Top 10 Somatic Exercises for Empaths

Discover the profound benefits of somatic therapy exercises specifically tailored for empaths on a transformative journey to wellness. 

As we explore the connection between mind and body, I reveal how dynamic stretching, progressive muscle relaxation, and the art of dance therapy can improve flexibility and serve as essential tools for releasing trapped energy. 

These top 10 exercises are designed to help those who deeply absorb external energies, offering clear guidance on when and how to integrate them into daily routines for a balanced flow of energy and relief from the physical symptoms of emotional overload.

Join me on a path of empathic healing, where we immerse ourselves in the restorative power of somatic practices. 

With each technique, from bodily writing that unwinds tangled thoughts to vocal toning that opens the throat chakra, you'll feel empowered to transform your emotional landscape. 

We'll discuss how nature walks, expressive art therapy, and the purifying effects of water therapy can ground and cleanse, bringing us closer to achieving holistic mind-body harmony. 

Embrace this collection of exercises as your toolkit for self-healing and unlocking profound physical and emotional liberation.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

You're listening to the Realized Empath Podcast, where we get real about loving and stumbling through our sensitive lives With your host and holistic counselor, Kristin Schwartz, who helps redefine what's possible for an empath who embraces a path of self-healing.

Speaker 2: 0:22

Hey there, beautiful souls, and welcome back to the Realized Empath Podcast, your sanctuary for deep dives into the empath experience. I'm your host, kristin Schwartz, and today we're exploring something profoundly transformative. I thought it would be fun to talk about the top 10 somatic trauma therapy exercises tailored just for empaths. So, before we dive in, I want to remind you to visit RealizedEmpathcom and join our vibrant community. In the community, you'll find more resources, you can connect with fellow empaths and start your journey toward deeper self-understanding and healing. So what somatic therapy and why is it a game changer for empaths? Simply put, it's a treatment that focuses on the connection between the mind and the body, addressing the physical sensations tied to our emotional experiences. So, for empaths, connecting to our bodies can be a struggle. We're so tuned into the emotions and energies around us that we often neglect our physical presence. It's really easy for us to disconnect, and this disconnect can lead to a buildup of unprocessed trauma and energy. Why do we need our bodies to release energy? That's a great question. Imagine your body as a vessel for all kinds of energies absorbing energies, storing and then hopefully releasing them. For empaths, this vessel can get overwhelmed and overloaded. This where somatic exercises offer us a path to release this energy, helping us heal and regain balance. But before we jump into the transformative exercises, I want to take a moment to talk about and understand something crucial how trauma and negative energy are stored in our bodies. You see, when we experience trauma or intense negative emotions and we don't process them fully, they don't just vanish. Instead, they find a home in our physical selves, embedding within our tissues and muscles and altering our posture. So this unprocessed energy can lead to a host of physical ailments, ranging from chronic pain, adrenal disorders, thyroid disorders, tension, headaches, digestive issues, even more profound conditions that affect the immune system, like fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. So for empaths who are profoundly affected by not just our own but others' emotions, this can mean carrying an extra burden of unprocessed energy, making it even more essential to find ways to release and heal. So, knowing this, it becomes pretty clear, right, why somatic exercises and helping our body release are beneficial and necessary. They offer us a direct path to engage with and release these trapped energies, helping to alleviate our emotional burdens and the physical manifestations that they create. So as we explore these exercises, I want you to think of them as keys to unlocking areas of tension and pain, bringing not just emotional but also physical relief and healing. With this deeper understanding, let's move forward and let's explore the healing power of the top 10 somatic trauma therapy exercises designed just for you, the empath. Let's embark on this healing journey together, transforming not just our minds but our bodies.

Speaker 2: 4:45

Okay, so exercise number one is dynamic stretching. So what is dynamic stretching? Dynamic stretching involves active movements that gently stretch the muscles, preparing them for physical activity and increasing overall flexibility. So, unlike static stretching, dynamic stretches are performed in motion, which can help improve kinetic awareness and agility. Why is dynamic stretching helpful? For impasse? So this form of stretching can be particularly beneficial when feeling emotionally overwhelmed or physically stiff from absorbing external energies. It helps release the buildup of emotional tension in the muscles, promoting a smoother flow of energy through the body. Think of our goal here as aiding our body in helping it release the energy. That's how we release the energy is through the body. So these movements are us aiding the body and doing what it wants to do anyways, which is release. So you can use dynamic stretching before you start your day, especially after a restless sleep. Maybe you had intense dreams or emotional processing. So here's how you wanna do it. You can begin with neck circles, then move to arm and legs swings, so you're progressively increasing the range of motion and you're visualizing the release of emotional energy with each stretch.

Speaker 2: 6:30

Our second exercise is progressive muscle relaxation, or, if you look it up on the internet, pmr. So PMR is a deep relaxation technique involving the tensing and relaxing of different muscle groups throughout the body. So what this practice does is it promotes awareness of bodily sensations and can significantly reduce stress and anxiety levels. So why is PMR good for impasse? It's great for those moments of high stress or after absorbing heavy energies from others. Pmr can help identify hidden areas of tension, basically facilitating a profound sense of physical and emotional release. So when you're going through your body and you're tensing different muscle parts and you're letting go, you're gonna notice what areas of your body feel tighter or more dense, and that is gonna be the places that you're holding the energy It'd be great to use after a day spent in crowded places or intense social interactions where you've likely absorbed a lot of external energy. So how you wanna do it is you start from the toes and you gradually work up to the top of your head and you wanna tense each muscle group for five seconds and then relax for 30 seconds, and you wanna focus on the sensation and the release and notice what parts of your body feel more tense, and then you can focus more on those areas.

Speaker 2: 8:11

Next exercise, which is a fun one dance therapy. So dance therapy uses movement to express emotions. What that does is we're fostering emotional, cognitive, physical and social integration. It's an embodied form of therapy that promotes healing through dance and movement. So why is dance therapy a good one for impasse? Well, dance therapy is a powerful medium for expressing and releasing pent-up emotions and energies, without words, but by translating complex feelings through movement. So you can use dance therapy when you're feeling emotionally congested or unable to articulate your feelings into words. And I want you to allow your body to move freely to the music. Choose music that resonates with your current emotional state, without judgment or any preconceived steps. Just turn the music on and let your body do what it needs to do to move that energy through you and have fun with it.

Speaker 2: 9:25

Our next one is percussive somatic therapy fun name, right. So this one involves using gentle rhythmic tapping or drumming on the body to stimulate the nervous system and release physical energy blockages. Think of yourself sitting on a chair and drumming on your thighs, right. So why is this helpful? For impasse, the rhythmic tapping and drumming help to disrupt stagnant energy patterns and stimulates flow, which is crucial for impasse, dealing with energy overload or blockages. When would be a great time to use percussive somatic therapy? When you're wanting to break up and release the absorbed energies, maybe after exposure to negative or stressful environments. And how would you do it? You can use your fingertips or palms to tap gently across different parts of your body. You can focus on areas that feel dense or blocked. So maybe you want to tap on your upper shoulders, or maybe you want to tap on the back of your neck or maybe the lower back. You get to scan your body and figure out what areas feel dense or blocked, and then you tap rhythmically until you feel some release.

Speaker 2: 10:53

Next exercise is somatic writing, and I did somatic writing so much when I first started moving towards healing and becoming an empowered empath, and it really did move me through so much. So what it is? It's a practice of writing that focuses on body sensations and emotions and thoughts, and you're facilitating a deeper connection between mind and body. For impasse, it's a therapeutic tool for processing and releasing trapped emotions. And what it does is it fosters a sense of clarity and emotional relief. So you can use somatic writing during or after intense emotional experiences. I would use it in the mornings to process anything that came up through my dreams, and I always used it with my morning energy because I felt more connected and clear in the mornings. It's there to help process and release the emotions tied to any of your experiences. So how would you do somatic writing? So you want to write without censorship about what you're feeling in your body and any emotions that arise. Maybe you've become aware of a pattern of thought that you have. You want to just write freely and allow the process to lead you toward release.

Speaker 2: 12:27

Next exercise is vocal toning, and vocal toning involves making extended vocal sounds on a single note, which helps to relax the mind and body through the vibration and the resonance of the sound. For impasse, this practice can be especially healing for clearing blockages in the throat chakra, often affected by unexpressed emotions, enhancing overall energy flow. I want to touch on that really quick, speaking for myself and through for many impasse that I've worked with through the years. A lot of us have blockages in our throat chakra. This is where you will find behaviors like people pleasing, difficulty setting boundaries, difficulty speaking up for yourself, difficulty being assertive. A lot of times, the blockages in the throat chakra follow those patterns of behavior. How can you use vocal toning? So when you're feeling silenced or unable to speak your truth, I want you to open and clear the throat area. You choose a natural tone and you hold it as long as it's comfortable, focusing on the vibration that it creates in your body. So this can sound like ah right, it's a very deep tone. Only because I'm still getting over my illness that I got from Costa Rica. But you can choose a more beautiful tone. It's up to you. Whatever feels best to you, you hold that tone and you can do it outside and be as loud as you want, or you can do you can be more soft whatever feels like it's moving that energy for you.

Speaker 2: 14:20

Our next exercise is visualization with movement. So this technique combines physical movement with the mental imagery of releasing or transforming energy. What you're doing is you're integrating the mind's power with the body's movement and it aids in grounding and energetically cleansing, especially useful for releasing specific emotional or energetic burdens which, as an empath, we all love. That right, so you can use it after energetically intense encounters where you visualize and move away negative energies physically. So how would you use this? While moving, imagine expelling negative energy with each motion, like flinging water off your hands or sweeping dust away with your feet. Right, you see how that brings in the mind and the body together. If you're using your arms and you're swinging your arms back and forth, you're imagining that with each swing of your arms you're flinging water off your hands or energy off your hands.

Speaker 2: 15:44

The next one is nature walks with intentional focus. What this is is a mindful practice of walking in nature and you're paying close attention to the sensory experiences, the sights, the sounds and the smells that are all around you. This exercise grounds you, reconnecting you with the earth's stabilizing energy, helping you to discharge the energies that are absorbed from others. So you would use this when you're feeling disconnected or overwhelmed by, let's say, urban environments and you're reconnecting with the calming presence of nature. So you would do this by just walking slowly, focusing on each sense, one at a time, and imagining each step releases heavy energies into the earth. I already feel calmer just talking my way through that one. Okay.

Speaker 2: 16:42

So our next one is expressive art therapy. So this one is a therapeutic practice that uses creative arts, including painting, drawing, music and drama, to explore and express emotions. What this does for us in-pass is it offers a profound outlet for emotions that might be too intense or complex to verbalize, so you're facilitating a non-verbal form of emotional catharsis. This is a great one to use when traditional talk therapy feels limiting or you're seeking a more intuitive way of processing your emotions. So what you wanna do is you wanna let your intuition guide your choice of medium and creation Again what feels right to you and focus on the process rather than the outcome, and I want you to allow your emotions to flow through you into your art.

Speaker 2: 17:46

Our next one is water therapy. Water therapy is a practice of using water in various forms, so you can use it in a swimming pool or bath or shower, and you're using water to promote physical and emotional healing. So water is a powerful medium for cleansing and releasing emotional and energetic residue, and what it does is it offers a sense of renewal. I've used water therapy after absorbing negative energies or even during emotional turmoil, and I use it to cleanse and reset my energy field. For baths, it also helps to use epsom salts. It's pretty self-explanatory. But for water therapy, you wanna engage with water. Mindfully, I want you to focus on the sensation of water against your skin instead of just jumping in and just not really thinking about or connecting to the act of being in the water. And imagine it washing away all that no longer serves you. There's no time limit on these exercises. The beauty of you being connected to your body is that you can allow your body to guide you and it will show you, through sensations, when you've gotten that result that you're looking for.

Speaker 2: 19:14

Now that we've covered 10 empowering exercises, we're wrapping up today's journey on Realized Impath Podcast. It's been an absolute pleasure to guide you through these transformative somatic practices. Each one's a step toward deeper healing, understanding and embracing your incredible empathic nature. Remember, dear impaths, you're not alone on this journey. Our community at RealizedImpathcom is a sanctuary designed just for you, a place where you can find support and resources and connect with fellow impaths who truly understand.

Speaker 2: 19:53

So whether you're looking for guidance, seeking to share your experiences or simply wishing to explore more about your empathic abilities, realizedimpathcom is your go-to. I encourage you to head over to our website, join our community, explore our resources and continue this journey together. Beyond the website, you can also stay connected with us through our newsletter, where we share insights, tips and updates on the latest episodes. It's a little piece of empathy and understanding delivered straight to your inbox, a reminder that in this vast world, your feelings, experiences and gifts as an empath are seen, valued and needed. Before we part ways today, I want to leave you with this thought your sensitivity is an asset and with these somatic exercises, along with the support of our community, you have the tools to navigate this world while staying true to your empathic essence. Thank you for tuning in, opening your heart and being part of the RealizedImpath family. Until next time. Keep feeling, keep healing and remember. Visit RealizedImpathcom to connect, grow and thrive. I can't wait to welcome you. Until next time bye everybody.

Speaker 1: 21:14

Thanks for listening to the RealizedImpath podcast. Revisit past episodes or contact Kristen at RealizedImpathcom. Did you love this episode? Please share it with a friend. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time. Sensitive souls.