Healing doesn’t always start with words. Sometimes it starts with a breath, or a hand on your chest, or simply noticing where you’re holding tension.
A man walked into my office several years ago. He was in his fifties and struggling with anxiety. In our first session, he sat on the edge of the couch, eyes darting around the room, barely able to settle. A year later, he was a different person. He’s now more present, grounded, and comfortable in his own skin.
That transformation didn’t happen through talk alone; it happened through somatic therapy. If you’re curious about how this work feels in practice, these are five simple exercises I regularly share with clients that you can try on your own.
Body Scans:
Start by noticing, not fixing.
In a body scan, you bring your attention to different parts of your body, one at a time, noticing what’s there, such as tightness, warmth, numbness. Not to fix yet, just noticing.
This might sound small, but for many clients, it’s the first time they’ve paused long enough to actually feel what’s happening inside them. That awareness is the starting point for everything else.
Grounding:
Coming back to the present.
Grounding exercises anchor you in the here and now.
Feel your feet on the floor, notice five things you can see, or press your palms together and feel the pressure. For anxiety or stress that’s spiking, try a self-hug: wrap your arms around yourself, drop your chin toward your chest, and squeeze until you feel your core engage, then release by half, release the rest of the way, and finish with a stretch.
These exercises matter most when your mind is somewhere else, replaying the past or spinning about the future. Grounding pulls you back into your body, where safety actually lives.
Breathwork:
Pushing your reset button.
Your breath is always with you, which makes it one of the most powerful tools you have.
Slow, deep breathing calms your nervous system and shifts your body out of fight-or-flight. One technique clients love is circular breathing, a continuous, flowing breath pattern that helps regulate emotion and build resilience over time.
You don’t need a special setting to practice this. You can do it at a stoplight, at your desk, or before a hard conversation.
Movement:
Give stuck emotions a physical outlet.
Sometimes emotions get stuck not because you’re suppressing them, but because your body was never given a way to complete the physical cycle of stress. For anger or frustration that keeps looping in your mind, try a towel twist: wring a hand towel as hard as you can, squeezing out every bit of tension, then slowly uncoil it, open and close your hands, and let your shoulders drop.
Movement doesn’t have to be formal. Gentle stretching, shaking out your wrists, or dancing alone in your kitchen all count. You’re not performing for anyone, so it’s completely okay if it feels silly.
Many clients describe a real sense of freedom after these sessions. Something shifts, and often they can’t fully explain it, but they just feel lighter.
Guided Imagery:
Working with the body’s memory.
Guided imagery uses visualization to support emotional processing. A therapist might guide you to picture a safe place, gently connect with a younger version of yourself, or imagine releasing something you’ve been holding onto.
This isn’t about forcing a memory to the surface. It’s about creating enough safety for the body to process what it’s ready to process, at its own pace.
Why it Works
Healing rarely happens through one single exercise. It’s about building a repertoire your body trusts over time. Body awareness, grounding, breath, movement, and imagery all reinforce each other.
Together, they help you feel a sense of safety in your own body, and that safety is what makes lasting healing possible.
That client who sat on the edge of my couch years ago? Last time I saw him he walked into the room with a soft gaze, his body settled into the couch instead of perching on it, and he moved through the room like he actually trusts it. He told me he feels like he’s living his life instead of watching it happen. That shift didn’t come from one exercise; it came from practicing all of them, again and again, until his body learned a new way of being.
Try One This Week
You don’t need to master all of these at once. Pick one, try it for five minutes, and notice what happens.
If you’d like guidance putting these exercises into practice, I’d love to help. At Evolve Wellness & Counseling, we build sessions around exactly this kind of body-centered work.
Contact us at 913-213-1272 or visit us in Prairie Village, Kansas, to get started