Anxiety makes the world go round. I’m kidding, mostly. Ha! But unfortunately, it’s such a common, relatable experience these days. Anxiety impacts both the mind and body; it can cause tight shoulders, shallow breathing, digestive distress, restlessness, and intrusive thoughts. It may lead to other effects like panic disorder, self-isolating, avoidance, or depression.
While talk therapy and traditional mental health care can certainly help, somatic exercises have been increasingly recommended by therapists, trauma practitioners, and mind-body researchers. Somatic means body or body based. Let’s dive into why and how somatic exercises can actively release physical and emotional tension, calm the nervous system, and support the management of anxiety in unique and powerful ways. Read on for a roundup of 10 somatic exercises for anxiety relief.
An anxiety response usually involves the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for danger. The hippocampus and prefrontal cortex are other areas of the brain that might also “light up.” When this happens, the fight/flight response turns on, meaning you feel a compulsion to run away or attack.
Freeze and fawn are the other primary psychological responses, which mean freezing in place or feeling paralyzed; or people pleasing, respectively. You may experience something called emotional flooding as well, where you are “flooded” with intense emotions and unable to function as usual.
Symptoms associated with or caused by anxiety may include the following:
While cognitive tools like journaling and talk therapy can be effective for anxiety, research suggests that somatic exercises address the nervous system directly through bodily awareness and movement. They can provide faster, more embodied relief and reduce the chronic tension that feeds anxious feelings. Somatic activity is also very healing for trauma recovery. These methods bring us into the present moment, reconnect the mind and body, and engage the parasympathetic nervous system.
Understanding how and why somatic exercises work for anxiety will set you up to deal with it in the most expedient way. Let’s get into it.
Exercise may or may not be therapeutic during a bout of anxiety, but most of the time it is. Each situation is unique and individual. What you benefit from may not help your best friend.
Regular physical activity does increase endorphins, serotonin, and GABA, which are neurotransmitters in the brain associated with mood regulation and stress reduction. Simple movements have been shown to lower baseline anxiety levels and improve sleep quality. They may also help divert from engaging in unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Somatic exercises differ from general exercise in that they focus on nervous system regulation and interoception (body awareness), not just cardiovascular fitness or strength training. Slow, mindful, body-aware practices often work better than high-intensity workouts when anxiety is high.
Here are some of the impressive ways that exercise supports anxiety relief:
Somatic exercises specifically for anxiety differ from general fitness because they combine slow movement, body scanning, breathwork, and nervous system down-regulation cues. They zero in on nervous system regulation and body awareness, rather than performance or calories burned.
Aerobic exercise (walking, cycling) supports overall stress reduction. Mind-body practices such as yoga, tai chi, and Pilates combine movement with breath and awareness and may be more effective for anxiety than an intense gym workout alone.
Somatic exercises are movement practices that engage the sensory nervous system and increase body awareness. They release chronic muscular tension and interrupt stress patterns.
These exercises emphasize feeling the body’s sensations as the entry point to regulation, rather than forcing stretching or strength. They are used in trauma therapy and by somatic psychologists to help retrain nervous system responses to stress. They are not stretching per se, but mindful, nervous-system-focused movements.
Check out the following 10 powerhouse exercises for anxiety, instructions included. Once you get familiar with them, you can pick and choose what resonates or is most needed at any given time when you feel anxious.
While immediate results are possible and you may experience them, generally speaking somatic exercises have a cumulative effect. In other words, a daily or frequent practice will increase the chances of anxiety quelling success.
It may take some time and patience to find what works best for anxiety (and any other mental health challenge). Most of us have dealt with anxiety at one point or another, especially in these very overwhelming times. Never hesitate to reach out to a professional if you are struggling or nothing seems to be working. You might also like to check out some more of my related blogs, including this one about exposure therapy for social anxiety and this one about what to do when you feel broken.
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