Have you seen the words somatic, somatic exercises or somatic work popping up on your feed a lot lately? Either you have and wondered what in the world they mean, or you haven’t until right now. Either way - it’s your lucky day because I’m sharing with you a quick and short overview of what you need to know about the buzzword “somatic.”
As a Certified Life and Mindset Coach and Breathwork Facilitator I often use somatic exercises as a powerful tool to connect my clients with their bodies.
We are often so busy and in our heads that we forget we have a body that is trying to communicate things with us. (If you’d like to try this yourself, you can check out my Free Somatic Exercises Guide after reading this blog!).
Today we are getting into…
- What somatic means
- Why Somatic Work and Somatic Exercises are gaining popularity
- Why Somatic Work is so important and how you can start utilizing it today
What exactly does somatic mean?
Simply put, somatic means having to do with the body. Somatic exercises by definition are exercises that have to do with the body. You might be thinking, Isn’t most exercise related to the body? What differentiates a somatic exercise from, say, running a mile?
If you get anything from this blog, let it be this: the goal of somatic exercises is to reconnect the body with the mind. So, running a mile could be a somatic exercise, if done mindfully!
To give you a clearer idea, some great examples of somatic exercises are:
- breathwork
- body scanning
- mindful sitting (yes, sitting!), standing, or walking
- yoga
- somatic stretching or shaking
If you want to see these examples in more detail, remember that my Somatic Exercises Guide is totally free and contains 5 Somatic Exercises in detail! You can download it here.
Why Somatic Work and Somatic Exercises are trending right now
The hard truth is that we live in a society that keeps us detached from our bodies. The vast majority of us no longer need to grow our own food, use our own hands to build what we use or walk to get anywhere. We are go, go, go all of the time and living in glorified hustle culture.
On the contrary, many of us spend a good chunk of our days sitting at a desk or scrolling on a smartphone, with raised cortisol levels; living trapped in our minds, instead of feeling and connecting with our bodies.
How long did you spend scrolling before you came across this blog?
When was the last time you took a deep breath?
How is your physical body feeling right now?
These are questions we rarely ask ourselves as we go through our busy days of working, cleaning, cooking, driving, etc., but the truth is that the body and mind are inseparable, and what affects one affects the other.
If you’re feeling anxious, restless, or overwhelmed, I’ve been there! Believe me, years ago I would have described myself as a drained zombie going through the motions of life.
The main thing that saved me, the thing that helped me rediscover my joy and purpose, was reconnecting with my body through somatic work.
Why Somatic Work is so important and how you can start incorporating it into your day
If you’d like to lower your cortisol (stress hormone) levels and “reignite your spark”, incorporating somatic work into your regular routine can help with those, among other things!
Regularly doing somatic exercises can…
- reduce stress and anxiety
- heal trauma
- improve sleep
- improve focus and concentration
- relieve pain
and more!
Basically, somatic work strengthens the mind-body connection and heals the mind through the body.
And the best part is? You don’t need to take a class or buy any fancy workout tools to incorporate somatic work into your daily life. In fact, you can start right now!
A Quick Somatic Body Scan Exercise
Wherever you are, whether standing, sitting, or lying down - get comfortable. Take a deep breath, the deepest breath you have so far today, in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Take a couple more deep breaths. You can close your eyes, or leave them open with a soft focus.
We are going to start with the top of the head and scan down, checking in with the body. You can breathe normally now, and turn your attention to the top of the head, how the head, face, and then neck feel.
Keep scanning down. Don’t change positions or adjust anything, just quietly scan over every part of the body until you get all the way down to your toes, noticing how each thing feels.
What hurts? What feels relaxed? Where do you have tension?
This is a practice you can incorporate daily, from anywhere!
Want more of these? Check out my 5 Free Somatic Exercises Guide - you can download it instantly here!
Again, I’m Kenzie, a Certified Life and Mindset Coach who provides 1:1 guidance to women looking to get unstuck and heal their minds. If you need anything else, have questions, or are curious to learn more about Mindset and Life Coaching you can contact me here!