Somatic Movement to Stimulate and Soothe the Nervous System

Noticing, Slowing, and Calming Down

One way in which somatic practices help us regulate the nervous system is by asking us to move the attention into the body. We learn to see the body from the inside. This act of sensing ourselves from inside the physical body and moving the attention away from what is happening in our thoughts can in itself regulate the nervous system, in case we experience turmoil, worry or an upheaval in the mental and emotional realms. The physical sensations that we find can be more clearly perceptible—such as contractions of the abdominal muscles, the bending of the elbows, the tightness of the sides of the neck, the heaviness of the legs. The sensations can also be subtler—a slight sensation of warmth or expansion in the chest, a tingling in the palms, a sense of ease and buoyance in the ankles, a surge of energy inside the body, a softening of the muscles of the forehead, the sense of more volume in the ribcage. This skill of noticing bodily sensations and moving the attention inward is foundational in somatic practices.

Somatic practices engage the parasympathetic nervous system by slowing us down. Some somatic practices are quieter, more meditative, with little or no movements about in the space. For example, in a Feldenkrais Method class, the participants might stay on the ground for the entire duration of the class, exploring particular instructions given by the teacher. In Nia®, JourneyDance®, 5Rhythms®, or SuryaSoul®, which are somatic dance practices, the participants move about in space, sometimes interacting. Some sections of the class can be very energetic and vigorous. Both the more meditative and the more vigorous somatic practices rely on the question, “What do I sense as I move?” It is generally easier to sense what is happening inside the body when the movements are slower, which is one reason why many somatic practices unfold at a slower pace than traditional fitness classes such as Zumba® or aerobic fitness classes. Even with the somatic dance practices where the heartrate goes up, there is a slow opening, a progressive cooldown, and a meditative ending. Guided and still meditations are a part of many somatic practices. During these calmer, quieter moments, the attention to the parasympathetic nervous system is particularly present.

Repetition is another way to positively affect the nervous system. Some somatic dance practices rely on improvisational movement and free dance—participants discover their own way of moving, usually in response to some exploration, instruction, image, or question. Some somatic practices include particular choreographies and instructions for movement. The Nia dance practice is based on 52 moves: “heel lead,” “upper block,” “front kick,” “squish walk,” “duck walk,” “slow clock,” “hip bump” are some examples. These 52 moves repeat from class to class, in different variations. Upon regular practice, these movements become familiar and create a sense of safety for the body and the nervous system.

These familiar elements, in slightly different combinations, are often repeated for a longer period of time—some of the songs in the Nia practice are close to or over six minutes long. The elements within the set patterns do not vary as fast as in a traditional dance class. We might repeat one movement—step with the right leg to the front and to the back for four times, then with the left—for several minutes. We might cross the right leg over to the left corner, then do three little steps (cha-cha-cha) in between and cross the left leg to the right corner. These patterns stay the same for the feet, but we add different movements for the arms: during the first few repetitions, we lift the arms to the ceiling, then give the heart a hug, then lower the arms and the upper body to the ground, for example.

These long repetitions help the body “get” the move first. Staying with one pattern allows participants to start noticing what is happening inside the body—what do I feel in the parts of the body where I sense movement? I might feel the joints that are bending and extending; I might sense the muscles that are expanding or contracting. We can also explore what is happening in the parts of the body that are not necessarily actively moving or being directly affected by the movements. What do I sense in the muscles of the face? In the back of the knee? In the tips of my fingers? In my glutes? In my left side of the ribcage? We practice here the art of being in movement and noticing the impact of movement at the same time. This is different from doing a body scan in a standing or seated position or lying on the ground where we move the mind’s eye from one part of the body to another in stillness.

The act of following the leader can soothe the nervous system. Jane Kornbluh, dancer and participant in my Nia dance classes, noted that when dancing Nia, “I give my body a vacation from my brain.” Following the leader allows her to “tune out” and “let go.” This does not mean that she follows the classes “mindlessly” in a negative sense. Rather, her comments show that sometimes what we yearn for is to simply enjoy being in movement and not thinking about “what to do” and “how.” We want to let the mind have a break from thinking, planning, and figuring something out. We take a break from thinking our usual thoughts and let ourselves be carried away by movement. It can be liberating and relaxing to follow and let yourself be guided rather than make decisions, even spontaneous, about how and where to move.

Breathing and touch are powerful ways to regulate the nervous system. In somatic practices, we build awareness of breathing. For example, the class might start or end by drawing the attention to the inhales and exhales: we notice inwardly how long or brief the inhales and the exhales are or how deep or surface-level they feel. We take a moment to feel how calm or agitated we are at the moment and whether the length and nature of the inhales and exhales affect how we feel. I often guide the participants to put their hands on the front of the ribcage, then the sides, then the back, and feel the movements of and underneath the ribs. We might put one hand on the belly, the other hand on the heart or the low back: we feel the parts of the body underneath the hands as we breathe. Self-touch is a way to self-soothe and connect to the body. ² In both my somatic dance and somatic strength training and flexibility classes, I ask the participants to feel the skin, the muscles, the bones, and the joints with their hands or to give the body parts a massage or a rub. In dancing, we can use touching our body parts to invite new movement sensations and expressivity or, with gentle hitting actions, to add more energy.

The structure of the class or somatic experience impacts the nervous system. In practices like Nia, JourneyDance, 5Rhythms, or SuryaSoul, the movement experience follows a particular logic. This logic is reflected through the choice of music and the types of movements, tasks, or ideas that are either suggested by the instructor and/or that the music inspires in the movers. Moving from smaller and slower movements that warm up the joints to more active, energetic, angular, and sharp movements back to flowy, swinging, and “yawning” or slowly expanding and releasing movements creates an experience for the body, emotions, the cognitive realm, and also the nervous system. In Nia, we typically start in a standing position, set a focus for the class, and bring awareness into the body through breathing and slower movements and warm up the joints. We end on the ground, in floorplay and guided meditation. For variety, the class could also start on a rather brisk note to energize the body, or end in a standing position, guiding us to the next experience of the day. In Tamalpa Life/Art Process®, there is a particular sequence and logic behind moving from one expressive art to the other—from gentle movement to writing to drawing to partner work, for example. Familiarity with the overall structure or the format of the class creates predictability and familiarity, which fosters safety.

Stimulating

The gentler, slower nature of many somatic practices makes them particularly well suited for soothing and settling the parasympathetic nervous system. However, sometimes soothing and calming is not what we need or not the only quality that we are looking for in our movement practices. Ann Moradian, restorative yoga instructor and somatic movement educator, noted in an interview with the author: “Do you need to get lots of energy out of your body or sweat in order to relax or do you need time to sit quietly with a feeling before you are ready to move on? Maybe you need gentle guiding touch to help distinguish different parts of your body, or maybe you cannot tolerate contact. If your practice does not align with your temperament and needs, it can actually end up leaving you agitated and irritable. Not everyone is ready or wants to ‘slow down to feel.’ And that is fine” (for more, see https://annmoradian.wordpress.com/).

Somatic practices can also stimulate and activate the sympathetic nervous system. We do not only do movements that are slow, fluid, and meditative, but rather look for a range of movement skills and experiences. Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell, master somatic movement educator and executive director of ISMETA (International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association) in talking about the somatic movement practice of Continuum and its founder Emily Conrad, noted in an interview with the author, “Emily Conrad used to talk about becoming a virtuoso and expanding our toolboxes so that we have all of these different options at our fingertips to move slowly, but also very quickly and decisively. It’s not just cultivating the what feels good—let’s relax and chill out. It’s cultivating a whole broadband of virtuosity” (for more, see https://www.continuummovementarts.org/gallery/elisabeth-osgood-campbell/).

In Nia dance, we stimulate the nervous system with new music, setting a different focus for each session, and with a variety of movements. Nia incorporates movements from nine different movement forms from the dance arts, martial arts, and the healing arts. We use kicks, punches, and blocks, agile, angular, and fast movements; we drum with the body and push, pull, cut, bounce, swing, sway, shake, shimmy, and skip. We act out different scenes, adding playfulness and engaging emotions and the imagination; we play “as if” and take on different personalities. All of these movements stimulate the nervous system differently. The bigger and faster movements release pent-up energy, make the body sweat, encourage us to take up space and explore our movements in particular environments, and help us feel bolder, more self-confident, and empowered.

Different movements impact the nervous system differently, which is why it is useful to tap into the potential of movement variety. As Julia F. Christensen and Dong-Seon Chang point out in their Dancing is the Best Medicine: The Science of How Moving to a Beat Is Good for Body, Brain, and Soul (2021), “When we bend backward or forward, we stimulate our digestion because important nerve connections reach from the spinal cord in our lumbar region into our digestive tract. When we lean far back, we stimulate the bundle of nerves below our sternum, which in turn sends up a ‘wake up’ signal to all organs. Our heart gets stimulated and our circulation improves. Bending backward also makes us take deeper breaths. As a result, fresh oxygen from the small air sacs in our lungs enters our blood and is carried to the cells, where it is needed for our metabolism.” ³ These different movements also stimulate the vagus nerve, which has a calming and relaxing effect on the body.

Moradian noted that “folding forward and breathing deep and slow, for example, will calm the nervous system, while arching the spine and breathing into the upper lungs will energize and waken us.” This is a general rule; however, those suffering from depression might find that folding forward and slowing the breath “increases the sense of depression, so they would need to activate and waken their nervous system by arching open. For those with anxiety, sometimes arching the spine intensifies their anxiety, rather than freeing them,” she added.

Even small changes in movements can give a boost to the brain and the nervous system. By doing something differently, we experience a small but perceptible element of the new. For example, in my somatic strength training sessions, we might be doing gluteal squeezes with the back on the floor and knees bent. I might ask to add to this exercise a movement of the toes: “with each contraction of the glutes, lift and spread the toes. Now let’s lift the big toes only. Now only the smallest toes. How about we curl the toes toward the heels with each squeeze.” These small additions or movement combinations are useful in classes where an exercise has become very familiar and we need a new stimulation—another movement, a reflective question, an invitation to notice images or emotions that are present in the body. These additions are effective for somatic purposes if they do not overstimulate the system but engage the mind’s awareness and the body with a slight difference, adding a small but memorable new element.

Overwhelm

Movement practices can impact the nervous system not only positively but also negatively. We can damage the nerves physically in the feet or the back by doing too much or moving in ways that are not physically aligned, such as lifting weights that are too heavy or misusing the exercise equipment. The sensitivity of the practitioner, the volume and type of music, the size of the group, and the particularities of the environment can also impact the nervous system and make the person feel irritable or overstimulated.

I was never good at traditional dance techniques and often felt the others were faster at grasping the movements. In hindsight, for my learning style, I would have needed more individual instruction, more explanation of the movements and breaking them up into smaller units, a slower tempo, and more alone time with movements. I neeeded the chance to practice on my own rather immediately and constantly in groups, under the others' gaze. Without being aware of it at the time, I had a strong sense of an inner critic. I was demanding a good performance from myself without allowing myself to make mistakes and not excel.

In the words of Moradian, “Emotional states will always affect the nervous system. When we feel pushed beyond what we are capable of, overloaded with more information than we can process, or when we feel judged, these situations can create stress. Is it the movement practice itself that overwhelms us, or our response to the practice or the people we are with, or is it the expectations we have imposed on ourselves?” Moradian notes that we can train ourselves to respond differently to these situations. Recounting her own experience with a demanding modern dance teacher in New York who was known for creating complicated exercises that challenged the dancer’s coordination, memory, speed, spatial direction, and mathematical organization, she said: “Panic was a natural response. One of my friends dared to ask him, ‘What do we do when we mess up?’ [The teacher] paused and then said, ‘Laugh.’ This was immensely freeing and changed not only my dancing but my life.”

In many somatic dance practices that fully or partially rely on choreography, the patterns and movements are purposefully relatively simple. This simplicity gives the participants the feeling of “I can do this” and helps them come into the body quickly. As Kathrin Stengel, philosopher and participant in my Nia classes, noted, if the patterns are too complicated, we “step out of the body” and stop sensing the movements from the inside out. Since somatic classes are therapeutic in intent, the atmosphere should be non-judgmental and accepting. This atmosphere helps participants feel safe and more confident in their movements and physical expression. The goal is to create a space where each participant can connect to and honor their own body’s needs. Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell noted, “For me as a somatic movement educator, my first rule is that it is a listening practice as much as a movement practice. Only the mover knows what works best for their system in any given moment. When you listen, you can then customize as you need based on the feedback that you’re getting from your own nervous system. It is important to pay attention to that information.”

Influence of the Other

With movement we can regulate our nervous system individually: I go to movement to calm myself down or to excite and feel readier to face challenges such as standing in front of an audience or tackling another writing or artistic project. I bring the energy up or calm it down with movement. In practices or exercises for two people, touch, breathing, and gentle movement can be used to foster a sense of connection, tenderness, intimacy, and the sense of deep well-being with the other person. A simple exercise such as sitting facing each other, with the hand on each other’s heart and the eyes closed, sensing one’s own and the other person’s inhales and the exhales, the heartbeat, warmth, and the sense of touch can calm down the nervous system, bring the partners closer emotionally and physically, and promote a sense of mutual wellbeing. This experience is somatic: the participants are aware of their physical sensations. Exercises for embodied intimacy can also involve movement and dancing, for kinetic expressiveness and physical connection.

Larger communities impact the regulation of the nervous system function as well. “Movement, in particular group movement, has another layer or capacity to potentially influence how your nervous system is interacting with, sensing and responding to mine. Social somatics and generative somatics is a field based on the assumption that our nervous systems impact each other. For so many people and cultures where there have been oppressive systems and systems of disenfranchisement, the issue of safety is primary. On some level, when we come into contact with others, we are sensing, ‘Am I safe here with you?’ If I feel the sense of safety, what can happen between our nervous systems responding to each other gets to be really potent,” Osgood-Campbell noted.

Conclusion and Further Suggestions

Taking care of the nervous system is a matter of daily habits—both in terms of doing physical exercises in case of a nerve issue, such as my experience with the herniated disc, and in terms of paying attention to how different situations, places, people, our thoughts, emotions, and physical movements affect our nervous system and overall mood. Five months into the disc injury, I am still doing my physical therapy exercises, using my somatic movement practices, and flossing the S1 nerve. Nerve issues can take time to heal. I still feel how an agitated mental state affects my leg and the sensations in the sole of the foot. As my physical therapists have pointed out, flossing movements for the nerves might not necessarily be advisable as a preventive measure and as a movement to include in your everyday routine: flossing can also irritate the nerves. It is best to consult a physical therapist about the usefulness of this method in individual cases.

Somatic practices give us options for both releasing and gathering more energy, and calming or stimulating the nervous system. We need to be aware of the body and its needs to monitor the effect of movement on the nervous system and to understand what we need in order to regulate the nervous system. Somatic movement practices create the container—the time and the space—during which we can turn the attention inward and notice how we feel. With more somatic awareness, the practice of turning inward to feel the body and how it engages with the rich inner lives of our emotions and thoughts becomes a healthy habit. •

Start paying attention to whether and how movement in general and your movement practices in particular affect your nervous system. Can you tell how you feel before, during, and after the movement experience in terms of your nervous system?