Your body may still be carrying a meeting you thought you were over.
You know that moment when someone sends you a Slack message with the words “Do you have a minute?” and suddenly your shoulders climb toward your ears? Or when you hear your boss’s footsteps approaching and, without consciously deciding to, you stop breathing quite so deeply? Or perhaps you’ve left the job, changed careers, or finally escaped a workplace that made you miserable—and yet your body still seems to be waiting for something bad to happen.
This is one of the strange things about prolonged workplace stress: the mind can understand that we’re safe before the body gets the memo.
We can tell ourselves, It’s over. I’m fine. That person can’t hurt me anymore.
And our nervous system may quietly respond, That’s nice. We’re going to remain on high alert just in case.
This is where somatic practices can be surprisingly powerful.
Somatic simply means relating to the body. Rather than trying to think our way out of stress, we begin paying attention to what is happening physically—and giving the body opportunities to complete, soften, settle, and reconnect with a sense of safety.This isn’t about forcing yourself to relax. It’s about listening.
Your body isn’t the problem
When you’ve spent months or years in a stressful workplace, your body may have become extraordinarily good at protecting you.
You learned to scan the room. You learned which tone of voice meant trouble. You learned to anticipate criticism. You learned to stay one step ahead of everyone else’s expectations. You learned to swallow your anger, tighten your jaw, hold your breath, sit very still, work longer, smile when you didn’t feel like smiling. These responses aren’t signs that something is wrong with you.
They are signs that your body was trying to help you survive something it perceived as threatening.
The trouble begins when the threat is gone but the protective response continues.
Your shoulders are still braced.
Your stomach is still tight.
Your breathing is still shallow.
You’re still mentally rehearsing conversations that happened three years ago.
The goal isn’t to tell your body, “Stop doing that.”
A kinder approach is:
Start with your breath
You don’t need an elaborate meditation practice.
Try this instead.
Sit comfortably and notice your natural breathing without changing it.
Then gently lengthen your exhale.
You might breathe in for four counts and out for six. Or simply notice whether you can make the exhale a little longer than the inhale.
Do this for five or six breaths.
Nothing to accomplish.
Nothing to get right.
Just an invitation to your body:
There is time.
I am here.
I don’t have to solve anything in this moment.
If counting makes you tense, forget the counting. A natural, comfortable breath is more important than achieving some perfect breathing pattern.
Ground yourself in the present
Stress often pulls us into the past or the future.
What if they criticize me again?
Why didn’t I say something when that happened?
What if this happens at my new job?
Grounding gently brings you back to the only place where your body actually exists:
right here.
Try the 5-4-3-2-1 practice:
Notice five things you can see.
Four things you can physically feel.
Three things you can hear.
Two things you can smell.
One thing you can taste—or simply notice inside your mouth.
You can also put both feet on the floor and feel the pressure of the ground beneath them.
Look around the room.
Notice the door.
Notice the windows.
Notice the light.
Remind yourself:
“This is now. That was then.”
Sometimes that tiny distinction is enough to interrupt an old stress response.
Let your body move
Workplace stress often involves a tremendous amount of not moving.
We sit through meetings.
We sit at computers.
We sit quietly while someone says something infuriating.
We sit on the drive home replaying the conversation.
And meanwhile, our bodies may be full of energy that never got a chance to move through.
So move.
Take a brisk walk.
Shake out your hands.
Roll your shoulders.
Stretch your arms overhead.
Put on music and dance badly in your kitchen.
Walk up a hill.
Swim.
Garden.
Do something that allows your body to experience movement without requiring you to be productive.
You don’t need to call it exercise.
You can simply call it letting your body have a turn.
Try the “completion” movement
Here’s a simple experiment.
Think of a mildly stressful workplace interaction—not your most traumatic experience, just something that still makes you tense.
Notice what happens in your body.
Do you want to push something away?
Run?
Curl inward?
Stand taller?
Clench your fists?
Don’t force anything.
Instead, make a very small, slow movement in the direction your body seems to want to go.
If your shoulders want to pull back, gently pull them back.
If your hands want to push something away, press your palms lightly into a wall.
If your feet want to move, walk.
Then stop.
Notice what changes.
The purpose isn’t to recreate the stressful event. It’s simply to explore what your body is communicating and allow a little movement where there was previously restraint.
And if an exercise makes you feel significantly more distressed, stop. Somatic work should be approached gently, particularly when you’re working with significant trauma.
Give your nervous system evidence of safety
One of the most beautiful things about somatic work is that safety doesn’t always have to be explained.
It can be experienced.
Warm sunlight on your face.
Your feet in the sand.
A hot shower.
A favorite song.
A hug from someone you trust.
Your dog sleeping beside you.
The feeling of clean sheets.
A cup of tea held between your hands.
A walk beside the ocean.
These ordinary experiences can become tiny reminders to your nervous system:
Nothing is chasing me right now.
I can soften.
I am allowed to be here.
You don’t have to wait until you’re completely relaxed to notice safety.
Look for one percent more ease.
That is enough.
Put down the invisible workload
There is another kind of workplace stress that lives almost entirely in the body: hyper-responsibility.
The feeling that everything depends on you.
You need to anticipate every problem.
Make everyone happy.
Respond immediately.
Get it right.
Avoid disappointing anyone.
Prevent conflict.
Prove your value.
This can become a posture.
Literally.
The shoulders move forward.
The jaw tightens.
The belly contracts.
The body becomes a machine for carrying responsibility.
Try this:
Sit or stand and consciously let your shoulders drop.
Unclench your jaw.
Let your belly soften.
Feel the weight of your body being supported by the chair or the ground.
Then say quietly:
“I don’t have to carry everything.”
Notice what your body does with that sentence.
You may be surprised.
Create a transition ritual
If you’re still working in a stressful environment, your nervous system may need a clear signal that the workday has ended.
Create a ritual that happens at roughly the same time each day.
Close your laptop.
Stand up.
Take three slow breaths.
Change your clothes.
Take a walk.
Wash your hands and face.
Play the same piece of music.
Whatever feels meaningful to you.
The ritual isn’t magic.
It’s a boundary.
You’re teaching your body:
Work is over now.
And if you work from home, this can be particularly important. When your office is ten steps from your bedroom, your body may need a little help understanding that the day has actually ended.
Don’t turn healing into another assignment
This may be the most important practice of all.
If you’ve spent years succeeding through effort, discipline, and achievement, you may approach healing the same way.
Okay. I need to meditate every morning.
I need to regulate my nervous system.
I need to do breathwork.
I need to journal.
I need to heal my trauma.
And suddenly healing has become another performance review.
Please don’t do that to yourself.
Your body doesn’t need another demanding boss.
Instead, become curious.
Ask:
What would feel good right now?
Maybe it’s movement.
Maybe it’s stillness.
Maybe it’s crying.
Maybe it’s laughing.
Maybe it’s a walk outside.
Maybe it’s doing absolutely nothing for ten minutes.
Healing isn’t always about doing more.
Sometimes it’s about finally giving yourself permission to stop.
Your body may know before you do
For many of us, workplace stress taught us to live from the neck up.
We became extraordinarily skilled at thinking, analyzing, planning, anticipating, and performing.
Somatic practices invite us back into the rest of ourselves.
Not because the body always has the answer.
But because the body is part of the conversation.
Your tight shoulders have information.
Your shallow breath has information.
Your exhaustion has information.
Your sudden urge to walk outside has information.
You don’t have to obey every sensation or interpret every ache as a psychological message.
You can simply become curious.
What am I noticing?
What do I need?
What would help me feel one percent safer right now?
That small shift—from overriding yourself to listening to yourself—can be profound.
Because perhaps healing from workplace stress isn’t about becoming the person who can tolerate more.
Perhaps it’s about becoming the person who can finally hear herself say:
“This doesn’t feel good.”
And then, little by little, learning that she is allowed to listen.
Have an Amazing Monday (and everyday!),
Leanna Fredrich, Leadership, Career and Stress-Management Coach
PS: Interested in Coaching? Please email me at [email protected]