7 Somatic Practices for When You’re Stressed

By: Dr. Denise Renye

In times of high stress, a common coping strategy is to withdraw into the mind—to make plans, to rationalize, to ruminate. The mind will start flitting around like a manic butterfly, never quite landing but yearning to do so. The mind may also say now is the time to do more, more, more, and slowing down is not on it’s list. From my work as a somatic therapist in Marin County, I’ve seen that the medicine we often need is to gently return to the body and allow ourselves to slow down.

Somatic practices offer a return to presence, safety, and inner knowing. Below are seven simple yet powerful tools to support nervous system regulation, emotional integration, and trauma healing by inviting you to gently notice and respond to your body’s signals. It may seem hard to believe but safety is found in the body, in the here and now. While the mind loves to solve, peace doesn’t come from overthinking. It comes from training the mind to settle, soften, and listen.Peace is found in the pause. And returning to the body is what facilitates that pause.   

1.     Body Scanning
Body scanning is the gentle practice of bringing awareness to different parts of the body, often starting at the head and moving slowly down to the toes, or vice versa. The goal isn’t to change or fix what’s noticed, but simply to observe. Be a loving witness to your process that is happening right now. As you scan, you may encounter areas of tension, constriction, numbness, lightness, or ease. This process helps develop interoceptive awareness (sensing internal states) and can deepen the capacity to remain present with what is, rather than what we think should be. It’s an invitation to come home to the body with curiosity and compassion. If you’d like more guidance, download my embodiment meditation.

2.     Orienting
Orienting is a simple yet powerful practice that involves slowly looking around your physical environment to remind your nervous system that you are in a safe place, in the present moment. Rather than hyper-focusing on one spot or closing the eyes, orienting encourages taking in your environment of colors, shapes, shadows, light, and textures, especially at the periphery of vision. You’re noticing things as if you’re seeing or hearing them for the first time. Also allow yourself to feel the clothes on your skin, your back in your chair. Turn your head as far to the right and left as you can. These practices can calm fight-or-flight responses by offering visual proof that there is no immediate danger. Orienting signals to the body and brain that it is okay to soften or settle.

3.     Tracking Sensations
Tracking sensations means tuning in to the subtle (or strong) physical experiences arising in the body without judgment or analysis. Sensations might include warmth, tingling, pulsing, tightness, heaviness, fluttering, expansion, or coolness. If or when judgement does arise, it’s helpful to just note that too. “Ahhh, judgement. I notice judgement arising now.” Naming these sensations in real time helps bridge the cognitive mind and the felt sense, which is a term coined by Dr. Eugene Gendlin and refers to a bodily intelligence. Over time, tracking sensations builds somatic vocabulary and increases tolerance for intense or unfamiliar internal states, which is especially important for trauma healing or emotional integration. This vocabulary might include words like tight, fluttery, heavy, warm, numb, buzzing, or expansive—simple yet powerful ways to describe the body's internal landscape.

4.     Grounding through Contact
Grounding through contact involves using physical connection to create a felt sense of stability and presence. This might mean pressing your feet into the floor and noticing the firmness beneath you, allowing your back to rest fully against a chair or wall, or feeling the weight of your body supported by a cushion or blanket, or using a weighted blanket. Grounding can reestablish a sense of “here-ness,” counteracting dissociation, overwhelm, or spinning thoughts. It reminds the body that it is supported and not alone.

5.     Movement Awareness
Movement awareness is the practice of noticing and allowing the body’s natural impulses to express themselves through gentle, intuitive movement. This might look like stretching the arms overhead, rocking side to side, swaying, or slowly rolling the shoulders. The focus isn’t on performing or achieving a particular shape, but on sensing where the body wants to move—or where it longs to be still. It’s a practice of restoring agency, reconnecting with rhythm, and honoring the innate wisdom of the body’s own pacing.

6.     Breath Awareness
Breath awareness invites attention to the rhythm, texture, and depth of the breath without trying to control it. Is it shallow or deep? Rapid or slow? Jagged or smooth? Paused or flowing? Observing the breath can reveal a great deal about one’s emotional and energetic state. Often, breath will shift naturally once it’s observed with kind attention. Breath awareness can be an anchor in overwhelming moments, offering a path back to regulation, especially when paired with gentle movement or grounding.

7.     Hand-on-Heart Practice
The hand-on-heart practice is a tender gesture of self-contact, often used to offer warmth, containment, or reassurance to oneself. Many people are conditioned to look outward for validation, soothing, or a sense of permission. This simple practice offers a way to turn inward and meet yourself with care. Placing one hand (or both) over the heart or belly can stimulate the release of oxytocin, the "tend and befriend" hormone, and gently invite a sense of safety. As your hand rests on your body, you might also bring awareness to your breath, heartbeat, or emotional response, allowing connection to arise from within. This practice can soothe inner distress, foster self-compassion, and serve as a nonverbal reminder that you are worthy of care.

Remember, society often tells us that self-care and self-regulation require buying something, whether it’s a product, an app, or a quick fix. But that isn't true. Everything you need is already within you—your body, your breath, your presence, and your capacity to listen to yourself. When life feels especially trying, instead of getting into your head, get into your body. As a somatic therapist in Marin County, I’ve seen over and over again the power of the body to regulate the nervous system and heal from trauma. But only if you actually pay attention to the body. These seven somatic practices will help you do just that.

If you’d like more support tending to the body and mind, reach out for an appointment.