To Connect Mind to Muscle, Try Somatic Exercise

This movement practice slows things down, encouraging you to tune in to how your body feels as you move

Stacy Lu

Updated June 25, 2026

A woman lying on her back on a yoga mat and pulling her left knee toward her chest

Robin Skjoldborg/Getty Images

The word is out that mindful exercises such as tai chi and yoga can support brain health. Research also shows that slow movements can help you sleep. But have you heard about somatics?

Featuring gentle, intentional movements, Hanna Somatic Education has been around since movement educator Thomas Hanna devised the program some 50 years ago. Over the past year or so, somatic exercise has become a wellness trend.

Instead of just working or stretching muscles, somatic exercise aims to change movement patterns that may be causing tension and pain. (The word “soma” is Greek for body.) The idea is to do slow moves while being hyperaware of sensations in your body, a process called interoception. The exercises link mind and body to help the brain learn — or relearn — how to get muscles back into healthy movement patterns, which may help ease pain and tension.

“The brain loses control of muscles due to stress, injury or habits. Clinical somatic education is a method to remind the brain that it can take back full control of muscle function. It teaches you how to sense when something is off balance, when there’s a pattern of compensation,” says Gena Rho, a certified clinical somatic educator in Maplewood, New Jersey. For example, you may be unconsciously contracting your jaw or shoulders or walking in a slump because your back muscles are clenching. Somatics aims to help you reconnect and better control muscles that may contribute to tension. “We want you to understand more about yourself, which is why we call it education. These are movement explorations,” Rho says.

Somatics for brain health

Though research on somatic education is limited, a study of 103 people in the Saudi Journal of Medicine & Medical Sciences published in 2022 found that even a few sessions significantly improved chronic back and neck pain.

Research also shows that similar exercises focusing on body awareness can support brain health. A review and meta-analysis of 29 studies associated mind-body exercises, such as tai chi, with reduced blood markers linked to inflammation. The review, which included 2,253 people ages 18 to 85 with mental health disorders or brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s, was published in 2026 in Brain, Behavior, & Immunity – Health.

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Another review of 58 studies, published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience in 2025, showed that mind-body exercise can support brain functions associated with attention, working memory and task switching. Tai chi supports mood regulation, and educators say that somatics also helps their students deal with chronic stress and anxiety. “It aims to help calm you down, process and let things go in a gentle way,” says Chris Ruane, a clinical Hanna somatic educator in Ellicott City, Maryland.

How to start a somatic exercise practice

The Association for Hanna Somatic Education lists practitioners offering online classes, and you may be able to find a gym, fitness studio or community center offering classes.

Some yoga or Pilates classes also integrate somatic movements. Suzanne Muro, a wellness coach in Silver Spring, Maryland, specializes in yoga, strength and somatics for women in midlife. She teaches a “somatic flow” yoga class.

“Over time, students learn more about how they habitually use their bodies and recognize movement patterns that might cause pain and greater muscle tension,” Muro says. She points to things like hunching from lots of computer work, lower back pain and tight hips from sitting too long, or differences in strength or range of motion between the two sides of their bodies.

“I try to create a space where people can slow down and tune in. Rather than tamping down internal information, it’s about listening and being present to it. The goal is to not leave class wired or depleted. ... My hope is that students will leave feeling calm, centered and alive,” Muro says.

You can also try somatic movements at home. Most of the exercises can be completed while lying on the floor or seated on a chair. You don’t need special equipment — you just need to move with awareness. Educators generally recommend repeating each movement three to five times, but two or three may be enough for you to sense patterns in how you move.

“It’s such subtle work it feels like you’re not doing much,” Ruane says, but as always, check with a health professional before starting any kind of exercise routine.

Here are three basic moves that are easy to do at home.

Arch and flatten: Lie on the floor with knees bent and feet on the floor. Slowly arch your lower back, moving your tailbone towards the floor. Then slowly shift your tailbone forward, flattening your lower back. (If you’d rather be seated, move your tailbone towards and away from the back of the chair.) Pay attention to sensations in your back and elsewhere during these subtle movements.

Shoulder shrug: With your eyes closed, draw your shoulders up towards your ears as far as they can go. Hold them there for 5 seconds. Then slowly release your shoulders, feeling where they might “stick” or try to hold tension on the way down.

Letter X roll: Lie flat on your back and extend your arms and legs into a wide "X" shape. Slowly roll left onto your stomach, starting the movement from your torso. Keep your legs in an X shape as much as you can. Roll back to the full X shape, then repeat the roll on the other side.