Somatic Therapy Tools for When It All Feels Too Much
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Have you ever had a week—or a year—that felt like too much, too fast, too soon? If 2025 has felt like one long emotional exhale, you’re not alone. As we step deeper into this year, many of us are noticing our bodies carrying more tension, our minds cycling through more worry, and our nervous systems stretched thin.
You're not broken. You're responding exactly as a human body is meant to respond—when the world feels overwhelming.
The Strange Tempo of 2025
How is it already May? Somehow, January felt like a week ago and two years ago at the same time. There’s a collective fatigue many of us are feeling: more difficulty getting out of bed, later nights (especially if you have kids!), and a strange blend of joy and exhaustion that comes with longer days and warmer weather.
Socializing has increased. So has overstimulation. After a long winter, everyone seems to be outside again, connecting, celebrating—and while it’s beautiful, it’s also a lot.
It’s okay to admit that. It’s okay to want winter back, with its heavy blankets, hibernation and early nights.
Trauma and the "Too Much, Too Soon" Body Response
One of the most helpful definitions of trauma I’ve ever heard comes from trauma expert Resmaa Menakem. He says:
"The body is where we live. It's where we fear, hope, and react. It's where we constrict and relax. And what the body most cares about are safety and survival. When something happens to the body that is too much, too fast, or too soon, it overwhelms the body and can create trauma."
That’s 2025 in a nutshell, isn’t it?
Many of us are feeling the impact of this pace—tightrope-walking between staying steady and wanting to bolt. Conversations about doomsday prepping, cash stashes, water storage, even weapons, have become strangely normalized. Our bodies are trying to keep us safe in an increasingly unpredictable world.
Personally, I’ve felt it in my restlessness, my need for impulsive distractions, my craving for deep sleep, or my desire to sit at my neighbors on a Thursday night and drink an IPA until 9pm while the kids put themselves to sleep. I’ve felt it in my need to delete social media and sprint out my anxiety, and also in my craving for slow yin yoga.
This is the body's wisdom. It’s asking for release. It’s asking for rest. It’s asking for presence.
It's all welcome because it's all necessary.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Someone asked me recently: what exactly is somatic therapy?
The word somatic comes from the Latin “soma,” meaning body. Somatic therapy is any healing practice that works through the body—not just the mind. It acknowledges that trauma and stress live in the tissues, not just the thoughts.
We can’t talk our way out of a trauma response. No amount of prepping or venting or scrolling will move these sensations through. But our bodies can. When we work with the body, we give these feelings a chance to complete their cycle and release.
A Practice: Letting the Body Speak
Let’s try something simple.
Bring to mind a minor stressor or challenging experience. (There may be a few, but just let one rise to the surface.)
Open the door a crack to it, allowing yourself to experience it.
Locate it in the body. Where do you feel it?
Ask yourself: how do I know I’m feeling this?
If it feels safe, expand it, just 10% more. Keep breathing and sensing. Keep expanding 10% into it, little by little. Go as far as feels manageable—then pause.
Ask: what would allow this feeling to move through me, to release?
You might feel like yelling, sighing, singing, jumping, swaying, or simply breathing more deeply. Do it. Let the body release it.
Starting small helps build tolerance and safety. Working with bigger emotions or trauma edges is best done with a trained somatic practitioner. Without guidance, overwhelm can quickly become dissociation, shutting down, or spiraling into a panic.
How I’m Moving Through It
Here are some personal practices helping me navigate 2025’s intensity:
Walking as active processing. As I walk, I let worries surface gently, noticing how my body responds and softens.
Yoga as exploration. I approach physical discomfort gently, finding ways to soften into challenge instead of push past it.
Eyes-open meditation. Closing my eyes is sometimes too much, so I’ve been meditating while looking up at trees—staying grounded in beauty, in awe, in light.
Writing to my wise self. In moments of dysregulation, I ask: Dear wise, loving self, what do you know about X? Then I write or voice memo what comes. It’s amazing how the body softens when wisdom is invited in.
You’re Not Alone—Let’s Keep Going Together
We are living in complex times. But you are not broken. Your body is doing what it was made to do—protect, respond, survive. And with the right tools, it can begin to heal.
If you’re craving deeper support, I invite you to join me for my upcoming Deep Healing Immersive Experience. We'll gather in real time, explore powerful somatic practices, and build collective resilience together.
We need each other. Let’s move through this with grace, honesty, and care.
Until then, take good care of your beautiful, brilliant self. Look up. It's all still here for you.
This week’s Tools, Gratitude, Innovation, Feels
Tools
I returned to my Yin practice this week, mostly(?), because I needed a weekly break from bedtime routine with the kiddos. But what I found in that 90 minutes was much more than skipping bedtime meltdowns. My body melted. You can find so many Yin classes online or through local studios. Highly recommend.
Gratitude
Ya’ll, despite the assault on allergies, I love spring. It’s my absolute favorite season. The budding trees bring me so much joy, as do warmer days and outdoor dining, and each day feels full of possibilities. What about this season brings you joy? I encourage you to name it, feel it, and celebrate it.
Innovation
A top-favorite meditation app for me is Waking Up, the first one that encouraged eyes-open meditation. If you feel conflicted about sitting in a yoga pose with your eyes closed, I offer Sam Harris’s method for expanding your conscious awareness without involving inner darkness.
Feels
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and I’m obsessed with this bingo card our team created to encourage holistic wellness practices to build mental strength and health. Print it out, share it with others, and let’s complete the grid!