If you’re curious about somatic therapy or you’re already considering it, you might be wondering: what actually happens in these sessions? What kinds of techniques do somatic therapists use?
It’s a fair question. Unlike talk therapy, where the method feels familiar (you sit, you talk, the therapist listens and responds), somatic therapy can seem more mysterious. You might have heard it involves “the body” or “working with sensations,” but what does that really mean in practice?
The truth is, somatic therapy draws on a range of body-based practices. Some you might already know about (like breathwork or grounding), and others that might be new to you (like pendulation or titration). None of them is complicated or requires special physical abilities. They’re gentle invitations to pay attention to what your body is experiencing, and to work with your nervous system in ways that support healing.
In this post, I’ll walk you through the most common somatic therapy techniques I use in my practice. For each one, I’ll explain what it is, why it’s helpful, and when we need to be careful or go slowly. My hope is that by the end, you’ll have a clearer sense of what somatic work involves and whether it might be right for you.
These techniques aren’t things I “do to you.” They’re practices we explore together, at your pace, with your full consent and collaboration. Somatic therapy is participatory and you’re always an active part of the process, not a passive recipient.
Let’s begin.
The language I use is borrowed from recent developments in Western somatic therapy, where I learned. However, body-centred practices have deep roots in cultures outside the West. However inadequately, I wanted to acknowledge the richness and long history of these original traditions in a blog post:
History of somatic therapy: from body wisdom to modern trauma healing
I encourage readers to learn from these traditions directly.
Common somatic therapy techniques
Somatic therapy draws on a range of body-based practices to help you reconnect with sensation, regulate your nervous system, and build capacity for what feels difficult. These aren’t rigid protocols – they’re invitations, ways of tuning into what your body already knows.
Here are some of the techniques I use most often in sessions:
Body Awareness and Tracking
What it is: Body awareness (sometimes called “tracking”) is the practice of noticing what’s happening in your body right now. This might sound simple, but for many people, especially those who’ve learned to live primarily in their heads, it’s actually quite unfamiliar.
In sessions, I support you in developing interoception, your ability to notice and make sense of what’s happening inside your body. From there, we can explore how your body responds as you share your story
I might ask: “What do you notice in your chest as you’re talking about this?” or “Where do you feel that anxiety you’re describing?” We’re learning to pay attention to sensations without immediately trying to change or analyse them.
Why I use it: Developing interoception (aka body awareness and tracking) is foundational to somatic therapy. It allows you to build tolerance for different sensations in your body and develop a body-centred vocabulary so you can decode your body’s signals when they arise.
Cautions: For some people, turning attention inward can initially feel overwhelming or even triggering, especially if you’ve experienced trauma or learned to disconnect from your body as a survival strategy. We always go slowly. If noticing sensations feels like too much, we work with what’s tolerable, maybe starting with something neutral like the feeling of your hands resting on your lap or the temperature of the air on your skin.
You’re never forced to feel more than you’re ready for.
Grounding Exercises
What it is: Grounding practices help you come back into the present moment and feel more connected to your body and the physical world around you. This might involve feeling your feet on the floor, noticing the chair supporting you, pressing your hands together or looking around the room.
Grounding is something you can do in session with me, but it’s also a tool you can take with you, something to use when you’re feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or dissociated.
Why I use it: When you’re stressed or triggered, your nervous system can go into states of hyperarousal (fight/flight: racing thoughts, panic, agitation) or hypoarousal (freeze/shutdown: numbness, disconnection, fog). Grounding helps bring you back into your “window of tolerance”, the zone where you can feel without being overwhelmed.
It’s also a resource we come back to throughout the work. If we’re touching on something difficult, we might pause and ground before continuing.
Cautions: Not all grounding techniques work for everyone. For instance, “feel your feet on the floor” is classic grounding advice, but if you’ve experienced certain types of trauma or have chronic pain, focusing on your feet might not feel safe or neutral. We experiment together to find what actually helps you feel more present and settled.
I occasionally write a newsletter on the themes of body, nature and social justice, offering practical tips and insights that you can carry with you as your day goes on.
Breathwork
What it is: Breathwork in somatic therapy isn’t complicated breathing exercises or forced techniques. It’s about noticing how you’re breathing right now, and gently exploring what happens when you shift your breath, perhaps deepening an exhale, slowing the pace, or simply allowing your breath to move more fully.
Sometimes I’ll invite you to place a hand on your chest or belly and notice the rise and fall. Sometimes we sit together and breathe. Sometimes we just get curious about the mechanics of breathing itself and how the lungs expand to take up space, how breath literally gives us life.
Why I use it: Breath is directly connected to your nervous system. In a very simplistic way, shallow, rapid breathing signals danger to your body; slow, full breathing signals safety. By working with breath, we can actually shift your nervous system state.
Breath is also always available to you as a resource you carry everywhere. Learning to use your breath as a tool for regulation can feel empowering.
Cautions: For some people, focusing on breath can trigger anxiety or panic, especially if you’ve experienced trauma related to your breathing being restricted. We never push through that. If breathwork doesn’t feel safe, we don’t use it, or we approach it very gently, maybe just noticing breath without trying to change it.
I also don’t ask you to breathe in specific patterns unless it’s clearly helpful for you, nor do I offer breathwork as a breathing technique.
Gentle Movement
What it is: This might be small movements (stretching your arms, rolling your shoulders, turning your head from side to side) or it might be getting up and shaking. Movement in somatic therapy is intuitive and body-led. As in some talk therapies, somatic approaches also use protocols, though not all do (I don’t).
Sometimes I’ll notice you’re holding tension somewhere and invite you to move that part of your body in whatever way feels natural. Sometimes you might feel an impulse to move and I’ll encourage you to follow it.
Why I use it: Trauma and stress get held in the body as muscular tension, constriction and bracing. Movement helps release what’s been locked. It also completes interrupted protective responses. For instance, if your body wanted to run or push away during a traumatic event but couldn’t, gentle movement in therapy can allow that impulse to finally express and discharge (his concept is central to Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing approach).
Slow movement also brings you into the present moment and can shift stuck emotional states.
Cautions: Not everyone feels comfortable or safe moving their body. Movement is always optional and always at your pace. We might start very small, just wiggling your fingers or shifting your weight and build from there only if it feels right. Remember, we start from where your body allows.
If you are curious to know more about somatic trauma therapy, I wrote a couple of posts that may interest you:
What happens in somatic therapy?
This is why you know everything but you still can’t feel better
Anchoring
What it is: Anchoring is the practice of identifying a felt sense of stability, safety, or calm in your body that you can return to when things feel overwhelming. An anchor might be the feeling of your feet on the ground, the solidity of the chair beneath you, a hand on your heart, or even a memory or image that brings a sense of steadiness.
Unlike grounding (which is about coming into the present moment), anchoring is about finding something reliable you can hold onto when emotional or somatic intensity arises.
Why I use it: When you’re working with difficult material you need a way to regulate yourself when activation gets too high. An anchor gives you something to come back to, a kind of home base for your nervous system.
It’s especially useful for people who tend to get flooded or overwhelmed quickly. Knowing you have an anchor makes it safer to explore what’s difficult, because you’re not adrift – you have something solid to return to.
Cautions: Finding an anchor isn’t always easy, particularly if you’ve experienced chronic trauma or if your body doesn’t feel like a safe place. We work together to discover what actually feels anchoring for you. It might not be what works for others, and that’s okay. Sometimes anchoring happens through external supports (like the sound of my voice, or the presence of the room) before it can happen internally.
Resourcing
What it is: Resourcing means identifying and connecting with things that help you feel safe, calm, grounded, or energised. A resource might be a memory of a place you love, an image of someone who cares about you, a sensation in your body that feels good (like warmth or softness), or even just the feeling of your breath.
In sessions, we actively build your internal resources before we work with difficult material. We also return to resources when things feel too intense.
Resourcing is the process of identifying what helps you feel safe, calm, or stable – these might be internal (a memory, a sensation) or external (a place, a person, nature). Anchoring is a specific way of accessing those resources using a physical, sensory, or mental cue to ground your nervous system in the present moment. Both anchoring and grounding techniques serve to resource you, building your capacity to meet what’s difficult.
Why I use it: You can’t heal trauma or work with overwhelm if you don’t have enough internal or external support to hold you. Resourcing builds your capacity, it expands your window of tolerance so you can eventually touch what’s been too much to feel.
It also reminds your nervous system that not everything is a threat. There are places in your experience that are safe, pleasant, nourishing. Your system needs to know this. You need to know this.
Cautions: Some people have difficulty accessing resources, especially if they’ve experienced prolonged trauma or if their entire world has felt unsafe. That’s okay. We work with whatever is available, even if it feels tiny. Maybe just the fact that you’re here in this room with me or the warmth of your hands is enough. Resources can be built over time; they don’t have to exist fully formed.
Titration and pendulation
What it is:
Titration involves breaking down overwhelming or traumatic experiences into tiny, manageable “drops” or doses. Rather than confronting the full weight of a difficult memory or feeling all at once, we work with small fragments, just enough for your nervous system to process without becoming flooded.
Pendulation is the rhythmic, back-and-forth shifting of attention between a state of discomfort (what Peter Levine calls the “trauma vortex”) and a state of safety or resource (the “healing vortex”). It’s the natural oscillation between touching what’s difficult and returning to what feels stable or good.
In practice: We might touch briefly on a distressing memory (a small titrated dose), notice the sensations that arise in your body (the trauma vortex), then deliberately shift attention to something that feels safe or pleasant, like perhaps your feet on the ground, a comforting memory, or simply your breath (the healing vortex).
Why I use it:
Titration prevents overwhelm. By working with small doses, we respect your nervous system’s capacity. You’re not asked to carry more than you can hold.
Pendulation teaches your nervous system that activation doesn’t have to be permanent or all-consuming. You can touch the trauma vortex and return to the healing vortex. You’re not stuck. This rhythmic movement is itself healing and your system learns it can meet difficulty and come back to safety.
Together, titration and pendulation create the conditions for integration.
Cautions:
Some people want to stay in the trauma vortex, believing they need to “feel it all” or “get to the bottom of it” in one go. Others want to avoid it entirely and stay only in the healing vortex. Neither extreme serves healing.
Titration requires patience: working with tiny doses can feel frustratingly slow when you want relief now. Pendulation requires trust and shifting away from difficulty back to resource might feel like avoidance, but it’s actually what allows your nervous system to process and integrate.
We work at the pace your body can manage, honouring both the need to touch what’s difficult and the need to return to safety.
We trust the pace your nervous system can actually metabolise. That might feel slow, but slow is safe, and safe is what allows real change.
A brief example:
Let me give you a sense of how these techniques might come together in a session.
You might be telling me about a difficult situation at work. As you’re speaking, I notice your shoulders rising toward your ears and your breath getting shallow. I gently interrupt:
“Can we pause for a moment? I’m noticing your shoulders. Can you feel that tightness?”
You might say yes, you can feel it or you might say you hadn’t noticed. Either way, we’re bringing attention to what’s happening in your body (body awareness).
I might invite: “What happens if you roll your shoulders back a little? Just gently.” (Movement)
You do, and maybe you take a deeper breath without me even suggesting it (breathwork). Your face softens slightly.
“What do you notice now?” I ask.
“A bit more space,” you might say. “Less tight.”
“Good. Let’s stay here for a moment.” (Resourcing, grounding)
Then, when you’re more settled, we might return to the work conversation. But now you’re more in your body, more present, more resourced. We’ve titrated the intensity rather than letting it build into overwhelm. Pendulation happens when we go back to your raised shoulders and explore what more is there.
This is how somatic therapy works: small, embodied shifts that accumulate over time.
Questions about whether this is right for you? Check my page on individual therapies and get in touch. I offer a free initial introductory call on Zoom where we can talk about your needs and whether somatic therapy feels like a good fit.
An important note: When reading, it’s important you know that I view somatic trauma therapy as complementary to allopathic medicine (Western mainstream medicine) and not a substitute. If you’re experiencing persistent physical symptoms, please consult with your GP or appropriate medical professional first to rule out underlying medical conditions. Somatic therapy works alongside medical care, not instead of it.