4 At-Home Somatic Therapy Exercises for Trauma Recovery

Trauma has a sneaky way of showing up like an uninvited group chat: you didn’t ask for it, you can’t mute it,
and somehow it still finds you at 2 a.m. Somatic therapy (and somatic practices in general) zoom in on what your
body is doingbecause trauma isn’t just a story you remember. It can be a stress response your nervous system
keeps replaying long after the danger is over.

This guide walks you through four at-home somatic therapy exercises you can practice in a trauma-informed,
gentle way. They’re designed to support nervous system regulation, expand your window of tolerance,
and help you build a sense of “I’m here, I’m safe enough right now.” No incense required. (If you like incense, finejust don’t
let it become a personality.)

Somatic therapy, explained like you’re busy

Somatic approaches are often described as “bottom-up,” meaning they start with body signalsbreath, muscle tension, temperature,
heartbeat, posture, movementinstead of beginning only with thoughts. That matters for trauma recovery because the survival system
(fight, flight, freeze, shutdown) is largely body-driven. You can understand something logically and still feel your chest tighten
like you’re about to give a TED Talk to a room full of angry raccoons.

These exercises are not a replacement for professional trauma treatment. Think of them as skill-buildinga way to practice
steadying your system at home, so you’re not relying on willpower alone when stress spikes.

Before you start: a quick safety checklist

Trauma-informed practice means going slow and staying within your capacity. If any exercise makes you feel flooded, dizzy,
numb, or “far away,” that’s a sign to pause and return to something more grounding (like looking around the room or feeling your feet).

• Work in small doses. Start with 30–60 seconds, not 10 minutes.
• Stay oriented. Keep your eyes open if closing them feels unsafe.
• Choose “neutral” over “intense.” We’re aiming for safety signals, not emotional boot camp.
• Consider support. If you have complex trauma, frequent dissociation, panic, or intense flashbacks, these tools are best learned with a licensed therapist.

Exercise 1: Orienting + the 5-4-3-2-1 sensory scan

Best for: feeling keyed up, stuck in “alarm,” spiraling thoughts, mild dissociation, post-trigger shakiness.
Why it helps: Trauma can pull attention into the past (memory) or the future (fear). Orienting pulls your nervous system into the present by updating it:
“This is now. This is here.”

How to do it (2–3 minutes)

1. Turn your head slowly and let your eyes scan the room. Move like you’re gently sightseeing, not searching for danger.
2. Name a few neutral or pleasant items in your mind: “window,” “chair,” “blue mug,” “plant,” “light.”
3. Now do the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique:
   • 5 things you can see
   • 4 things you can feel (fabric, temperature, feet on the floor)
   • 3 things you can hear
   • 2 things you can smell
   • 1 thing you can taste (or imagine tastingmint, tea, toast)
4. Finish with a “safety sentence.” Example: “Right now, I’m in my room. It’s Tuesday night. I’m safe enough in this moment.”

Make it practical: a real-life example

You’re trying to answer an email, but your body thinks you’re being chased. You orient: eyes scan, head turns, you name three objects, then do 5-4-3-2-1.
Your goal isn’t to feel magically amazingit’s to move from “10/10 alarm” to “6/10 manageable.”

Trauma-informed tip

If your nervous system gets jumpy when you scan, narrow it down. Pick one calming object (a plant, a pillow) and softly rest your gaze there. “Gentle” wins.

Exercise 2: Diaphragmatic breathing with a longer exhale (plus optional humming)

Best for: anxious body energy, tension, trouble sleeping, racing heart.
Why it helps: Longer exhales can nudge the body toward “rest and digest.” You’re not forcing calmyou’re offering your system a calmer rhythm to follow.

How to do it (3–5 minutes)

1. Set up your posture: Sit with your back supported or lie down. Place one hand on your chest, one on your belly.
2. Breathe in through your nose for a comfortable count (try 4).
3. Exhale longer than you inhale (try 6). Keep it softno heroic blowing-out-birthday-candles energy.
4. Repeat 6–10 cycles. If you feel lightheaded, shorten the breath or return to normal breathing.

Optional add-on: humming exhale (1–2 minutes)

On the exhale, hum gently (“mmmm”) at a comfortable volume. Feel vibration in your chest and face. This can add an extra “settling” signal, especially if your body
responds well to sound and vibration.

Make it practical: a real-life example

You’re in bed, brain wide awake, body tense. You do 4-in, 6-out for two minutes. Not perfect sleepjust a softer landing. If your thoughts pop up, you don’t argue
with them. You return to the exhale like it’s your home base.

Trauma-informed tip

If breathwork feels activating, keep your eyes open and add grounding: press your feet into the floor between breaths, or hold a cool glass of water.

Exercise 3: Pendulation + titration (the “tiny sips” approach)

Best for: big feelings that arrive too fast, getting stuck in one emotional state, fear of “opening the floodgates.”
Why it helps: Pendulation means gently moving attention between a comfortable sensation and a mildly uncomfortable one.
Titration means working in small amountslike sipping, not chugging.

How to do it (4–6 minutes)

1. Find a “resource” sensation (something neutral or pleasant in your body). Examples: warmth in your hands, support of the chair, steady feet.
2. Stay with that resource for 20–30 seconds. Notice details: temperature, pressure, softness, weight.
3. Now visit a mildly activated sensation for just 5–10 seconds (tight shoulders, fluttery stomach). Keep it at a 3–4/10 intensityno deep dive.
4. Return to the resource sensation for 20–30 seconds. Let your body notice the difference.
5. Repeat the back-and-forth 3–5 times. Always end on the resource side.

Make it practical: a real-life example

You think about a stressful conversation and your chest tightens. Instead of replaying the scene, you do titration:
5 seconds with the tightness, then 30 seconds feeling your feet grounded. Over time, your system learns: “I can touch this and come back.”

Trauma-informed tip

If you can’t find a pleasant body sensation, use an external resource: a soft blanket, a warm mug, a pet nearby, a steady wall you can lean on.
Safety signals can come from outside-in, too.

Exercise 4: The Butterfly Hug (gentle bilateral tapping)

Best for: emotional waves, anxiety spikes, feeling untethered, “I need comfort but my brain won’t cooperate.”
Why it helps: The Butterfly Hug is used in EMDR-related settings as a self-soothing form of bilateral stimulation. At home, think of it as a
structured way to offer your body steady, rhythmic reassurancelike a metronome for your nervous system.

How to do it (1–3 minutes)

1. Cross your arms over your chest as if you’re giving yourself a hug. Rest hands on upper arms or shoulders.
2. Tap left-right-left-right slowly and gently. Aim for a calm rhythm (about 1–2 taps per second).
3. Breathe naturally or use the longer exhale from Exercise 2.
4. Notice what shifts: breath, tension, temperature, emotions. You’re observing, not forcing.
5. Stop when you feel a notch calmer, more present, or simply “less jagged.”

Make it practical: a real-life example

You get a text that jolts you. You step away, do a Butterfly Hug for 60 seconds, and then orient to the room. The goal is not instant serenity.
The goal is to lower the intensity enough to choose your next move instead of reacting on autopilot.

Trauma-informed tip

If tapping feels weird (valid), try alternating squeezes on your upper arms or thighs instead. Same rhythm, less “huggy.”

Put it together: a 10-minute at-home somatic routine

If you like structure (and your nervous system often does), here’s a simple sequence you can repeat daily or as needed:

1. 1–2 minutes: Orienting + 5-4-3-2-1
2. 3 minutes: Longer-exhale breathing (add humming if helpful)
3. 3–4 minutes: Pendulation + titration (resource ↔ mild activation)
4. 1 minute: Butterfly Hug to close

Consistency matters more than intensity. The nervous system learns through repetitionlike practice reps at the gym, except you don’t have to take mirror selfies.

When at-home somatic exercises aren’t enough

At-home practices can be powerful, but trauma recovery isn’t a “DIY-only” project for everyone. Consider working with a licensed trauma-informed therapist if:

• you have frequent flashbacks or panic that feel unmanageable
• you often dissociate or lose time
• your symptoms interfere with work, relationships, or sleep most days
• your body feels stuck in high alert or shutdown for long periods

Therapy can help you tailor these tools, build stronger resources, and process trauma safelyespecially if your window of tolerance is narrow right now.

Common questions people ask (and wish they asked sooner)

How often should I practice somatic exercises for trauma recovery?

Start small: 3–5 minutes a day is enough to build skill. If you’re in a high-stress season, short “micro-practices” (30–60 seconds) sprinkled through the day can
be more effective than one long session that leaves you fried.

What if an exercise brings up emotion?

Emotion can be a normal part of nervous system thawing. If it’s manageable, stay with your resource sensation (pendulation) and slow down. If it feels overwhelming,
return to orienting and grounding. You’re not failingyou’re learning your system’s pace.

Can I do these during a trigger?

Yes, but choose the most stabilizing option first: orienting + 5-4-3-2-1, or Butterfly Hug. Save pendulation for when you’re more regulated, because it involves
touching mild discomfort on purpose.

Do I need to “feel sensations” clearly for somatic therapy exercises to work?

Not at all. Some people have numbness or a hard time identifying body cues (often a protective adaptation). Start with external sensationstexture, temperature,
pressureand build from there. The skill grows with practice.

Experiences: what at-home somatic practice can feel like over time

People often expect trauma recovery to feel like a movie montage: dramatic breakthrough, uplifting soundtrack, credits roll. In real life, it’s more like updating
your phone’s operating systemsmall changes, occasional glitches, and a surprising amount of “why is it doing that?” Here are common experiences many people report
when they practice at-home somatic therapy exercises consistently, along with what those experiences can mean.

Week 1: “I didn’t calm down… but I noticed I was activated faster.”

This is more progress than it sounds. Early wins are often about awareness, not peace. You might catch a clenched jaw, a tight chest, or a racing heart
sooner than usual. That’s your system learning to read its own signals. One person might notice their shoulders creeping up during work calls; another might realize
they hold their breath when they open certain apps or walk into certain spaces. The goal isn’t zero stress. It’s earlier detectionbecause you can’t regulate what you
don’t notice.

Week 2: “Orienting feels silly… and then suddenly it works.”

Many people roll their eyes at the idea that looking around a room could help trauma symptoms. (Understandable. Your brain wants a more impressive solution.)
Then one day, during a spike of anxiety, you scan the room and name objectslamp, door, blue pillowand your body drops from an 8 to a 6. Not perfect, but
functional. The humor here is that your nervous system loves basic updates. It’s like telling an anxious internal guard dog, “Hey buddy, we’re not in 2017 right now.
We’re in the kitchen. There are snacks. You can stand down a notch.”

Week 3: “Breathwork is either magic or annoying, depending on the day.”

That’s normal. Some days, longer exhales feel like flipping a calm switch; other days, they feel like trying to relax while someone yells “RELAX!” from the next room.
What helps is switching from perfection to experimentation: smaller breath counts, eyes open, feet grounded, or adding a gentle hum on the exhale. People often report
that humming makes it easier to stay connected to the body because the vibration gives the brain something concrete to track. Over time, many notice they recover from
stress fasterstill activated, just not stuck there as long.

Week 4 and beyond: “Pendulation taught me I can come back.”

This is a big one. Pendulation and titration can create a new internal experience: you can touch something uncomfortable (a sensation, a memory fragment, a feeling)
and then return to steadiness without getting swallowed. People often describe it as building “emotional steering.” You’re not flooring the gas or slamming the brakes;
you’re learning you have a middle range. Sometimes that shows up in everyday life: you can have a difficult conversation, notice your body revving, take a longer exhale,
feel your feet, and keep goingwithout abandoning yourself or exploding.

A realistic bottom line

Progress often looks like: fewer surprises, shorter spirals, quicker resets, and more choice. You may still have hard days. But the hard days become less mysterious.
And when your body trusts you to respond with steady, consistent care, it tends to stop sounding the alarm quite so loudly.

Conclusion

Trauma recovery isn’t about “never getting triggered.” It’s about building the capacity to notice, regulate, and return. These somatic exercises for trauma recovery
are simple, but they aren’t simplistic: orienting teaches presence, breath teaches rhythm, pendulation teaches flexibility, and the Butterfly Hug teaches comfort you can
access anywhere.

Start tiny. Keep it gentle. Let repetition do the heavy lifting. Your nervous system doesn’t need a motivational speechit needs consistent evidence that the present
is safer than the past.