How Stress Lives in the Body (and What Helps)

Many people are walking around with a quiet sense of strain right now. Not always dramatic. Often subtle. A background hum of tension that doesn’t fully switch off.

And it’s not hard to see why.

Recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (January–February 2025) shows that the majority of UK adults are concerned about issues that directly affect daily safety and stability:

• The NHS (86%)
• The cost of living (86%)
• The economy (71%)
• Crime (60%)
• Housing (57%)
• Climate change and the environment (57%)

These aren’t distant political talking points. They shape how secure people feel about their health, finances, homes, and future. When uncertainty becomes ongoing, the nervous system takes note.

Pressure, after all, has limits, and it doesn’t only live in the mind.

Why Stress Doesn’t Stay “Just Mental”

When worry becomes chronic, the body often adapts by staying partially mobilised. Not full panic, but not true rest either. This low-level activation can show up as:

• shallow or restricted breathing
• persistent tension in the jaw, shoulders, or abdomen
• racing thoughts paired with exhaustion
• disrupted or unrefreshing sleep
• numbness, disconnection, or a sense of “freeze”
• irritability, low mood, or emotional overwhelm

You can understand the situation clearly and still feel stuck, because stress is not only psychological. It’s physiological.

ONS wellbeing figures support this picture: nearly a quarter of UK adults (22.5%) reported high anxiety on the previous day in mid-2024. That’s a significant number of nervous systems spending time in heightened alert.

So the question becomes less “How do I think my way out of this?” and more: What helps a system that’s already carrying too much?

Introducing Somatic Meditation

Somatic Meditation is a body-based approach to meditation. Rather than trying to silence thoughts or force relaxation, the practice starts with sensation, what you can actually feel, right now.

This might include breath, contact with the ground, weight, temperature, areas of tension, or subtle movement. The intention isn’t to achieve a special state, but to build steadiness and responsiveness over time.

At its core, somatic practice supports three practical capacities:

• Returning to the present moment gently and repeatedly
• Noticing bodily signals earlier, before stress escalates
• Responding with skills that help the nervous system settle

It’s less about control, more about relationship.

How Somatic Meditation Supports Regulation

1) It works at the level stress operates: the nervous system

Many people attempt to manage stress cognitively, analysing, planning, and pushing through. While useful at times, this approach can fall short when the body is already in threat mode.

Somatic Meditation begins with direct experience: contact, breath, sensation. By stabilising the body first, the mind often follows. Over time, this can shorten recovery after stress and improve awareness of early warning signs.

2) It strengthens interoception, sensing from the inside

Interoception refers to the ability to perceive internal signals such as heartbeat, breath rhythm, tension, warmth, or gut sensations. Research on mind–body interventions suggests that improved interoceptive awareness is linked with better emotion regulation.

Rather than overriding bodily cues, somatic practice trains you to listen without alarm. This can interrupt the familiar loop of sensation → catastrophic interpretation → increased activation.

3) It expands the “window of tolerance”

For many people, insight isn’t the missing piece; capacity is.

Somatic Meditation gradually increases the range of sensations and emotions you can stay present with without tipping into overwhelm or shutdown. Practising in groups can enhance this effect, offering a sense of shared regulation without pressure to speak or explain.

4) It aligns with a strong evidence base

Somatic Meditation overlaps with well-researched mindfulness approaches, including body awareness and breath-based practices.

• A large systematic review in JAMA Internal Medicine (Goyal et al., 2014) found meditation programs improved anxiety, depression, and stress-related outcomes.
• A randomised clinical trial in JAMA Psychiatry (Hoge et al., 2023) showed mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) performed comparably to escitalopram for anxiety in that study.

This doesn’t suggest meditation replaces medication or suits everyone, but it does underline the value of training attention and embodied awareness as part of stress support.

What a Somatic Practice Actually Looks Like

Somatic Meditation tends to be gentle and accessible. A session may include:

• sensing points of contact with the floor or chair
• guided attention through different areas of the body
• simple breath practices, often emphasising a longer exhale
• orienting to the environment through the eyes and senses
• noticing subtle shifts, rather than dramatic change

Thoughts and emotions aren’t treated as problems to eliminate, but experiences to relate to differently, through the body.

Returning to the Bigger Picture

When such a high proportion of people are worried about healthcare, finances, safety, housing, and the environment, it makes sense that many nervous systems are under strain.

Somatic Meditation doesn’t deny reality or ask you to “think positively.” Instead, it helps build internal steadiness so reality becomes more manageable.

It’s not a quick fix. It’s a learnable skill. And like any skill, it develops through consistency, patience, and appropriate support.

A Brief Practice to Try (optional)

1. Ground (about 45 seconds)
   Feel your feet on the floor. Notice the support beneath you. Allow your weight to settle.
2. Sense the breath (about 1 minute)
   Notice where breathing is most accessible: the nose, chest, or belly. Let it be natural. If comfortable, gently lengthen the exhale.
3. Soften one area (about 45 seconds)
   Choose an area of tension. Ask, quietly: What happens if I let this be here for three breaths?
4. Orient (about 30 seconds)
   Let your eyes move around the room. Name three neutral objects you can see. Notice any shift.

Small, regular practices often have more impact than occasional long ones.

A note on safety

For some people, especially those with trauma histories, inward attention can feel intense. If a practice increases distress, pause, orient externally, and seek guidance from a qualified professional. Effective mindfulness teaching always includes choice, pacing, and respect for individual nervous systems.