Somatic Tools You Can Use Tomorrow: Five Nervous System Practices for Clinicians

In every treatment room, something profound happens beneath the surface of technique — a conversation between two nervous systems. Whether you’re a massage therapist, yoga teacher, or movement practitioner, your own state of regulation plays a vital role in helping your clients find ease and safety in theirs.

Somatic tools aren’t just for trauma specialists. They’re simple, body-based practices that help you and your clients reconnect with the present moment, regulate stress, and support healing from the inside out. These tools can be woven naturally into your work, no matter what modality you practice.

1. Grounding: Start with Yourself

Before you begin a session, take a moment to ground your own body.Notice your feet, your breath, and the weight of your body in space. When your nervous system feels settled, your presence becomes an anchor for your client. This is the essence of co-regulation — two systems finding steadiness together.

Try it: Before touching your client, take one slow, full exhale and feel the chair or floor beneath you. That pause communicates safety more clearly than words.

2. Orienting: Help Clients Find the Room

For clients who arrive anxious, overwhelmed, or disconnected, orienting is a simple yet powerful first step.Invite them to gently look around the room, notice the light, colours, or any comforting details. This helps the brain register safety and brings the client into the present moment.

Try it: After your intake, say, “Take a moment to look around and notice something pleasant or neutral here.” This helps shift attention from internal stress to external safety.

3. Breath Awareness: A Bridge to Regulation

Breath is one of the most direct ways to influence the nervous system. You don’t need to teach a specific pattern — just help clients notice it.By simply bringing awareness to breathing, the parasympathetic nervous system begins to activate, encouraging rest and restoration.

Try it: During still moments in a session, invite clients to notice where their breath moves in the body — without changing it. This builds interoceptive awareness and naturally deepens calm.

4. Somatic Tracking: Listening from the Inside Out

Somatic tracking or interoception invites clients to notice and name what they sense internally — warmth, tingling, pulsing, or expansion. It’s not about analyzing sensations, but simply allowing awareness.

When clients learn to stay with these small body cues, their capacity for regulation expands. Over time, they begin to feel safer inhabiting their bodies — a profound shift for anyone with trauma or chronic pain.

Try it: After a moment of stillness, ask, “What do you notice in your body right now?” Pause. Let them describe in their own words.

5. Pendulation: The Art of Moving Between States

Pendulation, a core principle in trauma-informed practice, means gently guiding the client’s awareness between sensations of activation (tension, tightness) and sensations of ease (softness, warmth).This movement teaches the nervous system flexibility and resilience — that it can feel activation and safely return to calm.

Try it: When you notice tension release, draw attention to it by saying, “Notice the difference between that area and somewhere that feels more at ease.”

Why These Tools Matter

These small practices change everything. They help your clients feel safer, deepen their connection to their own bodies, and make your sessions more effective. They also protect you from burnout — because you’re working with the body’s natural rhythms instead of forcing change.

Becoming fluent in somatic tools allows you to bring more compassion, curiosity, and confidence to your work. It turns bodywork into a dialogue, not a directive.

Learn More About Somatic & Trauma-Informed Practice

If you’d like to deepen your understanding and gain practical tools you can apply right away, explore Jessica’s Trauma-Informed Practice Courses.

This self-paced online training offers a nervous-system-based approach to care, combining somatic principles with practical skills. You’ll learn how to support your clients’ regulation, earn CEU/CEC credit, and bring more ease and confidence into your sessions.