Somatic Therapy for Burned-Out Business Owners: What It Is, Why It Works, and How to Get Started

Somatic therapy helps burned-out business owners recover by calming the nervous system and releasing chronic stress held in the body. Through breathwork, grounding, and gentle movement, it improves clarity, emotional regulation, and resilience making it easier to lead and work without constant overwhelm. It works through breathwork, grounding, and body awareness, making it easier to focus, regulate stress, and feel like yourself again. This article will outline some of the fundamentals of somatics and somatic therapy and I will sure some of the best benefits I've seen from working with my clients.

What Somatic Therapy Is (Simple Definition)

Somatic therapy: a body-based approach to managing stress. It focuses on how burnout shows up physically — tight shoulders, shallow breathing, clenched jaw, constant tension — and uses movement, breath, and sensory awareness to release it. My unique approach takes years of experience in Eastern traditions and Western best practices and makes it practical, efficient and tangible for any high achieving person.

Why Burnout Hits Business Owners So Hard

Running a business often means:

• Constant decision-making

• Financial pressure

• Client demands

• Uncertainty

• Irregular hours

• Few real breaks

• Lack of clarity

  
  

Your mind tries to power through, but your body stores the stress. In my experience, it's also quite true that most high achievers or entrepreneurs are working from a place of pain and uncertainty, not actually stepping into who they really are. Their over-drive has created a persona they need to maintain and have not really learnt how to listen to and follow their deeper, inner truth. In short, they aren't actually living a life that's fully aligned. Over time, that creates a pattern of chronic activation that feels like:

• feeling “wired and tired”

• irritability

• low motivation

• difficulty relaxing

• tension that never goes away

• emotional numbness

• and exhaustion that sleep doesn’t fix

  
  

Somatic therapy works because it addresses these physical symptoms directly, and allows the client to actually FEEL relaxed and "based" again. This is why I am heavily body centered, so clients can get a visceral experience of what it means to feel and live beyond the stress.

How Somatic Therapy Helps Business Owners (Burnout)

Somatic therapy teaches your body how to shift out of fight-or-flight and into regulation. There is mixed bag of tools and as an integrated practitioner, I make use of many such as:

1. Breathwork

Slows your system and interrupts the stress cycle. There are various kinds and approaches and in my work, we also address the bio-mechanic's of breathing an make appropriate postural corrections and adjustments to breathing rhythm and habits.

2. Sensory Tracking

Helps you notice where tension lives and how it changes. This is done through a mix of mind-body approaches, dialogue and some signature methods to help you feel your body again.

3. Grounding Practices

Bring you out of anxiety loops and back into the present. There are different approaches for different people and this requires customization as every nervous system is unique.

4. Gentle Movement

Releases stored stress and restores natural ease. There are specific movement sequences I go through with my clients to allow them to release unconscious tension and feel alive again.

5. Nervous System Education

Helps you understand your patterns so you can change them. This isn’t about analyzing problems, it’s about retraining your body to feel safe again.

Why Entrepreneurs & Business Owners Benefit So Much From Somatic Therapy

Business owners often run on adrenaline for months or years. That takes a toll. Interestingly, most people I work with have no idea how much stress they are carrying until we go through some exercises to release it.

Somatic therapy helps you:

• Decompress faster after hard days

• Regulate your emotions more effectively

• Improve focus and decision-making

• Recover from stress instead of absorbing it

• Reduce overwhelm

• Reconnect with yourself and your goals

For many leaders, this becomes the missing link between “coping” and actually feeling grounded again.

What a Somatic Therapy Session Looks Like

Sessions are simple, slow-paced, and guided. Most include:

1. A brief check-in about how you’re feeling

2. Body awareness exercises to sense tension or numbness

3. Breath or grounding techniques

4. Movement or tension-release work

5. Integration strategies you can use between sessions

There’s no pressure to perform or talk deeply unless you want to. You set the pace.

Results You Can Expect Over Time

Business owners who work with somatic therapists often notice:

• Better sleep

• Lower stress throughout the day

• More mental clarity

• Fewer physical symptoms

• Stronger emotional resilience

• Greater creativity

• Feeling more present with work and family

As your nervous system recalibrates, burnout loosens its grip.

Is Somatic Therapy Right for You?

It’s a strong fit if you:

• feel “stuck in your head,”

• have tension you can’t shake,

• experience irritability or overwhelm,

• can’t fully relax even when you try,

• or want something more experiential than talk therapy.

If your body has been signaling that it’s overloaded, somatic therapy helps you understand and unwind those signals.

Choosing the Right Somatic Therapist

Look for practitioners trained in approaches such as:

• Somatic Experiencing (SE)

• Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

• Polyvagal-informed therapy

• Somatic Healing

• Hanna Somatics

• Breathwork

• Yoga and movement therapies

A good therapist will:

• Explain things clearly

• Check in often

• Go at your pace

• Help you feel safe throughout the process

• Help you build your capacity

Somatic Techniques Stressed Business Owners Can Try Today

1. Extended Exhale Breathing

Inhale for 4 → exhale for 6. This tells your nervous system to downshift. It's adapted from Indian Pranayama technique and is very good at building the capacity for the body to come back into balance, and improve something called Heart Rate Variability which is essential for happiness and peak performance.

2. Orientation

Slowly look around the room and name what you see. This brings your body out of vigilance and into presence. Focus on what you can hear, what you can smell and what you can feel. This helps ground you in the present moment, using your sensory awareness which us often underutilized when we are under both acute or chronic stress.

3. Tension + Release

Tighten your shoulders for 5 seconds → let go. On the inhale, tighten and then SLOWLY relax them on the exhale. Introduce some movement in the shoulders after by rotating them left and right, front and back. Notice how the release feels. These small steps can give you a preview of what somatic work offers.

FAQ

Is somatic therapy the same as talk therapy? No. It focuses on the body first, though some talking happens.

How soon will I feel better? Many people notice relief in the first few sessions; deeper change builds over time.

Can this help my work performance? Yes, a regulated nervous system improves clarity, leadership, and decision-making.

Do I need prior therapy experience? No. Somatic therapy is intuitive and beginner-friendly.

Do you have experience working with business owners? Yes, my clients are almost exclusively high achieving professionals or entrepreneurs.

Bottom Line

If burnout has left you drained, tense, or disconnected, somatic therapy offers a practical and effective way to reset your nervous system. It helps you regain clarity, recover from stress, and operate from a grounded place instead of constant overdrive. Over the years I have worked with 100's of professionals, honing my craft and creating optimized systems to help get results, fast. Of course there are no quick fixes but these approaches help you get in touch with your sense of aliveness again and feel safe, grounded and clear in your own body.

About Me 

I am an integrated somatic practitioner & wellness coach for leaders, influencers, and high-performers. I have over 8 years experience and have trained & coached 1000's of people in my topic areas. My journey began when I sought out to heal my own serious physical and mental health illnesses, which took me on a deep journey through Asia, engaging with Zen masters, healers and experts around the world. My work bridges the best of Eastern and Western

practices, and is designed to create meaningful

and lasting change in the lives of my clients. 

Schedule a free consultation to explore which somatic practice suits your needs.

Disclaimer: The above article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author. It is intended for general informational purposes and does not constitute psychological or medical professional advice. I don't diagnose medical conditions, nor do I interfere with any treatments given by your medical professional. If you already are under the care of a doctor or under medical treatment, follow the advice and treatment recommended by your doctor. For any medical emergency, please call relevant authorities.