Somatic tracking not working? You’re not alone. Lately, we’ve been hearing from so many of you – patients, providers, caregivers – about how much you look forward to this email each week and how you’re trying to use somatic tracking in real life.
You’ve told us that this space brings comfort, clarity, and something tangible to hold onto amid everything else. It means the world to know this work is landing when it’s needed most. That’s exactly why we write it.
This week, we’re digging into a question that comes up a lot: What do I do when somatic tracking stops feeling effective, or just flat?
The truth is, somatic tracking isn’t one-size-fits-all. There are many ways to approach it, and knowing how to adapt it can breathe new life into your practice, whether you’re a patient working through persistent symptoms or a provider supporting someone else’s recovery.
Somatic Tracking: It’s All About the Energy
When it comes to somatic tracking, the goal is always to learn to attend to sensations with less fear — not to make those sensations immediately move, change, or disappear.
A corrective experience happens when a tracking exercise reduces fear and increases feelings of safety. So it’s important to keep an eye on the energy with which you’re practicing:
• Is somatic tracking becoming another source of pressure or something you feel you have to do perfectly?
• Or are you approaching it with openness, kindness, and compassion?
• Does it feel effortless and gentle, or tight, intense, and focused on “fixing” the pain?
Clients often ask how frequently and for how long they should practice somatic tracking. We usually suggest thinking of it like staying hydrated. You can drink all your water at once in the morning or spread it out through the day — and you can approach somatic tracking in a way that feels right for you.
Structure can definitely help, but remember: the emphasis is more on the energy you bring to the practice than on the practice itself.
When to Use Somatic Tracking
Not every sensation is a good candidate for somatic tracking. Timing and intensity matter.
When to pause tracking:
• When pain or symptoms are very intense (around 9–10 out of 10)
• When you know you can’t realistically maintain a positive or neutral emotional state
At those times, a corrective experience is unlikely. Instead, we encourage focusing on self-care and resourcing — anything that makes you feel comfortable, soothed, and safe. For example:
• Lying down to rest
• Using a weighted eye mask, ice, or heat
• Taking a bath or shower
• Sleeping or napping
• Using prescribed medication as directed
When tracking can help:
When sensations are medium to low in intensity, it’s often an ideal window to practice somatic tracking. In these moments, you’re more likely to stay in a positive or at least regulated emotional state and have a helpful, corrective experience.
7 Types of Somatic Tracking to Try
1. Longer Exposure: Stay with the sensation a little longer than you normally would, without forcing it to change. Think of it as gently deepening your tolerance and familiarity, helping the brain truly learn that this is safe.
2. Short, Graded Exposure: Use brief check-ins and gradually work your way up. Start with very low pain intensity or a minimally fear-inducing stimulus. This can be especially helpful if long sessions feel overwhelming or if there’s a lot of fear around symptoms.
3. Tracking by Timed Intervals: Set a simple timer: 30 seconds, then a minute, then two. One patient recovering from a knee injury used timed intervals while walking — starting at 30 seconds of tracking, then increasing the duration over time.
4. Focusing on Neutral or Pleasant Sensations: Instead of focusing directly on pain, shift attention to a part of the body that feels okay. For example, you might notice the warm sensation of sunlight on your skin or the heavy, relaxed feeling of sinking into the couch. This teaches the brain to gravitate toward safety.
5. External Positive Anchors: Pair somatic tracking with something soothing: lighting a scented candle, petting your dog, or listening to music you love. External cues of calm can gently reinforce safety and create new associations.
6. Back-and-Forth Tracking: Alternate attention between a painful or triggering area and a neutral or pleasant one. For instance, someone with shoulder tension might move their focus between the tightness in their shoulders and the steady sensation of their feet on the ground. This builds flexibility and a sense of control over where attention goes.
7. Imaginal Exposure or Provocative Testing: Visualize a triggering situation or gently imagine a feared movement instead of doing it right away. You can even work with social or psychological triggers: for example, picturing yourself giving a presentation while noticing the physical sensations of anxiety and breathing through them. Over time, this can reduce fear and make the real situation feel safer.
PRT Research: Using Visualization for Recovery
Science shows that our brains respond powerfully to mental imagery. When athletes visualize themselves performing a skill, their muscles fire in the same sequence as if they were actually doing it — like a mental dress rehearsal that codes a movement pattern into the brain.
These “coded” stimulus–response patterns get stored in long-term memory, making imagined movements feel safer, more familiar, and more automatic over time.
Imagery creates a kind of mental blueprint and can be used as a self-regulation skill that primes the nervous system for success. Interestingly, the brain often cannot distinguish between something vividly imagined and something physically happening — which is why imagery can be so powerful.
Two main ways to use mental imagery:
• Internal imagery: Imagining the movement from inside your own body, as if you’re actually doing it.
• External imagery: Seeing yourself from the outside, as if you’re watching a video of yourself.
Research suggests that mentally practicing certain exercises can boost physical strength by up to about 20%. These benefits come from neural changes, not muscle growth — your brain simply becomes better at recruiting muscles. So, the next time you’re not up for exercising, moving, or actively somatic tracking, remember that imaginal exposure is still meaningful practice.
Reading Corner
The Body Has a Mind of Its Own by Sandra and Matthew Blakeslee explores how “body maps” in the brain shape almost everything we do — from learning a new skill to empathizing with others to coping with stress and pain.
The authors unpack topics such as body schema (how the brain tracks where your limbs are), phantom limb pain, mirror therapy, emotions, embodiment, and our sense of self. Through neuroscience and real-life stories, they show how reshaping internal body maps can change perception, behavior, and recovery.
Bonus Q&A Insights
From recent conversations, here are a few key reminders when somatic tracking is not working the way you hoped:
• You don’t have to practice somatic tracking every day or hit a specific number of sessions. Regular, gentle practice is what matters. Think “sips of water,” not chugging a gallon at once.
• If it’s not “working,” you may be tracking with fear, frustration, intensity, or a hidden agenda (“this has to make the pain go away”). Try shifting your lens toward curiosity, kindness, and safety, even if that means briefly focusing on something neutral or positive first.
• Somatic tracking isn’t just mindfulness. It’s about reinforcing safety while exposing yourself to a previously threatening sensation. PRT combines education, mindfulness, safety reappraisal, and positive affect to promote safety from both a cognitive and “primitive” brain perspective.
• The ultimate goal of PRT is to decrease fear and danger and promote a felt sense of safety. Many people feel like they need to figure out the exact “why” behind their pain in order to recover. But constant fixing and problem-solving can actually reinforce the sense that something is wrong. You don’t always need the full story to get better.
• Pain is part of being human; no one will be pain-free forever. To maintain recovery, we focus on keeping fear in check. When pain shows up — even from an acute injury — do your best to respond with less fear and more safety-based messages, like “this is temporary” or “my system knows how to calm down again.”