What is somatic exercise?How It Works, Benefits, and Stretches for Beginners? - (2024)

• Somatic Exercise :

  Moving with complete bodily awareness and concentrating more on your emotions than on reaching a certain fitness objective is known as somatic movement. It’s a method of relating your feelings to your physical state.Early in the 1920s, the Pilates technique was created as a somatic approach to physical fitness training. Proprioceptive awareness is less of an emphasis in most modern Pilates methods than proper physical technique. Joseph Pilates, the creator of the technique, placed a strong emphasis on the somatic concepts of breath awareness, proprioceptive observation tracking, and the mind-body connection.

• What distinguishes somatic stretching from conventional stretching?

• Normal stretching usually entails holding or moving different body parts in order to lengthen the muscles. The goal of somatic stretching is to use the body’s natural, inadvertent motions to release tension.

• Basic jump or easy jump.

• Exercise pattern :

• Place your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, hip-distance apart. Breathe deeply, paying attention to the movement of the muscles in your abdomen and lower back. Bend your back slightly, lift your abdomen, and plant your feet and glutes into the ground. Stay for as long as it’s comfortable for you.

• What Advantages Does Somatic Movement Offer?

• Somatic movement can improve flexibility and mobility, which may help with chronic pain.

• Somatic movement can help you feel more relaxed, less anxious, and boost your mood. It can also aid in the healing process after trauma.

• It is thought that somatic movement has several advantages for mental health in addition to its physical benefits. It can be useful in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression.

• The Mechanism of Somatic Stretching :

• The foundation of somatic stretching is pandiculation, which was characterized as the involuntary, instinctive stretching of soft tissues, especially during transitions between cyclic biological processes, in a Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies article. To put it simply, it’s the unconsciously tensing and relaxing of the muscles that occurs throughout routine motions; stretching ourselves gently as we wake up is one example of this.

• Somatic Stretches for Beginners :

• Take deep breaths and pay attention to how your abdomen muscles expand and contract before performing any more somatic stretches. Lastly, take a full body scan, observing how each muscle in your body feels, paying particular attention to any tense spots.

• Stand straight with your feet firmly planted on the floor. Hang your head slowly, allowing it to descend as far as it will comfortably allow. As you work, pay attention to the sensation in your neck muscles. Observe also the how the movement of your neck has impacted surrounding tissues, joints, and muscles, such as your upper back and shoulders. Choose a tense spot on your body (the back of your neck, for example), and pay close attention to how that tension feels. As you get used to the stretch, take note of how it feels. Make an effort to let go of some of your stress.

• The muscle group that connects your spine to your legs is called the iliopsoas, and it is often the source of great strain in our bodies. According to Warren, this pattern increases awareness of these muscles and the muscles that surround them, which makes it easier for you to let go of the tension.Lying on your back, put your feet flat on the floor and bend your knees. Place your right hand behind your head. Raise your head gently and your right leg about 6 inches off the ground while maintaining a bent leg. (This should appear to be similar to crunching on only one side of your body.) Examine your hips, legs, and lower back muscles for any tightness, and note how they feel.Lower your head and leg gently. Repeat, but this time straighten your leg a little as you raise. After doing many slow, gentle repetitions of these movements, switch to the opposite side. View Warren’s video to learn how to perform the exercise.

• Exercises for Flexibility and Stress Relief :

• A fitness expert claims that somatic stretching gives practitioners actual, long-lasting flexibility. That’s because, instead of using your muscles to keep them tight and hyperactive, you’ve been using your brain to keep them relaxed and prepared. Somatic exercises, or light, deliberate, and active motions, help relieve tension and stress because you’re enabling your brain to assist you in releasing your body, as Nardini says in her DailyOM course, Somatic Stretching to Relax and relieve.

• Exercise pattern :

• Stretch your neck. Even though we might not always realize it, our necks work really hard all day long! Bend in the Lower Back. We strain our lower backs a lot. Spinal Rotation when Seated;. Shoulder Extension; Hamstring Stretch.

• Put your feet slightly apart or comfortably together. To get the right balance, you may begin by separating your feet farther apart.At this point, push back, extend your arms, and bend your shoulders as close to the floor as you can. Execute these exercises for three sets of fifteen repetitions.

Somatic exercises involve performing movement for the sake of movement. Throughout the exercise, you focus on your inner experience as you move and expand your internal awareness. Many types of somatic exercises exist.