How to Be With Your Body: A Six-Step Somatic Practice
By Victoria Duarte, mindfulness and somatic coach
Tension, tightness, and a nauseous stomach are signals that you are uncomfortable. My advice as a coach is simple: do not wait to take care of your inner landscape when you feel those signals.
This six-step somatic practice is one I teach for the minutes after a stressful moment. It takes five to ten minutes, and you can do it in a chair, in your car, or on the edge of your bed.
Recently I worked with a client who wanted to learn how to be with her body. She had tried other practices, and each one left her feeling more distant and confused, when what she wanted was to listen and settle in.
Her experience is the reason this practice begins with safety and moves in small doses. Listening to the body is easier when the body has a place to return to, and it is hard to settle in when a practice asks for everything at once.
What Is a Somatic Exercise?
A somatic exercise is a short practice that uses attention to body sensation, breath, and gentle touch to help your nervous system settle after stress. Somatic means "of the body." The practice asks you to be with a feeling, give it comfort, and leave space to listen. There is nothing to analyze or figure out.
What Are the Six Steps?
Find one cue of safety
Find where the discomfort lives in your body
Be with it in a small dose
Offer comfort
Stay and notice what shifts
Close by checking in
How Does This Relate to the Nervous System and the Vagus Nerve?
Stress is something the nervous system does. One branch, the sympathetic nervous system, prepares the body for action with a faster heart rate and tighter muscles. The other branch, the parasympathetic nervous system, supports rest and digestion.
The vagus nerve is the main nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system. According to Cleveland Clinic, the vagus nerves run from the brain to the large intestine, passing the heart, the lungs, and the digestive tract. They carry signals between the brain and those organs, and they hold about 75 percent of the parasympathetic nervous system's nerve fibers.
Slow breathing is the part of this practice with research behind it. A 2018 systematic review in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience looked at 15 studies of slow breathing in healthy adults. It linked slow breathing with increased heart rate variability, a measure tied to parasympathetic activity, and with more comfort and relaxation. The six steps together come from my practice as a coach, and they have not been studied as a set.
When Should You Use This Practice?
Use it after an upsetting moment, such as a hard conversation or a tense day at work. You can also use it before a situation you expect to be stressful, so you know what your body needs going in. This practice is meant for everyday stress.
How to Do the Practice
Step 1: Find one cue of safety
Before you turn toward the stress, find one thing that tells your body it is safe right now. Feel your feet on the floor and your back against the chair. You can also rest your eyes on something pleasant in the room. Do not skip this step, since it makes it easier to explore what you are feeling. You will come back to this cue during the practice.
Step 2: Find where the discomfort lives in your body
Ask yourself where it hurts, and scan the areas where you feel stress. Then describe the sensation with descriptive words, such as tight, heavy, hollow, achy, hot, or numb. If it is too hard to just be with it, use your imagination and curiosity. You might picture its color, its shape, or its temperature.
Step 3: Be with it in a small dose
Rest your attention on the sensation, and allow yourself to tune into it. Then move your attention back to your cue of safety. You can go back and forth as many times as you need. Working this way lets you meet the feeling a little at a time.
Step 4: Offer comfort
Ask that part of you what it needs. Maybe you place your hand on that area. Maybe you allow yourself to gently rock. Maybe you breathe in your favorite scent underneath a weighted blanket. You are giving yourself the support that part of you is aching for.
Step 5: Stay and notice what shifts
Stay with it once you have felt that comfort. Notice how your body shifts and how it softens. Notice what images or words come up as releasing creates more space.
Step 6: Close by checking in
Take a few slow, full breaths to finish. Notice whether the sensation, the images, or the emotions have changed in how intense they are, where they sit, or how they feel. Ask yourself two questions: what do I notice now, and what feels the same or different?
When Should You Stop?
Stop if the sensation grows more intense or you begin to feel overwhelmed. Open your eyes, return to your cue of safety, and move your body.
This practice is for everyday stress, and painful memories from the past are best approached with a licensed therapist. Erin Freeman, LPC, offers therapy at Healing Arts Center. I am a mindfulness and somatic coach, and I am not a therapist. This practice supports everyday well-being and does not replace medical or mental health care.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a somatic exercise?
A somatic exercise is a short practice that uses attention to body sensation, breath, and gentle touch to help your nervous system settle after stress.
How do I learn to be with my body?
Begin with one cue of safety, such as your feet on the floor, before you turn toward a hard feeling. Then rest your attention on the feeling in small doses and return to the cue of safety as often as you need.
How does a somatic exercise relate to the vagus nerve?
The vagus nerve is the main nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system, which supports rest and digestion. Research has linked slow breathing, which closes this practice, with increased heart rate variability, a measure tied to parasympathetic activity.
How long does a somatic exercise take?
This six-step practice takes five to ten minutes. You can do it seated, with your eyes open or closed.
When is the best time to do a somatic exercise?
The best time is soon after a stressful moment, while the feeling is still in your body. You can also do it before a situation you expect to be stressful.
What if I feel nothing during a somatic exercise?
Feeling nothing is common, and the practice still counts. Slowing down and paying attention to your body is the practice.
Does a somatic exercise replace therapy?
A somatic exercise supports everyday well-being and does not replace therapy or medical care. Painful memories from the past are best approached with a licensed therapist.
Where can I learn somatic practice in Virginia Beach?
Victoria Duarte teaches Intro to Somatic Practice at Healing Arts Center, 4652 Haygood Rd A, Virginia Beach, VA 23455. Pre-registration is required through Vagaro.
Learn This in Person
I teach Intro to Somatic Practice, a one-hour class at Healing Arts Center in Virginia Beach. Pre-register for a class on Vagaro, or schedule a one-on-one session with me.
About Victoria Duarte
Victoria Duarte is a mindfulness and somatic coach and a co-founder of Healing Arts Center in Virginia Beach. She has practiced for more than fifteen years and is a trauma-informed Reiki and meditation practitioner, as well as a trained breathwork practitioner. Victoria teaches clients the importance of creating space for self-compassion by tuning into what the body is communicating and finding cues of safety.
