Somatic shaking can look a little different from one person to the next, but it usually involves a few minutes of wildly unco-ordinated jumping, arm flapping, and foot stomping – music optional.
One content creator on the social media platform Tik Tok, says somatic shaking looks and feels weird “until it starts working and your body finally starts releasing everything it’s been holding onto for years.” Another creator, says it “calms down your nervous system, lowering the stress level in your body.”
“Somatic shaking may help some people manage mild, everyday stress,” says Per Erez, a certified yoga therapist and somatic educator at First Person Healing Arts in Palm Springs, California. “It can help, but it’s not a full replacement for deeper work,” Erez says.
“Somatic shaking is best done as part of a layered approach that also includes both regular aerobic exercise and slower, mindfulness-based activities like yoga and tai chi,” Erez says. “For longer-term mood benefits, consistency matters most,” he adds.
What Is Somatic Shaking?
Somatic shaking is linked to somatic therapy, a treatment that aims to help people become aware of bodily sensations and feel safe in their bodies so they can more easily explore thoughts, emotions, and memories, according to Harvard Health Publishing.
“Somatic therapy is less about talking about your problems and more about helping your nervous system feel safe enough to settle when you’re with them,” Erez says.
“It’s based on the idea that intense, chronic stress or severe trauma can shape default patterns in the body like breathing, muscle tone, posture, digestion, and levels of alertness and emotional engagement,” Erez says. “Those patterns don’t automatically change just because we understand them intellectually,” Erez says.
Gentle shaking and changes in postures are designed to:
- help the body notice what tension it’s holding and where
- complete physical responses to stress that might have been interrupted
- regulate the nervous system
“These movements support work the mind needs to do to heal,” Ezra continues.
“Somatic shaking won’t help resolve complex trauma or long-standing stress or break the nervous system out of a chronic state of hypervigilance,” Ezra notes, “but for mild, everyday stress it can be surprisingly effective.”
“Just a few minutes would be most likely to have temporary benefits like an improved mood or reduced muscle tension,” Ezra says.
Somatic Shaking Could Help Open You Up to Other Forms of Stress Management
“The biggest benefit to somatic shaking may be that it could help make stress management more approachable as a daily habit,” says Scott Langenecker, PhD, a psychiatry and behavioural health professor at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.
“I think somatic shaking could be a good start to a routine that could include other elements,” Dr. Langenecker says. “After trying somatic shaking, people might be open to other stress-busting activities like mindfulness, yoga, or regular exercise,” Langenecker says.
Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Use Somatic Shaking
“Trying out somatic shaking on your own is fine if you’re healthy and you’re only aiming to manage mild stress,” Erez says. But people with a history of severe trauma or post traumatic stress should be cautious, as should people dealing with injuries, joint problems, seizures, panic disorder, bipolar disorder, or psychosis. That’s because somatic shaking could in some instances trigger flashbacks, intensify panic, or overwhelm someone’s capacity to self-regulate, Erez says.
“Individuals with back and or lower limb injuries might want to be careful not to exacerbate existing injuries or work with a physical therapist to strengthen muscle groups before beginning,” Langenecker says. “Individuals who use this as a form of trauma release or exposure will potentially benefit from doing this in guided sessions with a therapist.”
How to Try Somatic Shaking
“Somatic shaking works best when you do it barefoot in a private place with plenty of room to move around,” according to Erez.
While it’s fine to improvise your movements based on what feels best, Erez offers these steps to get the most out of the experience:
- Stand with soft knees
- Start a gentle bounce through the heels
- Let the movement travel upward naturally
- Keep arms loose and your jaw soft
- Go with the flow and don’t force any specific movements
“Doing one or two minutes initially, and scaling up to about five minutes if you don’t feel any dizziness or overwhelm, is the best approach. You only need to aim for two to four times a week. More is not necessarily better,” Erez says.
SOURCE: Everyday Health
