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What is Somatic Pilates?
Somatic Pilates uses familiar Pilates exercises with more attention to what you can feel in your body while you move, including your breathing, effort, tension and balance.
By Sarah Gilbertson, Therapeutic Coach and Pilates Instructor
Somatic Pilates uses many of the same exercises you’d find in a regular Pilates class. You might still do a bridge, a knee fold, spinal movement or breathing work. What changes is the emphasis.
In a Pilates class, some of your attention will usually be on the movement itself. You may be thinking about the position of your pelvis, what your spine is doing, whether you have enough support through your trunk or whether both sides are working evenly. A somatic approach adds another layer. You’re also paying attention to what you can feel while you move.
That might mean noticing that one foot is pressing harder into the mat, that your jaw tightens when an exercise gets difficult, or that you’ve stopped breathing without realising it. You might notice that one side moves more easily than the other, or that you’re putting much more effort into an exercise than it actually needs.
Classes are often slower and may use fewer repetitions, but moving slowly isn’t really the definition. The slower pace simply gives you more time to notice what’s happening. There’s no special equipment, and there isn’t a separate set of exercises that suddenly makes Pilates somatic.
There’s also no single regulated method called somatic Pilates. The term can be used by teachers with very different training and approaches, so two classes with the same name may feel quite different.
What Does Somatic Actually Mean?
The word somatic comes from the Greek soma, meaning body. Thomas Hanna coined the term somatics in 1976 to describe the body as it’s experienced from within, rather than simply observed from the outside. His 1976 essay The Field of Somatics is well documented in the historical literature.
In practical terms, it means paying attention to what you can feel in your own body. If an instructor is watching you stand, they may notice that you’ve shifted more weight into your right foot. You might notice that the foot feels heavier, that your toes have started gripping or that the muscles around your hip are working harder.
The same principle sits behind somatic approaches in therapeutic work. Rather than assuming somebody else can tell you what a sensation means, the emphasis is on noticing what’s happening and making sense of it from your own experience.
A Pilates class isn’t therapy, but the basic idea carries across. The instructor can observe the movement, while only you can notice how it feels.
Somatic Pilates sits inside a bigger family. Hanna Somatics is a defined method with its own training, and Feldenkrais and the Alexander Technique explore the same territory in their own ways. It's worth separating all of that from Somatic Experiencing, which is a psychotherapy delivered by trained therapists. Somatic Pilates uses the same kind of attention, but it isn't therapy. It's a movement class.
What Happens in a Somatic Pilates Class?
If you’re familiar with Pilates, you may not notice much difference at first glance. You may still do bridges, knee folds, spinal movements and exercises for strength and control. The difference is often in the pace of the class and the language used in the instructor’s cues.
You might do fewer reps, perhaps four bridges rather than ten. That gives you more time to notice how each part of the movement feels.
You might become aware of muscles tensing, a shift in your weight, some pain or discomfort, or that you’re holding your breath. There may also be longer pauses between exercises.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the class is easy.
The emphasis is less on achieving a particular movement and more on noticing how it feels while you’re doing it.
The instructor may also give you time to explore before offering an adjustment. If your pelvis moves as you lift one foot, for example, they might ask where you feel your weight or what else you notice as the leg moves.
Noticing discomfort doesn’t necessarily mean you have to abandon the movement. Sometimes changing your position, making the movement smaller or trying it another way changes how it feels. And sometimes stopping is the right choice.
How Is Somatic Pilates Different From Regular Pilates?
Probably less than some of the marketing suggests. A somatic class may move more slowly, use fewer repetitions and leave more time between exercises. The instructor may also ask what you notice before suggesting any adjustments. But none of that means traditional Pilates lacks body awareness or proprioception.
Joseph Pilates called his method Contrology, and concentration, control and breathing were part of the work from the beginning. Pilates also relies heavily on proprioception, which is your sense of where your body is without having to look. Close your eyes and bend your knee and you still know it’s bent. If you can feel that you’re standing more heavily on one foot than the other, you’re using proprioception there too.
This is why I don’t find it particularly helpful to set regular Pilates and somatic Pilates against each other. Sometimes an instructor needs to give you a clear external cue. They may ask you to find neutral spine, which means finding the natural position of your pelvis and lower back without tipping too far forwards or flattening your back into the mat. If both feet are leaving the floor, they may ask you to bring your lower back closer to the mat (full imprint) to create more support.
Pilates teachers use imagery for the same reason. You might be asked to imagine a marble rolling from your pubic bone towards your belly button and back again, or to picture your pelvis as a bowl of water that you don’t want to tip forwards or backwards. The image helps you find a position.
You can still use all of those cues in a somatic Pilates class. The difference may be that the instructor gives you a little more time to notice what happens before asking you to change anything. As you lift one foot, for example, you might notice where your weight shifts, whether your pelvis moves or whether you start holding your breath. You can then adjust the movement if you need to.
What Are the Benefits of Somatic Pilates?
The main benefit is that you practise noticing what’s happening while you move, rather than judging the exercise only by whether you completed it.
You might notice that your shoulders tense whenever an exercise gets harder, that one foot presses more firmly into the floor, or that you hold your breath long before you actually feel tired. Once you notice those patterns, you have more choice about what to do next.
The slower pace can also make it easier to adapt an exercise. If something feels uncomfortable, there’s time to make the movement smaller, change position or add support instead of carrying on because everyone else is already three repetitions ahead.
You’re still getting the usual benefits associated with well-taught Pilates, including strength, control, balance and coordination. The somatic element adds more attention to how you’re doing the movement while you’re doing it.
There is an important limit to what we can claim. There’s much more research into Pilates itself than there is into somatic Pilates as a distinct method. There’s also separate research into proprioception, interoception and other forms of body-aware movement, but that doesn’t automatically tell us what every class using the word somatic can do.
Claims that a class can release trauma, reset the nervous system or treat menopause symptoms need much stronger evidence than the name of the class. Paying closer attention while you do a bridge isn’t the same thing as treating a health condition.
5 Somatic Pilates Exercises to Try at Home
There isn’t an official set of somatic Pilates exercises. These are familiar Pilates movements, but the emphasis is on what you notice while you’re doing them.
1. Breathing and Your Lower Back
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the mat. Rest your arms by your sides.
In a Pilates class, you may be asked to find neutral spine or full imprint. Those positions are useful when the exercise needs them, but for this version, start with your breathing instead.
Breathe in and allow your stomach to expand. Let your ribs widen to the sides and into the mat underneath you, rather than thinking only about lifting your chest.
Notice what happens to your lower back as you breathe in. It may move slightly away from the mat, or it may barely move at all. As you breathe out, notice what changes. Does your lower back settle towards the mat again? Does your lower back feel light as it floats away from the mat and returns? Are you aware of any movement in your pelvis as you breathe?
There’s no right or wrong here. You’re simply breathing and noticing what happens, rather than trying to make your body move in a particular way.
2. Knee Folds
Bring one knee towards your chest and support the leg wherever feels comfortable. That might be behind your thigh, at the side of your leg or around your shin. Pause for a moment and notice what changes in your body when you make the movement.
Stay there for a moment or two and notice whether your breathing feels regular or held at all. Notice where you’re holding any tension, perhaps even checking in with your jaw.
Then place your foot back on the mat and notice what changes when the weight returns to the floor. Try the other side.
One knee may come towards you more easily. One hip may feel heavier. You might notice that the foot left on the floor presses down more firmly as the other leg moves. Or you may not notice very much at all. That’s fine too.
3. Shoulder Bridge
Lying supine (on your back) with nothing under your head, start with your knees bent and your feet on the mat, hip width apart. Lift your pelvis and peel your spine up off the mat as you would for a normal bridge.
Instead of concentrating only on how high you can go, notice where you first feel muscle tension. Does the pressure feel the same through both feet into the mat? Does one side of your buttocks feel stronger than the other, or do they feel about the same? Do you notice your hamstrings working?
Try lifting only as high as feels comfortable, keeping the weight around your shoulder blades rather than coming any higher, and notice whether anything changes. Sometimes a smaller movement makes it easier to feel what you’re actually doing.
4. Knee Sways
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the mat, hip width apart. Let both knees move gently towards one side, return through the middle, then move towards the other. You may like to have your arms a little wider to your sides to feel supported through this movement.
Notice what happens as you move. Does your pelvis begin to rock to the side straight away? Does one side of your waist lift before the other? Does one direction feel easier, with your knees dropping further to one side than the other? Are you able to keep your breathing relaxed and rhythmical throughout? Do you notice any discomfort as you move, and does it ease with a few breaths, or do you need to move out of the position?
As you go further, notice when the movement starts to need more effort. You’re simply noticing where that change happens and whether you want to continue, make the movement smaller or come back towards the middle.
5. Standing Weight Shift
Stand comfortably with your feet hip width apart and slowly shift your weight over to one foot, keeping your knees relaxed and both feet flat on the floor. Come back to centre, with your weight even through both feet, and try the other side.
Notice what happens under your feet. Does it feel easy to move evenly from side to side? Do your toes grip? Do your shoulders tense? Does your breathing change?
If any of these movements cause pain, stop. If you have a recent injury or a health condition that affects exercise, check with an appropriate healthcare professional before starting something new.
Who Is Somatic Pilates For?
Somatic Pilates can suit most people, but it may be especially useful if you benefit from having more time to notice how your body feels and to adapt what you’re doing.
That might include people returning to movement after an injury, people managing ongoing pain, or anyone who finds a faster class difficult to follow. The class still needs to be appropriate for you, and the instructor should know how to adapt movements when needed.
I also think this approach has a place in midlife, when your body may feel less predictable than it used to. Perimenopause and menopause can affect sleep and energy, and those changes can influence how exercise feels from one day to the next.
After a poor night’s sleep, for example, you may feel your balance is affected or that you tire more quickly. An exercise you’ve done comfortably for years may need a little more support, a smaller range of movement or simply fewer repetitions that day.
Having time to notice what feels different can help you adapt what you’re doing rather than assuming you’ve somehow become worse at exercise. Somatic Pilates isn’t a treatment for perimenopause or menopause, but the slower, more exploratory approach can give you more room to respond to how you feel that day.
It won’t suit everybody. If you enjoy pace, music and leaving a class sweaty, a slower class may frustrate you. Different people want different things from exercise.
What Are Interoception and Proprioception?
These two words, interoception and proprioception, often appear in somatic work, but the ideas are straightforward.
Proprioception tells you where your body is. Close your eyes and bend your knee. You don’t need to look down to know that it’s bent. If you notice that more of your weight is in your right foot than your left, that’s proprioceptive information too.
Interoception is information coming from inside your body. That includes things such as breathing, heartbeat, temperature, hunger, fullness and tension.
During a knee fold, proprioception helps you sense where your leg is as it moves. Interoception is your awareness of what’s happening inside your body at the same time, such as whether you’re holding your breath, feeling any discomfort, or whether the movement feels comfortable or takes more effort.
We often call all of this “body awareness”, but that can hide an important difference. You can know exactly where your body is while completely missing that you’re cold, tired, tense or working much harder than you need to.
That’s one reason the instruction “listen to your body” isn’t always especially helpful. It assumes you already know what you’re listening for.
In practice, these systems don’t work in isolation. Balance, position and internal sensation all feed in together, and what people call flow is usually those systems integrating well rather than any one of them working harder.
I've written more about what happens when those signals go unread for long enough in Why Do I Feel Wired But Tired? Article
Are There Any Risks to Somatic Pilates?
A well taught class should be suitable for many people, but slow doesn’t automatically mean risk-free. Your health, any injuries and the movements being taught still matter.
If you have osteoporosis, a recent injury, significant joint problems or another condition that affects exercise, check what’s appropriate for you with your GP, physiotherapist or another relevant healthcare professional, and let your instructor know.
There’s another consideration with somatic exercise because it asks you to pay closer attention to your body. Turning your attention inwards doesn’t feel calming for everybody.
If you’ve experienced trauma, anxiety or a long period of stress, noticing your heartbeat, breathing or tension can sometimes feel uncomfortable or overwhelming. A trauma-informed approach should give you choices rather than assuming that everybody needs to close their eyes, breathe deeply or stay with a sensation.
You can keep your eyes open, change position, put your attention somewhere else or stop. Those options should feel completely ordinary in a class.
Somatic Pilates isn’t a treatment for anxiety or trauma, and it shouldn’t replace appropriate medical or therapeutic support.
How Do I Choose a Somatic Pilates Class?
Because the term isn’t regulated, look beyond the class name. I’d want to know what the instructor’s Pilates training is, what they mean when they use the word somatic, what other training informs the way they teach, and what happens if an exercise doesn’t feel right.
The answers should make sense in ordinary language. I’d be cautious if everything comes back to releasing stored trauma, blocked energy or resetting your nervous system. I’d also want to know that you can make an exercise smaller, choose another option or stop without being made to feel that you’ve failed.
Qualifications matter, but teaching movement is practical too. Good instructors notice when somebody’s breathing changes, when they repeatedly avoid one side or when the person who was chatting happily ten minutes ago has suddenly gone quiet.
Then they have to decide what to do with what they’ve noticed. They might ask a question, offer another option, change the exercise or leave the person alone for a moment. That judgement develops from teaching actual people.
I say this having taken some genuinely dismal classes on holiday from instructors who were probably perfectly lovely.
Is Somatic Pilates Evidence-Based?
There’s research supporting Pilates, and there’s research into proprioception, interoception and other forms of body-aware movement. There’s much less research into somatic Pilates as a distinct method.
Part of the reason is simple. There isn’t one standard method being taught under that name. If two teachers mean different things by somatic Pilates, it’s difficult to study it as though it were one clearly defined intervention.
That doesn’t mean the approach has no value. It means we need to be careful about what we claim it can do.
If somebody says their class treats trauma, anxiety, chronic pain or menopause symptoms, it’s reasonable to ask what evidence supports that particular claim. The word somatic isn’t evidence by itself.
What I Find Useful About Somatic Pilates
I’ve spent years learning about movement and teaching people how to move. What I find useful about somatic work is that it gives more attention to the information coming from the person doing the movement.
That doesn’t mean every ache contains a message that needs decoding. Sometimes a tight hip is simply a tight hip. Sometimes you slept badly. Sometimes you’ve spent seven hours sitting at a desk.
But noticing what’s happening before immediately trying to correct it gives you more to work with. You might decide to change the movement, carry on exactly as you are, or simply realise that today feels different from yesterday.
If This Has Made You Think About Your Own Body Differently
Somatic Pilates is only one way of becoming more aware of what your body is doing. In my work with women, that awareness sits within a much bigger picture.
Midlife can change how you respond to stress, recovery, confidence and the demands you’ve always managed without thinking very much about them. Sometimes the first sign is simply that something which used to work doesn’t work quite as well anymore.
My work at FlourishWell isn’t Pilates coaching. I work with women through therapeutic coaching and Nervous System Literacy, helping them understand what’s happening when their body, thoughts and old ways of coping no longer seem to agree.
If that’s what brought you here, you can read more about my work with women.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Somatic Pilates Suitable for Beginners?
Yes. A slower pace can be helpful when you’re new because you have more time to understand the exercise rather than trying to keep up with the person at the front.
The instructor matters more than the label. If you’re new to exercise, have an injury or have a health condition that affects movement, tell them before the class starts.
Can Somatic Pilates Help With Anxiety?
Some people find slower movement and paying attention to breathing or tension helpful, but somatic Pilates isn’t a treatment for anxiety.
Turning attention towards the body can also feel uncomfortable for some people, particularly after trauma or prolonged stress. A trauma-informed instructor should offer choices rather than assuming that closing your eyes or focusing on a sensation is always helpful.
If anxiety is persistent or affecting your daily life, appropriate medical or therapeutic support matters too.
Does Somatic Pilates Help With Weight Loss?
Somatic Pilates isn’t designed specifically for weight loss. Its particular focus is giving you more time to notice effort, breathing, tension and how movement feels.
If weight loss is your main goal, your wider activity, nutrition and health will matter more than whether a Pilates class is described as somatic.
Is Somatic Pilates Just a Trend?
The name is having a moment, but the ideas behind it aren’t new. Thomas Hanna coined somatics in 1976, and attention, concentration and breathing have been part of Pilates since Joseph Pilates developed his method.
What’s newer is the way somatic is being used in wellness marketing. Because somatic Pilates isn’t regulated, the name alone tells you very little about the class.
How Often Should I Do Somatic Pilates?
Some people do Pilates several times a week. For others, one class, or a short practice at home, is more realistic. What matters is whether it fits your health, goals and lifestyle, and whether you enjoy it.
Can I Do Somatic Pilates at Home?
Yes. You don’t need specialist equipment for the exercises above.
An instructor can be useful when you’re learning something new or need adaptations. Home practice also gives you time to notice your own experience without constantly checking what everybody else is doing.
Is Somatic Pilates the Same as Somatic Yoga?
No. Pilates and yoga come from different movement traditions, although teachers in either may use the word somatic to describe paying closer attention to how movement feels.
As with somatic Pilates, the label doesn’t tell you exactly how an individual teacher will use it.
Further Reading
Explore More: Nervous System Literacy / For Women
About Sarah
Sarah Gilbertson is a Therapeutic Coach, nervous system educator and founder of FlourishWell Coaching.
She works with women at the meeting point of nervous system science, midlife physiology and movement, with a particular interest in what happens when confidence, recovery and the body begin to feel different in midlife.
Although Sarah still teaches a small number of Pilates classes, her main focus is her therapeutic coaching work with women through FlourishWell.
She is qualified in Mat Pilates and Therapeutic Yoga and is also a BASI-qualified ski instructor. Her years of teaching movement continue to inform the way she works and writes about the body and midlife.
Her approach, Nervous System Literacy, grew from her own experience of perimenopause, recovery and the years of pushing through that preceded both.
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