Here’s a very personal story from one of my experiences in somatic experiencing therapy.
My incredible therapist invited me to lie down on her massage table. I had just shared with her how numb I often feel in my body.
Feeling numb is a common trauma symptom. It’s a way to escape what the body perceives as painful and overwhelming.
She gently asked, “May I place my hands on your abdomen? It will be no more than a soft touch, nothing else.”
“Sure,” I said. Then, I waited.
And waited.
Until I became impatient. “So... are you going to put your hands on me or what?”
Her eyes widened. “My hands have been there the whole time.”
I glanced down and saw her hand gently resting on my abdomen.
Immediately, I felt a panic overwhelm me.
“What’s happening?!” I gasped. I was scared.
She held her hand steady.
I curled into the fetal position. Suddenly, I was on an emotional roller coaster that made absolutely no sense.
She stayed with me.
Eventually, the wave settled.
And I felt a tingling sensation throughout my entire body.
Finally, I could feel her hand.
I sat up quickly, inhaling like I had just taken my first breath after being suffocated for what felt like forever.
She invited me to feel my feet on the ground.
They felt heavy. Firm. Rooted.
I felt the urge to stand. She encouraged me to follow what my body knew it needed.
There, on my own two feet, I went from feeling dissociated and numb to powerful and alive.
And all it took was a supportive hand to guide me.
I learned an important lesson that day:
Healing doesn’t always come through words. It often begins with sensation.
Buried emotions don’t just live in your thoughts. They live in your body.
And when you start to feel again – really feel – it can be disorienting, even terrifying.
But it’s also the first step to reclaiming your wholeness.
That’s the power of somatic therapy.
It bypasses mental overload and meets you where the pain lives: in your nervous system, in your breath, in the places you’ve gone numb.
You don’t have to understand it to benefit from it.
You just have to begin by noticing.
If you’ve ever felt numb, overwhelmed, or stuck in a reaction that doesn’t make sense – there’s nothing wrong with you. Your body is just holding more than it can carry.
That’s why I created this class:
✨ Somatic Exercises to Release Stored Emotions
- Exclusively available to members of the Conscious Mommy Community.
- This 45-minute class is filled with fast, practical tools to help you release anxiety, anger, shutdown, and people-pleasing – right in the moment, no journaling required.
- Designed for real-life moms who feel like they’re running on fumes, these somatic tools will help you feel better quickly, so you can parent with more calm, clarity, and ease. Get your questions answered and have deeper conversations with me on healing yourself inside our private membership.
What Are Somatic Tools and Why Do They Matter for Moms?
Most moms don’t realize how close they are to overflowing until they snap.
Somatic tools are body-based practices that help you notice and release emotional tension stored in your nervous system. They work quickly and don’t require hours of journaling, talking, or analyzing.
They help restore your connection to your body, so you can respond to life with more presence, access your full emotional range, and feel grounded – even when things get hard.
And most importantly, they teach you how to tune into your bodily sensations. That way, when that surge of anger or overwhelm starts to rise, you can recognize it – and respond before it takes over.
Why Emotions Get Stored in the Body
Emotions are meant to move. But when there’s no time or space to process them, your body holds them for you.
Whether it's anger, sadness, fear, or loneliness, your nervous system stores that emotional energy to help you keep going. It’s your body’s way of protecting you when the feelings feel like too much.
But what gets repressed, gets expressed.
You hold it together all morning after your partner oversleeps, leaving you to manage everything alone. You push through a hard day at work. After school, you just need your kids to cooperate – but they don’t. You snap. And in the moment, it feels like it’s about their behavior. But your body hasn’t forgotten how it felt to be on your own earlier in the day.
That’s how stored emotions work.
They don’t just disappear. They build.
And they often show up as tension, pain, anxiety, irritability, or disconnection.
You might feel like you’re failing – but you're not. These are signals from your body that something inside needs your attention.
Your emotions are calling you to slow down, which can feel like an incredibly difficult thing to do when you're constantly racing against the clock.
And somatic tools give you a way to finally listen so you can restore your body connection.
What If You Don’t Have Time or Can't Access Therapy?
Therapy is one of the most powerful ways we can heal from the inside out. It’s where we learn to repair and rebuild the early relational patterns that shaped us, often for the first time in a safe, supported space.
But many parents – especially mothers – don’t always have the time, access, or emotional bandwidth to commit to weekly sessions. That doesn’t mean healing is out of reach.
Somatic tools offer a way to stay connected to yourself in between therapy sessions, or when traditional support isn’t immediately available. They meet you in the moment – when the tension is rising, when the numbness creeps in, or when you feel like you’re about to lose it – and help you come back to your body.
These tools can be especially helpful when you:
- Struggle to name or understand what you're feeling
- Get stuck in your head or overthink your emotions
- Feel like your reactions don’t match the situation
- Don’t have time to process all that's stirring within but still need a release
Somatic practices don’t replace the deep work of therapy – but they do support you in staying grounded, connected, and responsive as you move through the realities of everyday life, especially with your children.
Why You Yell (Even When You Don’t Want To)
When you yell, threaten, or demand instant obedience, it’s not random. It’s your nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do – protect you from threat.
The brain-body system doesn’t pause to consider context. It doesn’t know that it’s your child standing in front of you. It only knows that your internal system is overloaded, and something needs to stop. Now.
That’s why anger rises so fast.
That’s why your voice gets loud.
That’s why you feel the need to do something.
This is the fight response – a natural part of the nervous system’s survival system. And for parents who have been holding everything together for hours (or days), it’s often the most accessible form of self-protection.
Anger is not a character flaw.
It’s a signal.
Somatic tools help you work with that signal. They help slow down the flood, ground your system, and give your body something to do with all that activation – without directing it at your child.
This is the kind of inner work we practice together inside the Conscious Mommy Community – learning how to stop passing our pain down, and start responding with intention instead.
With consistent practice, these tools do more than interrupt reactivity. They begin to rewire your nervous system to recognize safety faster, so you can stay grounded and respond with more ease.
What starts as small moments of pausing and noticing gradually becomes a more regulated, authentic way of moving through your day – one that feels more like you.
Considering how much we lose of ourselves in motherhood, it's about time we found our way back. Not by doing more, but by feeling safer in our own bodies.
How to Release Stuck Emotions: 5 Somatic Tools for Busy Moms
These tools are quick, accessible, and designed for real life – not just quiet, kid-free moments. Whether you're in panic, shutdown, or people-pleasing mode, there's a way to come back to yourself. Here's how.
A quick note before you begin:
These tools aren’t about eliminating your discomfort - they’re about helping your body return to safety. Try to avoid rushing yourself, and instead, let your process look however it's going to look. Take your time with these exercises. Let them last as long as needed. If your child is asking for something and it’s not an emergency, it’s okay to take a moment for yourself first. You’ll be better equipped to support them when you feel more grounded and present.
1. Find Your Feet
Best for: panic, sensory overload, or racing thoughts
When your system is on high alert – your mind spinning, your breath shallow – this tool helps bring you back into your body and to the present moment.
Try it:
Stand or sit. Drop your attention to your feet.
Notice the pressure, temperature, and contact with the floor.
Shift your weight slowly side to side.
Breathe into the soles of your feet for 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Before moving forward, pause and notice how you feel.
2. Sigh and Drop
Best for: emotional suppression, overwhelm, or trying to hold it all in
When you're holding your breath and clenching your jaw (or your 🍑) through the day, this practice softens the body and helps release pent-up tension through the breath.
Try it:
Inhale deeply through your nose.
Let out an audible sigh as you exhale and drop your shoulders: "Haaaaaaaaaa."
Repeat 3–5 times.
Notice how your face, chest, or belly after.
Move forward when you sense inner softness.
3. Shake It Out
Best for: anger, frustration, or explosive energy that needs immediate movement
Sometimes the nervous system needs to discharge energy physically. This simple movement resets your system when emotions feel too big to sit with.
Try it:
Stand tall. Shake your arms, legs, and hands freely.
Let your movements be loose, even silly.
Let your jaw move too. Keep breathing.
After 1–2 minutes, pause and notice how your body feels.
Most likely you will feel the energy move through you until it dissipates into a tingling sensation.
Wait for the "buzzing" sensation to settle before moving forward.
4. Push the Wall
Best for: buried anger, people-pleasing, unheard boundaries, or feeling powerless
This tool uses gentle resistance to help you reclaim strength and boundaries through your body – especially when you feel small, invisible, or walked over.
Try it:
Stand facing a wall. Place your palms on the surface.
Slowly press into the wall, as if you're trying to move it.
Engage your legs, arms, and core. Exhale slowly as you press.
Release, pause, and notice any sensations you have throughout your body.
Repeat 2–3 times.
Move forward when you have a more empowered sense within.
5. Soothing Through Touch
Best for: shutdown, overstimulation, or emotional disconnection
When you feel distant from yourself or the world around you, engaging your sense of touch can help bring you back online. The nervous system responds quickly to warmth, softness, and texture, especially when you're not ready to talk or move.
Try it:
Grab something soft – your favorite sweater, a cozy blanket, or even your child’s plush toy.
Hold it in your lap or against your chest.
Run your fingers over the texture slowly. Let your body notice the pressure and temperature.
You can also gently press it against your face or neck.
Stay with the sensation for as long as you need, noticing any sense of warmth, safety, or connection.
Move forward when you feel more present to the here-and-now.
What Changes When You Learn To Work With Your Physical Sensations?
Over time, you’ll start to notice subtle but powerful shifts in how you move through your day.
You might:
- Catch your overwhelm sooner, before it spills out
- Feel more present in your body and more attuned to your kids
- Notice signals like a tight jaw or racing thoughts - and respond with care
- Break the cycle of “hold it in, explode, regret it” that leaves you depleted
It doesn’t mean you won’t feel big emotions. But it does mean you won’t be ruled by them.
When stress hits, your body will know what to do – because you’ve practiced giving it a way through.
You Don’t Need More Time. You Need the Right Tools.
Parenting while emotionally overloaded doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means your body is begging for relief.
And healing doesn’t have to be another overwhelming task. With the right somatic practices, you can reconnect with your strength – right here, in the middle of your real life.
Even a few mindful minutes can improve your mental health, regulate your nervous system, and help you show up as the version of yourself you want your children to remember.
You don’t have to be perfectly calm all the time. You just need a way back to yourself when things get hard.
Let these tools be your way back.
⭐️ And if you want to explore them with support, join me inside the Conscious Mommy Community for our class Somatic Exercises to Release Stored Emotions. You’ll learn simple, powerful ways to feel better - without needing hours of free time or another thing to add to your list.
You deserve that kind of relief. Your nervous system does, too.
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Relevant Resources:
🔗 Regulation: How to Calm Your Nerves and Help Your Child: Exclusive Access inside the Conscious Mommy Community
📘Parent Yourself First: In stores now – order your copy and learn how to Raise Confident, Compassionate Kids By Becoming the Parent You Wish You’d Had. The guidance is practical, actionable, and straightforward. Your path to healing starts now.
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