8 Somatic Practices to Rebuild Trust in Your Body After Trauma
Inside each of us, there exists a quiet inner compass, an intuitive sense that guides us toward what is safe, nurturing, and aligned with our truth. This compass, known as your interoceptive system, is a vast network of nerves that transmits signals from your internal organs and skin to your brain. It creates a real-time map of your inner world, allowing you to feel what is right for you, to sense subtle changes in your body, and to intuitively navigate life.
It’s the tightness in your stomach that warns you when something feels off, the warmth you feel in your chest when you connect deeply with someone, and the quiet hum of alignment when you’re living in harmony with your core values.
But for many people, this inner compass has become distorted or silenced altogether. Whether through trauma, from acute events such as violence to the more insidious effects of long-term neglect, the natural signals of the body become muddled. This confusion replaces clarity with feelings of hypervigilance, numbness, or the constant static of chronic anxiety.
The body, which is supposed to be our safest sanctuary, can sometimes feel like a place of betrayal, a haunted house where threats seem to arise unpredictably, even when the danger has long passed.
Reconnecting with Your Body: The Healing Journey
In the aftermath of trauma or burnout, many of us lose touch with the signals of our bodies. We become disconnected from the sensations that once guided us, and over time, the trust we had in our body begins to erode. Healing the body and restoring that trust requires a deep, somatic approach, focusing on the physical and energetic signals that help us feel safe, grounded, and whole.
Below are eight somatic practices that can help you rebuild your relationship with your body and restore your inner compass.
1. Body Scanning: Reconnecting to Your Sensations
Body scanning is a simple yet powerful practice for reconnecting with your body. Start by sitting or lying comfortably and bringing your attention inward. Begin at your feet and work your way up, slowly scanning each part of your body. Notice areas of tension, tightness, or discomfort, and simply observe without judgment.
This practice helps you regain awareness of your body’s signals and begins to re-establish a sense of safety and presence in the body.
2. Grounding Exercises: Anchoring in the Present Moment
When trauma or burnout has caused disconnection from the body, grounding is a key tool for bringing you back to the here and now. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Close your eyes and imagine your feet growing roots deep into the Earth, connecting you to the supportive energy of the ground below.
This exercise can help you feel more centred and restore a sense of stability and safety, especially when anxiety or overwhelm arises.
3. Breathwork: Calming the Nervous System
Breathing exercises are one of the quickest and most effective ways to regulate your nervous system and reconnect with your body. Try box breathing: Inhale deeply for a count of four, hold for four, exhale for four, and pause for four. Repeat this cycle for several minutes.
This rhythmic breathing not only calms the body but also helps regulate the autonomic nervous system, bringing a sense of peace and control to your body and mind.
4. Movement Meditation: Letting the Body Lead
Sometimes, stillness isn’t enough to reconnect to the body, movement can be the key. Movement meditation, like slow yoga or free-form dance, allows the body to move without any specific goal. Let your body flow naturally, paying attention to where tension, joy, or energy needs to be released.
This practice can help you feel your emotions physically and release stored tension, creating a healthier mind-body connection.
5. Somatic Touch: Releasing Tension with Hands-on Healing
Somatic touch—whether through self-massage, acupuncture, or bodywork, can be incredibly effective in releasing tension and trauma held in the body. Use your hands to gently rub areas of tightness or discomfort. Slow, intentional touch helps you re-establish safety in your body and promotes healing by releasing stored emotions.
6. Heart-Centred Breathing: Cultivating Compassion for Yourself
A powerful somatic practice is heart-centred breathing. Place your hand over your heart and breathe slowly, focusing on the rise and fall of your chest. With each inhale, imagine filling your heart with love and compassion for yourself. With each exhale, release the heaviness or emotional pain stored in your chest.
This practice helps restore emotional balance and cultivates the inner warmth and safety needed to heal and move forward.
7. Visualisation: Healing with Light
Using visualisation can help reprogram your body’s response to trauma. Imagine a warm, healing light surrounding your body. As the light moves through you, it gently dissolves any tension or negative energy. Visualise the energy of this light entering every cell, restoring peace, and healing past wounds.
Visualisation is a powerful somatic tool to help reconnect your body with feelings of safety and well-being.
8. Journaling: Expressing the Body’s Story
Journaling helps release the unspoken emotions stored in the body. Sit quietly with a notebook and write freely about your physical sensations, emotions, or experiences from the past. Let your hand move fluidly across the page without judgement.
This process helps uncover what might be hidden or unexpressed, allowing the body to speak through your words and start the release process.
Rebuilding Trust: The Path to Safety and Wholeness
Healing trauma, burnout, and disconnection from the body isn’t an overnight process. It requires patience, self-compassion, and consistent somatic practices to reconnect with the inner compass that has always been there.
By rebuilding body trust through somatic exercises, you can reawaken your inner knowing, soothe your nervous system, and return to a place of safety, stability, and transformation.