The Greek word "soma" means body. Somatic exercises were first researched in the 1970s as a way to release trauma and stress through tiny physical movements, bypassing the mind entirely.
Decades later, most people still think it sounds like a woo-woo wellness trend. That gap between what the science says and what people assume is exactly why I wanted to sit down with Liz Tenuto.
Liz, better known as The Workout Witch, has nearly 5 million followers, 240,000 students, and a 99% success rate with her courses. She holds a degree in Psychology from UC Santa Barbara, is certified in Pilates and Reiki, and spent six years being mentored in the Feldenkrais Method under Augusta Moore. With fifteen years of hands-on teaching experience, she bridges science, movement, and somatic practice to help people release stress, stored trauma, and tension from their bodies, using the same methods that got her off beta blockers for anxiety. Her work has been featured in USA Today, BBC News, Harper's Bazaar France, and more.
In this Fitness Friday episode with Liz, part one of a three-part series, she shows me several somatic exercises live on the podcast. One of them nearly put me to sleep on camera! She also breaks down why your body holds onto stress long after your mind has moved on, what chronic stress is actually doing to the way you look and feel, and why so many people struggle with pain, bloating, and sleep issues that no doctor can fully explain.
If you have ever felt like your body is working against you no matter what you try, this conversation will change how you think about where stress actually lives and what it takes to release it.
What's Discussed:
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(00:00) What is somatic healing and how it differs from meditation, breathwork, and talk therapy.
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(03:20) How a ballet dancer with PTSD discovered somatics out of desperation.
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(04:06) The first somatics class that changed everything and why it made her cry in the bathroom.
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(04:42) How somatics reestablishes the mind-body connection when your nervous system is stuck in freeze.
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(05:27) The live forehead exercise that calms your fight-flight response in under a minute.
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(07:25) Why this simple exercise can make you feel like falling asleep almost instantly.
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(07:37) The cranial nerve behind the forehead exercise and why it works so fast.
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(08:23) The ear pulling exercise that stimulates your vagus nerve and gives you an instant energy boost.
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(10:40) How bilateral stimulation connects somatic exercises to EMDR therapy.
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(11:44) What CPTSD is and why somatic exercises help people heal trauma without verbalizing it.
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(12:21) The different schools of somatics that have been researched since the 1970s.
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(13:29) The somatic exercise for sciatica using a figure four position and gentle rocking.
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(15:19) How stress accelerates aging and why chronic stress caused a gray streak during a toxic marriage.
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(16:57) Why your body diverts energy away from repair systems when stuck in survival mode.
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(19:48) The scalp exercise that brings blood flow back and helps repigment gray hair.
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(21:41) The "chair twerking" bloating exercise that can make a difference in as little as three days.
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(24:18) Why sequencing matters and one exercise alone is not enough for lasting results.
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(25:11) How somatic exercises work as a full wellness modality for strength, stress, and emotional healing.
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Find more from Jen Cohen:
Website: www.jennifercohen.com
Instagram: @therealjencohen
Books: www.jennifercohen.com/books
Speaking: www.jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagements
Find more from Liz Tenuto:
Website: https://theworkoutwitch.com/
Instagram: @theworkoutwitch
TikTok: @theworkoutwitch
YouTube: @theworkoutwitch
Threads: @theworkoutwitch
Facebook:The Workout Witch
Embody App: https://theworkoutwitch.com/products/embody
When The Body Speaks Book: https://theworkoutwitch.com/pages/book