If you tend to hold a lot of tension in your neck, lower back, or wrists (hello, desk workers!), somatic stretching may be the practice you’re looking for.
“Somatic movement is awareness or presence during movement, and being connected in your body,” explains Rachelle Tsachor, an associate professor of theater movement at the University of Illinois in Chicago, who is also a somatic movement therapist.
In somatic movement you focus on the internal experience and feeling of a movement instead of pushing your body to move in a certain way.
Definition of Somatic Stretching — and How It’s Different From Other Stretching
Conventionally, stretching means moving or holding various parts of the body in ways that extend the muscles.
The goal is to increase flexibility and range of motion. Think about the quad stretch that your cycling instructor might guide you through after a ride — standing upright, you grab the top of one foot, bend that same knee, and pull your foot up toward your glutes, stretching the quadriceps muscle on that side.
Somatic stretching, which is one type of somatic movement approach, refers to the release of muscular tension through gentle movement and an awareness of how your muscles feel in various positions and motions. It’s based on natural, unintentional movements, such as how you reach skyward when you stand up after sitting for a long time, or when you make circles with your feet after taking off your shoes.
Because of this, many somatic movement practitioners prefer not to use the term “stretching” at all. Somatic stretching approaches don’t actually refer to the stretching or pulling of muscles, says Sadie Nardini, a Yoga Alliance–registered yoga teacher and the founder of Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga, who is based in Santa Barbara, California. “What muscles need is a deep release of the tension they’re being told to hang onto by the brain, all day and night long,” Nardini says.
How Somatic Stretching Works
Somatic stretching is based on pandiculation, an involuntary, instinctive kind of motion in which you contract and release muscles, such as during a yawn.
“The pandicular response is hardwired into our nervous system, and it’s the way that our nervous system naturally releases built-up tension in our muscles,” says Sarah Warren, a clinical somatic educator and owner of the Somatic Movement Center, who is based in Somerville, Massachusetts. “When you see babies and animals arch their backs and stretch, they’re pandiculating.”
By imitating this, somatic stretching aims to correct unhealthy ways of holding and moving our bodies. “Over the years, our nervous system learns to keep certain muscles tight and move in certain ways as a result of stress, trauma, athletic training, injuries, and repetitive daily activities,” Warren says. Although this is a protective mechanism — our muscles tighten so that we don’t stretch them too far and injure them — it can eventually lead to chronic pain, tightness, and soreness.
Somatic movement teaches you to tune in to what your body is telling you. That can require stillness. Meredith Sands Keator, the director of training at Somatic Stretch, in Ojai, California, says sometimes she has people come to class and simply lie on the floor the entire time. “Somatic stretching is based on letting the brain slow and calm down enough that you can learn the feeling of sensation,” she says.
You don’t pull on anything or force any big movements — it can be as simple as letting your head hang and noticing how that feels for the muscles in your neck. Once you can tune in to how your muscles feel, you’re able to actively contract and relax them, to release tension and increase mobility.
“It feels like a melting of long-standing tension, like after the best morning wake-up stretch in bed,” Nardini says.
Potential Health Benefits of Somatic Stretching
There hasn’t been much research into the specific benefits of somatic movement approaches. But Warren says in her personal experience, people who do it regularly find that it improves posture, flexibility, range of motion, and balance. And there is indeed research that shows that flexibility and mobility are both important components of fitness that reduce the risk of injury and promote healthy aging. The U.S. government’s physical activity guidelines for Americans, for example, recommend flexibility exercises or activities as part of a regular exercise routine.
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Awareness of the mind-body connection will help you manage your overall health. “If you’re aware of how your body is feeling, that means you’re able to do something about it when something doesn’t feel right,” says Brenda Rea, MD, DrPH, an associate professor of family medicine at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California.
For example, with somatic stretching, you might first recognize that your neck or back feels tighter than usual.
You may find that a certain type of somatic movement helps (such as spending a little more time stretching that area); or you might seek out the help of a medical professional to figure out what’s going on, she says. “More awareness of what you’re experiencing and feeling can definitely help your health.”
There could be a mental health benefit, as well. “We hold psychological tension in our bodies as well as muscle tension,” Warren explains. Learning to release it may help people feel less stressed overall.
Are There Risks to Somatic Stretching?
As long as you’re practicing somatic stretching the way it’s meant to be done — by tuning in to how different parts of your body are feeling in each movement and position, and never pushing yourself past the point of what’s comfortable — somatic stretching shouldn’t pose a risk to you or your health.
“The only risk is if you’re not listening to yourself,” Keator says. If you’re demanding too much of yourself, you’re unlikely to get the benefits of stress and muscular tension release. Do, however, check with your doctor before you start if you have a medical condition, illness, or injury that could make exercise risky.
You should also take precautions if you have a history of trauma. “If you’ve experienced trauma (particularly adverse childhood experiences [ACES]) in the past, that can cause a mind-body disconnection,” Dr. Rea says. This disconnection serves as a coping mechanism. Somatic movement, and somatic practices in general, can help you work through past trauma and learn to listen to your body again, but it can also be triggering. Rea recommends working alongside a professional who is trauma-informed and trained in mental health counseling.
5 Simple Somatic Stretches for Beginners
If you’re curious about somatic stretching, here are five beginner-friendly practices to try. Warren recommends doing each for about five minutes and repeating them daily.
1. Standing Awareness
Before you do any other somatic stretches, Warren recommends simply standing and bringing awareness to various muscles in your body.
- Stand straight with your feet rooted. Notice how they grip the floor.
- Try to contract and release your foot muscles.
- Take deep breaths, noticing how your abdominal muscles expand and contract, and how this feels.
- Finally, scan your body from top to bottom, noticing how your different muscles feel. Locate any areas of tension.
2. Hang Your Head
Keator explains this exercise to address the tension many of us hold in our necks.
- Stand straight with your feet rooted on the floor.
- Slowly hang your head, letting it fall as far down as it will comfortably go.
- Notice how the muscles in your neck feel and how that movement has affected nearby muscles, joints, and tissues, like those in your shoulders and upper back.
- Identify an area that feels tense, such as the back of your neck, and really experience how that tension feels.
- Notice how it feels to settle into the stretch, and try to release some of the tension.
3. The Arch and Flatten
If you experience back pain, Warren recommends the arch and flatten, which allows you to release and then regain control of the muscles in your lower back and abdominals. It’s a slow movement done while lying on the floor.
- Position feet flat on the floor, hip-distance apart, knees bent.
- Take a deep breath, noticing how the muscles in your lower back and abdominals move as you do.
- Gently arch your back, bringing your belly upward and pressing your glute muscles and feet into the floor.
- Stay here for as long as feels comfortable, then slowly lower your back and flatten it against the floor.
- Repeat the movement very slowly, scanning the muscles in your torso for any tension, trying to release that tension.
4. Iliopsoas Exercise
The iliopsoas, where many of us hold a lot of tension, is the muscle group that attaches your spine to your legs. This exercise brings awareness to these and surrounding muscles so you’re better able to release that tension, Warren says.
- Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor.
- Place your right hand behind your head.
- Gently lift your head as you simultaneously lift your right leg, keeping it bent, about 6 inches off the floor. (This should look a bit like you’re doing a crunch with just one side of your body.)
- Scan the muscles in your lower back, hips, and legs for tension, noticing how they feel.
- Gently lower your leg and head.
- Do the same thing, this time straightening your leg slightly as you lift.
- Repeat these motions slowly and gently several times, then do the same on the other side.
5. Carpal Tunnel Exercise
If you spend large portions of the day typing on a computer or other device, this exercise may help release tension that often builds in your waist, shoulders, chest, hands, and wrists, Warren says.
- Lie on your left side with your legs bent at a 90 degree angle in front of you and your head resting on your left arm (it can be bent or straight).
- Place your right hand on the floor, resting your upper arm on your body with your elbow bent at roughly a 90 degree angle.
- Move your right arm up and around your head so that your right hand is near your left ear and your elbow points straight up.
- Gently guide your head up to the ceiling with your hand so that the right side of your waist contracts. (This is like a side crunch.) Notice those muscles contracting.
- When you’re ready, release and move your head back down as slowly as you can. Repeat this once.
- With your right elbow facing the ceiling, gently roll onto your back with your right arm behind your head.
- Bring your left arm out to the side.
- Crunch your right arm, right shoulder, and head upward and toward the left side of your body.
- Release and lower your head and shoulder as slowly as possible. Repeat all these movements on the other side.
Watch Warren’s video to see how to do this sequence.
Other Related Somatic Movement Approaches to Try
Somatic stretching and flexibility work is just one area of somatic movement.
Other types of somatic movement techniques include, Tsachor says:
- Yoga
- Certain forms of dance (such as Soul Motion and 5Rhythms)
- Laban Movement Analysis
- Feldenkrais Method
- Trager Approach
- Continuum Movement
Summary
Overall, somatic movement approaches and practices, like somatic stretching, are generally considered safe, but more research is needed to identify best practices. If you are interested in adding somatic movement to your self-care approach, talk with your primary care doctor or physical therapist, especially if you have any health or medical challenges or injuries.
One final thing to keep in mind is that somatic stretching isn’t just about doing certain stretches on a routine basis. “It’s not just about the time stretching, it’s about repatterning your movements all day long,” Tsachor says. It’s about building body and muscle awareness into your day-to-day routines, and listening to your body, so that you can do the type of movement that feels good and that your body needs.
Content retrieved from: https://www.everydayhealth.com/fitness/what-is-somatic-stretching/.
