness, or fatigue. The emphasis on body awareness and mindfulness can also help women navigate the emotional and psychological challenges that often accompany menopause. Overall, it works by promoting a balanced, holistic approach to fitness and wellbeing.
Who can benefit most from somatic workout?
Espinosa explains that a somatic workout is suitable for all ages and body types: no experience or skills are necessary. 'It is very accessible in that it can be done standing, sitting or lying on the floor to meet your level of comfort,' she says.
It is for anyone who feels they are disconnected from their body by constantly doing, thinking and striving, or who feels stress, anxiety and overwhelm. You can practise it if you want to experience greater joy and meaningful connection with yourself and in your relationships.
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