People often ask me, what can I do in between my acupuncture appointments to keep myself feeling balanced and recharged. The answer is actually very similar to what we tell patients to focus on while we leave them to rest during the session. Any form of concentration, visualization, meditation or prayer, any quiet focus or self reflection can be useful. These practices are known as somatic stimulation and are categorized by their ability to help the body self regulate the nervous system.
Somatic wellness techniques are mind-body practices designed to release physical tension and reduce stress, by fostering conscious body awareness. Popular methods include breathing techniques and body scans to help get your nervous system stay in a calm and grounded state. Somatic work signals safety to your sympathetic nervous system (your fight-or-flight response), encouraging you to shift into the parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) state.
Somatic practices are uniquely effective because they address the mind-body connection, where physical and emotional trauma or chronic stress is stored in the nervous system. When people experience overwhelming stress, the body can hold on to tension or pain. By focusing on internal sensations rather than just cognitive thoughts, somatic techniques can reprogram how your body reacts to stress. The somatic path can trigger the release of “happy hormones” like serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins while lowering stress hormones like cortisol.
Here are some popular examples:
Body Scans
Mentally scanning your body from head to toe—noticing sensations like warmth, tension, or ease without judgment. This increases proprioception (your body’s sense of itself in space) and helps you consciously release tension spots.
Yoga and Breathwork
Slow, intentional stretches (similar to trauma informed yoga techniques) performed at a slow pace to retrain the brain-to-muscle connection and ease chronic mental and physical pain. Specifically; Tai Qi, Qi Gong, and Alexander Technique are great examples of this.
Guided Somatic Therapy
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): Often complements cognitive therapy. This is usually a guided side-to-side eye movement or physical tapping alongside somatic techniques to reprocess negative beliefs or memories.
Your wellness routine can go farther with a little breath work and some gentle daily movement. Stressful thoughts and tension patterns in the body are disrupted by this intentional work. Combined with acupuncture, somatic work can bring you into a state of physiological calm.
About the Author
I combine Traditional Chinese Medicine, nutrition, and a patient-centered approach to help individuals achieve lasting whole-body wellness.
