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25 Somatic Practices for Emotional Healing

Body-Based Tools for Grounding, Releasing, and Reconnecting

Indi Star Cards 25 Somatic practices for emotional healing

When emotions feel overwhelming, words often fall short. Somatic practices for emotional healing offer another language—a way to process grief, anxiety, fear, or self-doubt through the body instead of the mind.


These practices don’t require experience or belief. They invite you to feel, move, breathe, and release in ways that are gentle, intuitive, and human.

You don’t need to do all of them. Pick what resonates. Leave the rest.



Grounding + Soothing the Nervous System

  1. Place your hand on your heart and breathe slowly for one minute.

  2. Sit with your back against a wall. Feel the weight of your body supported.

  3. Hold a warm mug or stone in your hands and notice the texture and heat.

  4. Lie on the floor and gently press your palms and feet into the ground.

  5. Put on calming music and hum softly to yourself.



Gentle Movement + Reconnection

  1. Walk barefoot on grass, sand, or natural ground for five minutes.

  2. Do a full-body shake for 30 seconds, then pause and breathe.

  3. Stretch your arms overhead as if you’re reaching for something you need.

  4. Curl into a ball and rock side to side, like you’re holding yourself.

  5. Press your back against a tree, wall, or bed frame and stay there for a few deep breaths.



Releasing Emotion Through the Body

  1. Stomp your feet to a steady rhythm while exhaling through your mouth.

  2. Scream into a pillow or out loud in your car.

  3. Cry without trying to stop it or explain it.

  4. Yawn intentionally, then let more come.

  5. Place one hand on your chest and one on your belly and say, “It’s okay to feel this.”



Touch + Sensory Awareness

  1. Wrap yourself in a soft or weighted blanket and press it around your body like a cocoon.

  2. Trace your arms gently from shoulder to hand with your fingertips.

  3. Sit in the shower and let the water run over your back.

  4. Rub lotion, oil, or balm into your hands with care and attention.

  5. Hold a weighted object in your lap and breathe slowly.



Simple Breath + Presence Practices

  1. Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4, exhale for 6. Repeat.

  2. Close your eyes and scan your body from head to toe without judgment.

  3. Breathe through your nose while counting backwards from 10.

  4. Sit by a window and name five things you can see.

  5. Put on a piece of music that makes you feel safe. Let it fill the space around you.



Somatic Practices for Emotional Healing


Somatic practices don’t promise quick relief. They offer presence, permission, and a path back to yourself.


Start with one. Or return to a few that feel familiar. Let your body guide you from there.



 
 
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