Have you ever noticed how your shoulders tense when you’re anxious, or how your stomach tightens when you recall a difficult memory? Your body isn’t just reacting to your thoughts—it can hold onto stress responses long after the event has passed.
At Somatic Therapy Partners in Denver, our therapists have 51+ years of combined experience helping people understand the connection between the nervous system, trauma symptoms, and the body. We’ve seen how somatic exercises—gentle, intentional body-based practices—can support healing in ways talk therapy alone sometimes can’t. Unlike top-down approaches (mind to body), somatic work supports bottom-up regulation (body to mind), helping your nervous system recognize safety again.
In this guide, you’ll learn what trauma can look like in the body, which exercises to try first, and when professional support can help you go further.
Understanding How Trauma Lives in Your Body
When something overwhelming happens, your body activates survival responses (fight, flight, freeze). This is protective. The problem is when your system can’t complete the appropriate and necessary survival response—because the situation wasn’t safe, you had to push through, or stress stayed ongoing, then your body “holds” that huge, energy waiting to be released.
Over time, that unfinished survival energy can show up as:
- Chronic muscle tension
- Shallow breathing patterns
- Hypervigilance, anxiety, or panic symptoms
- Numbness, shutdown, or disconnection
- Sleep disruption and persistent stress reactivity
- Trouble maintaining important relationships due to a lack of trust.
This is why working with trauma-trained and body-based clinicians can be so effective: you’re working with the system that’s still holding the pattern.
Your Nervous System, Simplified
Your autonomic nervous system has two main branches:
- Sympathetic (fight/flight): mobilizes energy (anxiety, restlessness, urgency)
- Parasympathetic (rest/freeze): supports calm—or, when overwhelmed, can trigger shutdown (numbness, collapse)
Somatic awareness and exercises help your system return to regulation (more balance and reciprocity between these two parts of your nervous system) by using breath, grounding, movement, and identifying embodied safety cues.
Quick Start — Somatic Exercises to Release Trauma
| Goal | Try This | Time | Best For |
| Calm anxiety fast | Extended exhale breathing (4 in / 6–8 out) or a physiological sigh (long inhale then two fast exhales all the way out) | 2–5 min | Racing thoughts, rising panic |
| Feel present | 5-4-3-2-1 grounding: Find 5 things in your environment that are green, 4 things that are moving, 3 sounds, two things to touch and i long exhale. | 2–3 min | Overwhelm, feeling “spacey” |
| Release tension | Gentle shaking like jumping up and down or rubbing your hands together vigorously. | 30–60 sec | Stress held in shoulders/legs |
| Reset your body | Push against a wall with all your effort or do a full body wave (arms above head then swinging them down towards your feet) while exhaling with sound. | 1–2 min | Jittery, restless energy |
| Build safety | Resourcing (safe place/person/pet memory) | 2–4 min | Before/after hard moments |
“If You Feel This, Try This”
| If You’re Feeling… | Your Nervous System Might Be… | Do This First |
| On edge, restless, keyed up | Fight/flight activation | Extended exhale breathing |
| Numb, shut down, heavy | Freeze/shutdown | Orienting by looking around your space or outside + gentle self-contact like hand on your heart |
| Spacey, disconnected | Dysregulated/ drifting | 5-4-3-2-1 grounding |
| Tight chest, shallow breath | Stress response sustained | Diaphragmatic (belly) breathing/ wall push |
| Irritable, reactive, snapping | Mobilized + overloaded | Full body tensing then releasing or can do this with your fists |
One-Line Instructions
| Exercise | How To Do It (1 line) |
| 5-4-3-2-1 | Name 5 see / 4 touch / 3 hear / 2 smell / 1 taste |
| Belly breathing | Gently inhale so belly rises; exhale slowly and fully |
| Extended exhale | Inhale 4; exhale 6–8 (make exhale longer) |
| Standing grounding | Feel feet on floor; shift weight slowly side-to-side |
| Orienting | Slowly look right/left/up/down and notice details |
| Push-away | Press hands into a wall for 3 breaths, then release |
| Gentle shaking | Soft knees; lightly shake or bounce for 30–60 seconds |
| Resourcing | Picture a safe place/person/pet and notice body softening |
Safety Guide — Stay Within Your Window of Capacity
| Green Light (Keep Going) | Yellow Light (Slow Down) | Red Light (Stop + Get Support) |
| Breath feels steadier | Dizziness or agitation | Panic spike that won’t settle |
| More present in your body | Strong emotional waves | Flashbacks or body memories intensify |
| Tension eases a bit | Numbness increases | Dissociation (time/space feels unreal) |
| Mild emotion feels manageable | Urge to “push through” | Feeling unsafe in your body |
When to Seek Professional Support
Self-guided exercises can help, but professional support may be important if you experience:
- Panic, shutdown, or dissociation that escalates with self-practice
- Symptoms that disrupt sleep, relationships, or daily functioning
- Trauma responses that feel “stuck” despite consistent effort
- Intense emotional flooding or intrusive memories
- A history of complex or long-term trauma
Working with a trauma-trained somatic therapist can help pace the process, keep the work within your window of tolerance, and make progress feel safer and more sustainable.
FAQs
Somatic exercises to release trauma are gentle, body-based practices that support nervous system regulation through breath, movement, grounding, and sensory awareness.
Yes. Many somatic practices reduce fight-or-flight activation and help the body return to a calmer state—especially breathwork and grounding.
Start based on how you feel right now:
Anxious/amped up: extended exhale breathing
Disconnected/spacey: 5-4-3-2-1 grounding
Tense/on edge: standing grounding or gentle shaking
A good baseline is 2–5 minutes daily, plus short “in the moment” practices when stress rises. Consistency tends to matter more than long sessions.
Yes. Emotions can surface as your nervous system shifts. If it feels manageable, slow down and breathe. If it feels too intense, stop and ground.
Sometimes, especially if you go too fast or focus intensely on body sensations. If you notice overwhelm, panic, shutdown, or dissociation, pause and return to grounding.
Somatic exercises are self-guided tools. Somatic therapy is guided by a trauma-trained clinician who helps you pace the work, stay within your window of tolerance, and process safely.
Often, yes—especially grounding, orienting, and gentle breathwork. If you experience frequent dissociation, intense panic, or complex trauma, professional support is recommended.
Stop and use immediate regulation:
open your eyes and orient to the room
feel your feet on the floor
try 5-4-3-2-1 grounding
If symptoms don’t settle, reach out for professional support.
Consider therapy if trauma symptoms are disrupting daily life, or if self-practice increases panic, shutdown, flashbacks, or disconnection—especially with long-term or complex trauma.
Ready for Support Beyond Self-Guided Exercises?
If you’ve been trying somatic exercises to release trauma but still feel stuck in cycles of anxiety, shutdown, hypervigilance, or overwhelm, we’ve got you.
At Somatic Therapy Partners in Denver, our therapists bring 51+ years of combined experience in trauma-informed, body-based care. We’ll help you understand what your nervous system is doing, identify what your body is holding, and build a clear plan you can use in real life.
Book a consultation today to get a personalized starting point—what to do first, what to avoid, and how to move toward steadier safety, relief, and connection.