Understand the mind-body benefits of stretching with awareness by doing somatic exercises.
Stretching helps us heal from workouts, keeps our bodies flexible, and simply makes us feel good. Yet it’s all too easy to skip stretching when there seem to be more pressing items on our self-care to-do list.
Consider this motivation to commit to a stretching routine — and one that you can truly get the most out of. Somatic stretching is a mind-body exercise that can benefit you both inside and out. Here’s what the experts have to say about this slow, mindful technique.
What Is Somatic Stretching?
On the most basic level, somatic stretching is essentially stretching with awareness, says certified yoga instructor Gagandeep Kaur.
“It’s reconnecting with our body through movement,” Kaur tells DailyOM. “As you stretch, you scan your body to observe where you feel stress, negativity, pain, or discomfort and, through various stretches, you try to release [it] from [your] body.”
The best comparison to somatic stretching, Kaur says, would be yin yoga, where you hold a particular pose for a longer period of time.
“Somatic [exercises] are not the stretching that you’re used to,” fitness professional Sadie Nardini, a Yoga Alliance–registered yoga teacher, explains in her DailyOM course, Somatic Stretching to Relax and Release. “You may not have that ‘big stretch sensation,’” she says, but somatic stretching is more effective than those long-held, static stretches.
Somatic stretching engages not just your muscles, but also your brain, adds astrologer and yoga teacher Jill Loftis, who has trained with Hanna Somatic Education. “As you very slowly and mindfully begin to contract your muscles, this brings awareness and then draws the mind directly into the space that helps to reprogram the brain,” she tells DailyOM. “The autonomic nervous system releases and you engage the prefrontal cortex to understand that the muscles are capable of learning a new pattern.
“A simple [somatic exercise] would be slowly drawing your ear and shoulder toward each other, being very mindful of the muscular engagement, and then slowly relaxing back, really letting the muscles soften, and keeping the breath smooth and deep,” she says. “Notice any tension and feel into that tightness and intensity. Visualize a slight engagement, then a melting or softening of the muscles and connective tissues.” As you move through this stretch, imagine an unraveling of any tension or gripping, then switch to the other side.
Meredith Sands Keator, director of Somatic Stretch, explains in a video, "You can find areas [and] loosen areas of your body that will help you alleviate your own aches and pains, increase your range of motion, allow you to reduce your risk of injury in any other activity that you’re involved in, and do this by targeting very specific muscles in your body.” She points out that these exercises are “different from yoga and Pilates because you’re able to go in and work with the more subtle areas of tension that the mind does not recognize the body is holding.” The expert goes on to say that the technique is like a “maintenance program that allows you to do anything else you do in your life that much better.”
Interested in learning more? Check out Somatic Exercises to Relax and Release
4 Health Benefits of Somatic Stretching
Somatic stretching is helpful for your body and your mind, say the experts who spoke with DailyOM. Here are four key benefits to this form of movement.
1. Mindfulness
By encouraging you to turn your attention inward, somatic exercises bring you into a state of mindfulness with focused attention. “The mindful movement and gentle poses can help release tension and calm the mind and body, both removing physical tension and energetic tensions that can build through stress,” says yoga and reiki teacher Michelle Taylor, who spoke with DailyOM for this story. This leads to both physical and emotional release.
2. Recovery
For anyone who is recovering from an injury or suffering with chronic pain, somatic stretching can help with increasing body awareness, says Taylor. This helps keep people from pushing their bodies beyond their limits and risking further injury.
3. Managing Trauma
Somatic therapy is gaining awareness as a method of healing from painful experiences. (Notably, singer Alanis Morissette credited “somatic experiencing” as a way that she healed from her depression.) Somatic stretching can be a component of this therapy, Taylor says. “Although [it’s] a practice focusing on the body and movement, somatic stretching can be beneficial for managing emotions and trauma release due to its mindful nature and the physical release of trauma memory in the muscles.”
4. Accessibility
Nearly everyone can perform somatic movements, making these exercises accessible to all types of bodies, Loftis says, noting that even someone who is bedridden or has limited mobility can benefit from somatic work.
How and When to Practice Somatic Stretching
If you’re ready to get started with somatic stretching, Kaur recommends practicing these simple stretches for 5 to 10 minutes per day. The time of day you choose depends on what you would ideally like to get out of your stretching session. “If you choose to practice as a morning routine, it helps in waking up your muscles, bringing you into the present moment with your body, and getting you ready to move throughout the day,” he explains. “If you stretch in the evening, it’s a good method to shake off stress from your body and help in restoring your muscles to a more relaxed condition before going to bed.”
To learn more on how to stretch with awareness, read our story on 7 Somatic Stretching Exercises.
