Somatic Exercises to Release Trauma: 12 Gentle Practices

You know, logically, that the danger is over. It happened years ago, or months ago, and you are safe now. And yet your shoulders live up near your ears, your stomach clenches when a door slams, and sitting still in a quiet room can feel strangely unbearable. Talking about it helps, but only up to a point. Your body doesn't seem to have heard the news.

That gap between what your mind knows and what your body feels is why so many people look for somatic exercises to release trauma. "Somatic" just means "of the body." These are simple, body-based practices that help you notice physical sensations, settle your stress response, and build a felt sense of safety, one small step at a time.

This guide walks you through 12 gentle somatic exercises you can try at home, with clear steps for each. It also covers what these practices can and can't do, how to go slowly so you don't overwhelm yourself, the signs that tell you to stop, and when it's better to work with a trained somatic or trauma therapist.

What Somatic Exercises for Trauma Actually Do

After a frightening or overwhelming experience, the body's threat system can stay on high alert. You might feel jumpy, tense and wired, or the opposite: flat, heavy, numb and far away. Many people swing between the two. If you're not sure whether that describes you, our guide to signs of trauma covers the common physical and emotional patterns.

Somatic exercises for trauma work from the bottom up. Instead of starting with thoughts and memories, they start with sensations: the feeling of your feet on the floor, the rhythm of your breath, the weight of your hands. The idea is that by giving your nervous system repeated, small experiences of safety and control, you widen the range of feelings you can handle without tipping into panic or shutdown.

An honest word about "releasing" trauma

You'll often hear that trauma is "stored in the body" and that the right exercise will "release" it. That's a popular way of describing things, and many people find it meaningful, but it isn't an established scientific finding. We cover the evidence in more depth in trauma release explained. What is better supported is that trauma changes how the body responds to stress, and that body-focused practices can help people feel calmer, more grounded and more in control.

The research on these specific exercises is still thin. As exercise physiologist David Creel tells Cleveland Clinic, there's very little research on the health benefits of somatic exercises themselves, although related practices such as yoga, tai chi and mindfulness have been studied more. So think of these as supportive tools for regulation, not a cure, and not a replacement for proven trauma treatment.

Two ideas that make the exercises safer

Most somatic approaches, including Peter Levine's Somatic Experiencing, lean on two principles. A 2015 paper in Frontiers in Psychology by Levine and colleagues describes them this way:

• Titration. Approaching difficult material slowly, "drop by drop," to avoid flooding or re-traumatization. In practice, that means short exercises and small doses of discomfort.
• Pendulation. Moving gently back and forth between a bit of activation and a place of calm, rather than staying in distress until it passes.

Keep both in mind as you try the somatic exercises below. Less is usually more.

Before You Start: How to Practice Safely

Somatic exercises for trauma can stir things up. That's not a sign you're doing it wrong, but it does mean going carefully.

• Start when you feel relatively okay. Practice on a calm-ish day first, so the exercises are familiar when you need them.
• Keep it short. Two to five minutes is plenty at first.
• Keep your eyes open if closing them feels unsafe. You're in charge of every step.
• Notice, don't analyze. The aim is to feel sensations, not to dig for memories.
• Have an exit. Know which exercise brings you back fastest (orienting and grounding usually do), and use it whenever you need to.

12 Somatic Exercises to Release Trauma Gently

These somatic healing exercises are listed roughly from the most stabilizing to the slightly more activating. You don't need to do all of them. Pick two or three that feel okay and practice those for a week or two.

1. Orienting to the room

Orienting is what animals do when they check their surroundings for danger. When your threat system is stuck "on," deliberately orienting can help it register that you're safe right now.

1. Sit or stand somewhere comfortable.
2. Slowly turn your head and let your eyes wander around the room, as if you were seeing it for the first time.
3. Let your gaze rest on anything that's pleasant or neutral: a color, a plant, the light through a window.
4. Notice what happens in your body. Some people take a spontaneous deeper breath, or their shoulders drop a little.

This is one of the gentlest exercises here, and a great one to come back to whenever another practice feels like too much.

2. Grounding through your feet

1. Sit with both feet flat on the floor, or stand if you prefer.
2. Press your feet gently into the ground, then release. Repeat a few times.
3. Notice the contact points: heels, the balls of your feet, your toes.
4. Imagine your weight being fully supported by the floor beneath you.

If you tend to feel floaty or disconnected, try rocking slowly from heels to toes, or stamping lightly a few times to wake up the sensation.

3. The butterfly hug

The butterfly hug was developed by Lucina Artigas while working with survivors of Hurricane Pauline in Mexico in 1998, and is now widely used in EMDR therapy as a way to self-soothe.

1. Cross your arms over your chest so your fingertips rest just below your collarbones. You can link your thumbs to make the "butterfly."
2. Slowly tap your hands one at a time, left then right, like the wings of a butterfly flapping.
3. Breathe slowly and comfortably as you tap, for about a minute.
4. Stop and notice how you feel.

Keep the pace slow and steady. Fast tapping can feel more stimulating than calming.

4. Self-holding

This simple self-holding exercise is commonly taught in Somatic Experiencing and other body-based therapies.

1. Place one hand on your forehead and the other on your chest.
2. Stay there, breathing normally, until you notice some kind of shift: a softening, warmth, a sigh, or simply a sense of things settling. This might take a minute or two.
3. Then move the hand from your forehead to your belly, keeping the other on your chest, and wait again.

If touch is part of what feels unsafe for you, skip this one or try placing your hands on a pillow held against your body instead.

5. Finding a resource in your body

1. Scan your body slowly and look for a place that feels okay, or even just neutral. It might be your hands, your earlobes, or the backs of your knees.
2. Rest your attention there. Notice its temperature, weight or stillness.
3. If you like, describe the sensation to yourself in a few plain words: "warm," "heavy," "still."

This becomes your "anchor" spot, the calm place you can return to during pendulation and whenever things feel intense.

6. Pendulation

Pendulation teaches your nervous system that you can touch discomfort and come back out of it.

1. Start by resting your attention on your resource from exercise 5.
2. Then briefly notice an area of mild tension or discomfort. Keep it small: a tight jaw, not a traumatic memory.
3. After a few breaths, move your attention back to your resource.
4. Go back and forth a few times, spending more time in the calm place than the uncomfortable one.

Over time, many people find the uncomfortable sensation softens a little. If it grows stronger instead, stay with your resource or switch to orienting.

7. The "voo" breath

Peter Levine popularized this sound-based breathing exercise. It works by lengthening your exhale and creating a gentle vibration in your chest and belly.

1. Take a slow, comfortable breath in.
2. As you breathe out, make a low "voooo" sound, like a distant foghorn, letting it vibrate in your belly.
3. Let the sound fade out naturally at the end of the breath. Pause.
4. Wait for the next breath to come on its own, then repeat three to five times.

You'll sometimes hear that this "tones the vagus nerve." That idea comes from polyvagal theory, which is popular but debated among researchers. What's clear is that long, slow exhales tend to feel calming for many people.

8. Pushing against a wall

When trauma involved feeling trapped or powerless, the body may have been stuck in a "can't fight, can't run" state. This exercise lets you experience your own strength in a safe way.

1. Stand facing a wall, about an arm's length away.
2. Place your palms flat on the wall at shoulder height.
3. Push slowly and firmly, as if you could move the wall, engaging your arms, back and legs. Hold for 5 to 10 seconds.
4. Release slowly and notice the sensations in your muscles. Repeat two or three times.

Many people find this one of the most helpful somatic exercises when they feel frozen or shut down. Our guide on getting out of a functional freeze response has more ideas for that state.

9. Shaking it off

This is not the same as TRE (tension and trauma releasing exercises), which deliberately brings on tremoring. It's simply a light, voluntary shake to discharge some energy.

1. Stand with your knees soft.
2. Gently shake out your hands, as if flicking off water. Then your arms, then let your shoulders join in.
3. Add a light bounce through your knees if that feels okay.
4. After 30 to 60 seconds, stop and stand still. Notice the tingle or buzz in your body.

If you're curious about TRE itself, our guide to trauma release exercises at home explains how to approach it safely.

10. Containment

Sometimes the most helpful thing is not to feel more, but to put something aside for now. Containment exercises give you a sense of boundaries, inside and out.

1. Using firm, gentle pressure, pat or squeeze down your arms, then your legs, as if tracing the edges of your body.
2. Say to yourself, "This is where I end."
3. Then imagine a strong container: a locked box, a safe or a jar with a tight lid.
4. Picture placing whatever feels too much right now inside it, and closing it. You can come back to it later, ideally with support.

This is especially useful at the end of a hard day or after a therapy session that stirred things up.

11. Gentle rocking or swaying

1. Sit or stand comfortably.
2. Let your body sway slowly from side to side, or rock gently forward and back.
3. Find a rhythm that feels soothing rather than effortful, like being rocked as a child.
4. Continue for a minute or two, then slow down until you're still.

Like the other body-based trauma exercises here, it works through rhythm and sensation. Rhythmic movement is something humans have used to soothe themselves for a very long time. There's nothing silly about it.

12. Slow, mindful stretching

Choose one or two simple stretches, such as rolling your shoulders, opening your chest, or a gentle forward fold. Move slowly and pay attention to sensation rather than how far you can go. Stop well short of strain. If you're drawn to the hips specifically, our article on somatic hip stretches looks at what's real and what's hype.

Signs to Pause or Stop

Somatic healing exercises should leave you feeling a little more settled, or at least no worse. Stop, orient to the room, and ground through your feet if you notice:

• Your heart pounding, breathing getting fast, or a sense of panic building.
• Feeling numb, spaced out, unreal, or like you're watching yourself from outside.
• Strong memories or images pushing in.
• A sudden wave of shame, terror or helplessness, which may be an emotional flashback.
• Nausea, dizziness or pain.

Stopping isn't failure. It's titration in action. Return to the exercise another day, for a shorter time, or skip that one altogether.

How to Build Somatic Exercises Into Your Day

With somatic exercises, consistency matters more than intensity. A few minutes every day tends to help more than an hour now and then.

When	Try this	Time
Morning	Grounding through your feet, then orienting	2 minutes
Stressful moment	Butterfly hug or voo breath	1 minute
Feeling stuck or frozen	Push against a wall, then shake it off	2 minutes
Evening wind-down	Self-holding, then containment	5 minutes
Weekend practice	Resource and pendulation	5 to 10 minutes

Some people like to keep a short note of which exercises help and which don't. Patterns usually appear within a couple of weeks. For more options that focus on everyday calm rather than trauma specifically, see our collections of nervous system regulation techniques and quick somatic exercises for regulation.

When to Work With a Somatic or Trauma Therapist

Self-guided body-based trauma exercises can be a lovely support, but they have limits. This article isn't a substitute for professional mental health care, and it's worth getting support if:

• The exercises often trigger flashbacks, panic or dissociation.
• You have a history of severe or repeated trauma, especially in childhood.
• Symptoms like nightmares, avoidance or constant alertness are affecting your daily life.
• You're using alcohol, drugs or self-harm to cope.

The treatments with the strongest evidence for post-traumatic stress disorder are trauma-focused talking therapies. The NHS lists trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy and EMDR, sometimes with medication such as an antidepressant, as the main options. Body-oriented therapies like Somatic Experiencing and sensorimotor psychotherapy are promising: a 2017 randomized controlled trial of Somatic Experiencing with 63 people, published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, found improvements in PTSD and depression symptoms compared with a waitlist. But the evidence base is smaller, and these approaches are often best used alongside established treatment.

When looking for a somatic therapist, check that they're also a licensed mental health professional, ask about their trauma training, and notice whether they prioritize your sense of safety and go at your pace. Our article on the stages of trauma recovery explains why stabilization usually comes before processing memories.

If you're in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, please reach out now. In the US, call or text 988. In Canada, call or text 988 or call Talk Suicide on 1-833-456-4566. In the UK and Ireland, call Samaritans on 116 123. In Australia, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. If you're in immediate danger, call your local emergency number.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do somatic exercises really release trauma?

The idea of "releasing" trauma from the body is a popular metaphor rather than an established scientific finding. What somatic exercises can do is help calm an overactive stress response, build body awareness, and give you a sense of safety and control, which can make life and trauma therapy feel more manageable. Research on the specific exercises is limited, so they're best seen as supportive tools, not a cure.

Why do I feel emotional after somatic exercises?

Paying attention to your body can bring up feelings that have been pushed aside, and tears, shaking, yawning or a sudden sense of sadness are common. Mild emotion that passes is usually okay. If you feel overwhelmed, panicky or disconnected, stop, orient to the room and ground through your feet, and consider working with a trauma-informed therapist before trying more.

How often should I do somatic exercises for trauma?

Short and regular tends to work best, such as a few minutes once or twice a day. Start with two or three of the most stabilizing exercises, like orienting and grounding, and add others slowly over a few weeks. There's no benefit to pushing through distress, and doing too much at once can backfire.

Can somatic exercises make trauma worse?

They can stir things up, especially for people with severe or complex trauma, and some exercises can trigger flashbacks or dissociation. That's why going slowly, keeping sessions short, and stopping when you notice warning signs matters so much. If exercises regularly make you feel worse, it's a sign to get support from a qualified trauma therapist rather than continue alone.

What is the difference between somatic exercises and TRE?

TRE (tension and trauma releasing exercises) is one specific method that uses a series of postures to deliberately bring on body tremors. Somatic exercises are a much broader group of body-based practices, such as orienting, grounding, self-holding and pendulation, many of which focus on calming and stabilizing rather than shaking. Most people find it easiest to start with the gentler stabilizing exercises.

Small Signals of Safety Add Up

Somatic exercises to release trauma aren't about forcing anything out of your body. They're about offering your nervous system small, repeated experiences of being safe, grounded and in charge, until those experiences start to feel familiar. Progress is often quiet: a slightly easier breath, a little less bracing, a moment of feeling at home in your own skin. Those moments count.

Your next step can be tiny. Tonight, try just one exercise for two minutes. Orienting to the room is a good place to start. Afterward, notice one thing in your body that feels even a little different, and let that be enough for today.