Somatic Therapy and Somatic Tracking: What Happens When We Notice Instead of Trying to Fix?

Learn about somatic tracking, interoception, and body awareness. Discover how noticing small shifts in tension and physical sensations can support your relationship with your body.

Have you ever noticed tension in your shoulders, a knot in your stomach, or that familiar tight feeling in your chest and immediately started trying to make it go away?

Maybe you take a deep breath, stretch, distract yourself, or start wondering why it’s happening in the first place.

There is nothing wrong with wanting relief. When something feels uncomfortable, it’s natural to want it to stop.

But what if, just for a moment, you didn’t have to change anything?

What if you simply noticed?

This is the idea behind somatic tracking, a practice that invites us to pay attention to physical sensations with curiosity rather than judgment. Instead of immediately trying to get rid of discomfort, we slow down enough to notice what is happening in the body, including the small changes that might otherwise go unnoticed. This detached, accepting curiosity also helps signal to the brain that the signals your body is sending are not dangerous. Somatic Tracking can also help with chronic pain.

What Is Somatic Tracking?

Somatic tracking is the practice of bringing gentle, curious attention to physical sensations in the body.

These sensations might include:

• Tightness in your shoulders or jaw
• A knot or fluttery feeling in your stomach
• Pressure in your chest
• Warmth, tingling, heaviness, or buzzing
• A sense of tension, restlessness, or uneasiness
• Areas of your body that feel numb, painful, neutral, or difficult to describe

Rather than labeling a sensation as good or bad, we practice noticing its qualities.

For example, instead of thinking, “My chest feels tight, and I need to make it stop,” you might notice:

“My chest feels tight. It’s almost like a band of pressure. It feels warm, and the sensation seems to be more noticeable on the left side.”

There is no need to interpret the sensation or figure out why it’s there.

We are simply becoming more familiar with what we notice in our bodies.

Why Pay Attention to Small Shifts in Sensation?

One of the interesting parts of somatic tracking is that sensations aren’t always static.

A sensation that initially feels like one solid area of tension might shift in its intensity, shape, size, temperature, or location.

Maybe the tightness in your shoulders feels a little less concentrated. Maybe the sensation moves, spreads out, becomes warmer, or feels slightly different around the edges. Maybe it starts to shift as we bring our attention to it.

Or maybe it doesn’t change at all.

All of that is okay.

The invitation is to track each small shift as it unfolds rather than focusing on whether the sensation is getting better or worse.

This can help us develop greater awareness of our internal experiences and notice that sensations can have qualities that change over time.

We also begin practicing something important: staying curious about what is happening without immediately reacting to it or feeling like we have to do something about it.

The goal isn’t to make the sensation smaller, relax it, or get rid of it. The goal is to notice.

How to Practice Somatic Tracking

You don’t need any special equipment or a lot of time. You can experiment with somatic tracking for a few moments while sitting in a comfortable position.

Start by bringing your attention to your body.

1. Notice a sensation

See if you can identify an area of your body where you notice something.

It might be tension in your neck, pressure in your chest, or a fluttery feeling in your stomach.

You don’t need to search for something uncomfortable. You can simply notice whatever naturally comes to your attention.

2. Get curious about its qualities

If you notice a sensation, see what you can observe about it.

Ask yourself:

• Where do I notice it?
• What does it feel like?
• Does it have a shape or size?
• Is it warm, cool, or somewhere in between?
• Does it feel tight, heavy, soft, buzzy, or tingly?
• Are there edges to the sensation? Is it concentrated in one area or spread out?
• Is there movement and if so, is there a cadence or a rhythm to it? How is it moving?

You might even imagine describing the sensation to someone who can’t see or feel what you’re experiencing.

3. Track the small shifts

Now, gently rest your attention on the sensation.

Notice what happens over the next few moments.

Does the sensation change in any way?

• Does the shape change?
• Does it feel bigger or smaller?
• Does the intensity shift?
• Does it move or spread?
• Does the temperature change?
• Does it become more noticeable or less noticeable?

Try to notice each small change as it unfolds.

You might find it helpful to describe what you’re noticing out loud. For example:

“Now it feels a little warmer.”

“The tightness seems more concentrated in one spot.”

“It’s still there, but the edges feel a little different.”

There is no need to make anything happen. You’re simply observing.

4. Let go of the need to change it

This is often the trickiest part.

We aren’t trying to fix the sensation, make it smaller, relax it, or figure out why it’s there.

We’re also not trying to force ourselves to feel calm.

If the sensation changes, notice that. If it stays the same, notice that too.

If your attention wanders, you can gently bring it back or simply notice where your attention has gone.

And if focusing on a sensation feels overwhelming or uncomfortable, you can pause, open your eyes, orient to your surroundings, or shift your attention to something neutral or more comfortable.

You get to choose how much attention feels manageable.

Somatic Tracking and Nervous System Awareness

Our bodies are constantly sending us information. We may notice this as muscle tension, changes in breathing, a flutter in our stomach, or a sense of activation or uneasiness.

Sometimes we become so focused on getting away from an uncomfortable sensation that we don’t have much opportunity to simply observe it.

Somatic tracking offers another way to relate to these experiences.

By practicing curiosity and noticing small shifts, we can build awareness of our internal experiences and develop a little more flexibility in how we respond to them. If our interoceptive awareness brings anxiety, then this also helps us get a little distance from what we are noticing.

This doesn’t mean every sensation will change or that paying attention will automatically make anxiety or tension disappear. And it certainly doesn’t mean we should ignore pain or other physical symptoms that need medical attention.

Rather, it’s an opportunity to practice being present with what we notice without immediately needing to change it.

Sometimes, a little more space comes from allowing something to be there without making it a problem that needs to be solved right away.

A Little Curiosity Goes a Long Way

Somatic tracking isn’t about doing the exercise perfectly or achieving a particular result.

You don’t need to relax your shoulders, release tension, or reach a state of calm to get something out of the practice.

You are simply learning to notice.

Maybe you discover that a sensation changes slightly. Maybe you notice something about your body that you hadn’t paid attention to before. Or maybe nothing seems to shift at all.

There is room for all of it.

And sometimes, the most meaningful part of the practice isn’t what happens to the sensation. It’s the opportunity to experience it without immediately judging it, fighting it, or trying to make it disappear.

A little curiosity can go a long way.

How Somatic Therapy Can Help

Somatic therapy incorporates awareness of the body into the therapeutic process. Rather than focusing exclusively on thoughts and emotions, we also pay attention to physical sensations, nervous system responses, and the ways past experiences may continue to show up in the body.  Noticing the somatic experience can give us important information about why a memory remains troubling and intrusive.

In therapy, somatic tracking can be one way to explore these experiences at a pace that feels manageable.

At Colorado Wildflower Counseling, I incorporate somatic approaches alongside EMDR therapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy to help clients explore patterns, trauma, anxiety, attachment experiences, and the ways these experiences can affect their relationship with themselves and others.

The work isn’t about forcing the body to feel differently. It’s about developing awareness, curiosity, and a more connected relationship with your internal experiences.

If you’re looking for somatic therapy in Denver or anywhere in Colorado, I’d love to help you explore whether this approach might be a good fit.

Here’s a little bit more about Somatic Therapy:

Somatic Therapy in Colorado – Colorado Wildflower Counseling

How Somatic Therapy Can Help You Heal – Colorado Wildflower Counseling

Frequently Asked Questions About Somatic Tracking

What is somatic tracking in therapy?

Somatic tracking is a practice of noticing physical sensations with curiosity rather than judgment. It involves paying attention to qualities such as tension, pressure, temperature, shape, and intensity while observing whether sensations shift over time. Therapists may incorporate somatic tracking to help clients develop greater awareness of their internal experiences or to increase neutrality around somatic experiences.

What is interoception in psychology?

Interoception is the ability to sense and interpret signals from inside the body. These signals include hunger, thirst, heartbeat, breathing, temperature, muscle tension, and other internal sensations. Interoceptive awareness helps us recognize what is happening inside our bodies and can contribute to our understanding of physical and emotional experiences.

What is the difference between interoception and somatic tracking?

Interoception is our ability to notice internal bodily signals. Somatic tracking is a practice that uses attention and curiosity to explore those sensations. In other words, interoception describes a capacity for internal awareness, while somatic tracking is one way to practice and develop that awareness.

Can somatic tracking help with anxiety?

Somatic tracking can help people become more aware of how anxiety shows up physically. For example, someone might notice a tight chest, tense shoulders, or a fluttery stomach. Rather than immediately trying to eliminate these sensations, somatic tracking offers an opportunity to observe them and develop a different relationship with those experiences. It is not a guaranteed way to reduce anxiety, but it can be a useful practice within a broader therapeutic approach.

Can somatic tracking help with trauma?

Somatic tracking may be incorporated into trauma therapy to help people notice physical sensations and nervous system responses connected to present day experiences and past events. In trauma therapy, this work needs to be paced carefully and adapted to each person’s needs. It is not necessary to focus on intense sensations or revisit traumatic memories to practice body awareness. Identifying the somatic experience can also help us identify roots of a pattern or issue in the present day and can also help us narrow down what still needs to be processed if the past is intruding or impacting on the present.

What is the difference between somatic tracking and trying to relax?

Relaxation exercises generally involve intentionally doing something to encourage the body to relax. Somatic tracking is different. The goal isn’t to change a sensation or make it go away, but to observe it with curiosity, including any small changes that naturally occur.

Can I practice somatic tracking on my own?

Yes. You can experiment with gentle somatic tracking on your own by noticing physical sensations and observing their qualities. If focusing inward feels overwhelming, pause and orient to your surroundings or shift your attention to something neutral or comfortable. A somatic therapist can help you explore these practices with additional support.

Can somatic tracking help with pain?

It looks promising! Several studies including the Boulder Back Pain Study (Ashar et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2022) showed from a randomized trial of 151 people, 66% became pain-free or significantly reduced their pain after four weeks of Pain Reprocessing Therapy. Brain scans showed less activity in pain-processing regions.

 

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Naomi Greenstone, LCSW is an EMDR-certified therapist in Colorado specializing in trauma, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, parenting, attachment wounds, nervous system regulation, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Deep Brain Reorienting, and Somatic Integration and Processing therapy.

Virtual therapy serving Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Boulder, Longmont, Vail, Breckenridge, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Durango, Telluride, Centennial, Parker Westminster, Arvada, Littleton, and surrounding Colorado communities.

Colorado Wildflower Counseling offers EMDR, IFS, and somatic therapy in Denver and throughout Colorado.