Somatic Breathwork: The Basic Introduction
Your breath is one of the most powerful tools you have for healing — and most of us have never been taught how to use it.
If you’ve been feeling stuck, disconnected from your body, or like no amount of talking about your pain actually moves it — somatic breathwork might be exactly what’s been missing. This is the basic introduction: what it is, how it works, and why it’s becoming one of the most sought-after approaches in trauma healing today.
What Is Somatic Breathwork?
So, what is somatic breathwork, exactly? The word “somatic” comes from the Greek word soma, meaning body. Somatic breathwork is a body-based healing practice that uses intentional breathing patterns to access and release stored tension, trauma, and emotional energy held in the nervous system. Unlike traditional talk therapy, which works primarily through the mind, somatic breathwork works directly through the body — bypassing the thinking brain to reach the places where pain actually lives.
This matters because trauma isn’t just a memory. It’s a physiological experience that gets lodged in your tissues, your posture, your breath patterns, and your nervous system. What is somatic breathwork doing, then, when it works? It’s giving your body a pathway to complete the stress cycles it never got to finish — and to finally exhale what it’s been holding.
What is the difference between breathwork and somatic breathwork?
While all breathwork involves intentional breathing, not all breathwork is somatic. Traditional breathwork practices — like box breathing or pranayama — are often focused on relaxation, performance, or spiritual practice. Somatic breathwork is specifically oriented toward the body’s stored trauma and nervous system dysregulation, using breath as a tool to access and release what’s held beneath conscious awareness, with an understanding of how the body processes and completes stress responses.
This distinction matters more than it might seem. If you’re working with unresolved trauma, the how and who behind your breathwork practice carries real weight. For a deeper look at what to look for in a skilled practitioner, this guide on what to know before working with a breathwork coach is a great place to start.
Somatic Breathwork and the Freeze Response
One of the most profound — and underrecognized — capacities of somatic breathwork is its ability to work with the freeze trauma response.
The freeze response is the nervous system’s last-resort survival strategy. When fight or flight isn’t available, the body goes still. It shuts down. It disconnects. And while this response is brilliantly protective in a moment of overwhelm, it can become a default setting — leaving people feeling numb, foggy, unmotivated, or chronically disconnected from themselves and their lives.
Freeze is notoriously difficult to reach through talk alone, because it exists beneath the level of language and conscious thought. This is where somatic breathing exercises become genuinely transformative. Breath directly activates the autonomic nervous system — the same system responsible for the freeze response — which means that with the right somatic breathing techniques, breath can begin to gently melt the frozen edges of that shutdown state. Done in a trauma-informed, titrated way, somatic breathwork creates enough safety in the body to begin thawing what’s been locked in place. It’s not about forcing a release or pushing through. It’s about creating the conditions for the body to feel safe enough to let go.
To understand more about why the body holds onto trauma in the first place, this post on how the body releases trauma offers important context.
Ready to explore this work more personally? I offer one-on-one somatic breathwork sessions, and the best place to start is a conversation. Send me a message here and we can set up a free introductory call.
Is trauma Holding you back?
Perhaps you experienced a specific event that left you feeling different, disconnected, or stuck. Or maybe you carry a sense of unease in your body, struggling with anxiety or a feeling that something isn’t quite right.
As a somatic experiencing practitioner I specialize in helping people process and release stored trauma through gentle yet effective methods.
Download my FREE guide “Get Unstuck! The Truth About Body Trauma and How to Break Free’ and learn how to create the future you deserve.
Common Somatic Breathing Exercises and Techniques
There is no single “right” way to do somatic breathwork — the practice encompasses a range of somatic breathing exercises suited to different nervous system states, goals, and levels of readiness. Some commonly used somatic breathing techniques include:
Extended exhale breathing — Lengthening the exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system, signaling safety to the body. This is a gentle entry point for those who are newer to the practice or working with a highly activated or sensitive nervous system.
Diaphragmatic breathing — Deep belly breathing helps release chronic tension held in the diaphragm — a muscle that tightens significantly under stress and trauma — and begins to restore a more natural, full-body breath pattern.
Connected breathing — A continuous breath pattern with no pause between inhale and exhale, often used in more intensive somatic breathwork sessions to move energy, release emotional holding, and access deeper layers of the nervous system. This technique, in particular, should always be facilitated by a trained, trauma-informed practitioner.
Orienting with breath — Pairing slow, intentional breathing with gentle sensory awareness (noticing what you see, hear, or feel in your surroundings) to help the nervous system register safety in the present moment.
Each of these techniques works best when approached with patience, curiosity, and the support of someone trained to hold space for what might arise.
How do you do somatic breathwork?
Learning how to do somatic breathwork starts with developing a relationship with your breath and your body’s signals. In a guided session, a trained practitioner will help you find a comfortable position, bring awareness to your natural breath, and then guide you through specific breathing patterns tailored to your nervous system’s needs. The session is paced to your window of tolerance — never pushing past what feels safe — and often includes moments of stillness, body awareness prompts, and integration time afterward. For those newer to the practice, starting with guided somatic breathwork — either one-on-one or in a carefully held group container — is the most supportive and safest way to begin.
Guided somatic breathwork is particularly valuable because the presence of a skilled, attuned practitioner provides the co-regulation that makes deep nervous system work possible. Your healing doesn’t happen in isolation — it happens in relationship, and that includes your relationship with the person holding space for your process.
Is Somatic Breathwork Right for You?
If you’ve felt stuck in patterns you can’t think your way out of — cycles of shutdown, hypervigilance, disconnection, or chronic stress — somatic breathwork offers something most conventional approaches don’t: a direct line to the body.
It’s powerful. It’s evidence-informed. And when it’s practiced with proper training, nervous system literacy, and a genuine trauma-informed lens, it can reach the layers of healing that words alone simply cannot access.
You deserve support that meets you where the pain actually lives — in your body.
If you’re feeling called to go deeper, I’d love to support you. One-on-one sessions are available, and it all starts with a simple conversation. Reach out via my contact page and we’ll set up an introductory call to talk about what you’re navigating and if somatic breathwork would be an appropriate modality for you.
Brianna Anderson, SEP
If you’re ready to begin your healing journey I’m here to help so you can begin to live the life of your dreams
My private practice specializes in helping people who have endured trauma, resolve the symptoms out of their body, mind & spirit so they can feel comfortable in their skin, find inner peace and live the desires of their heart.
I am based out of South Orange County, Ca and offer online therapy sessions. Whether you are just starting your healing journey or ready to try something new, I am here to help.