Bringing in the nervous system and the body - Somatic IFS
Why do Somatic IFS?
Because IFS already works with the body—thoughts, feelings, impulses and sensations—and Somatic IFS uses a similar process through a different lens, taking us even deeper.
What is it?
A simple-yet-complex integration of IFS, trauma/neuroscience and polyvagal theory with somatic practices.
Benefits of Somatic IFS (with individual benefits covered later):
Increased awareness of and in the body
Normalised breathing patterns
Greater capacity for resonance and healthy relationships
Freer, more expressive, empowered movement
A greater ability to receive and enjoy touch
Pretty good, eh?
TThe book to read on integrating IFS and somatic therapy is Susan McConnell’s Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy. These notes come mainly from her book and trainings I’ve done with her, alongside Deb Dana’s polyvagal work—her books (Anchored, 50 Polyvagal Practices), her card deck, and her IFS talk.
Susan McConnell identifies a clear set of practices—used in order and woven into each IFS step:
Somatic awareness, conscious breathing, radical resonance, movement, and attuned touch.
Somatic Awareness — EARTH
Developing body awareness—becoming aware of your parts so you can befriend them, notice polarisations, and restore you at the centre of your system.
Conscious Breathing — AIR
Breathing consciously activates the ventral vagus, releasing hormones and enzymes that blunt sympathetic arousal. It reduces blood pressure, cortisol, anxiety and depression, boosts immunity, and supports embodied Self energy. It re-establishes psychobiological regulation, bringing stability and safety to the body–mind.
Radical Resonance — WATER
Increasing the capacity for resonance and healthy relationships. Involves mirror neurons, heart, gut, and the ventral vagus. Allows the ANS to rewire and influence gene expression and body systems—a rich, relational “horizontal field” brimming with connection.
Movement — FIRE
Free, expressive, empowered movement to restore safe, trusting connections with self and others. When we are witnessed, the prefrontal cortex engages and sensations, beliefs, thoughts, images, and behaviours can flow again rather than remain compartmentalised or stuck. Five basic movements: yield, push, reach, grasp, pull—as distinct from habitual, repetitive patterns, inhibited moves, impulsive bursts, and chronic postural holdings.
Attuned Touch — Combination of the four elements
The most primary and potent form of communication. Releases oxytocin and regulates the vagal brake—calming and bonding. A corrective experience of the pleasure and comfort of touch that can reverse physiological effects of trauma.
What Somatic IFS does is combine neuroscience and trauma understanding, polyvagal theory, IFS, and somatic work. It’s complex to integrate all of this into one approach, so I personally find it most helpful to keep it experiential. I’m going to invite you on a journey…
(For those who want more theory: my rough notes follow after the experiential section—better still, read the book or join a training. You can look up polyvagal theory, or see my explanation here: https://www.stroudtherapy.com/news/polyvagalandifs. I strongly recommend Deb Dana—her videos and books are very accessible.)
I’ve made an infographic (doodled from one of her talks) to show how her work and IFS can be held together. In polyvagal terms there are two parasympathetic states: ventral (green), where things feel good and which approximates Self in IFS terms; and dorsal (red), the collapsed state. Sympathetic (amber) is the classic “fight/flight” activation in response to threat. Freeze hangs between dorsal and sympathetic; fawn often straddles them too.
Most importantly here:
MANAGERS can run in sympathetic (fixing, judging, perfectionism, busyness) and
FIREFIGHTERS can run in sympathetic (rage, fight/flight, stimulating addictions such as cocaine) or in dorsal (numbing, dissociation, soothing addictions like alcohol or scrolling).
EXILES generally hang out in dorsal because their feelings have been exiled; they’re always trying to reach up to you for help, and can sometimes erupt into panic and fear (sympathetic).
We tend to get stuck in polarisations and yo-yo between states. So yes—already complicated: Managers, Firefighters, and Exiles moving between dorsal parasympathetic and sympathetic. Luckily, there’s you in the centre. It is possible to slow down, pause, and breathe.
Here’s the explanation—and an experiential.
(Neuro)science and the nervous system: what happens with trauma or shock
Imagine this: you’re going about your day feeling OK—calm, relaxed, curious about the world. Your ventral vagus (parasympathetic) is engaged and things feel fine. Then something happens. As soon as the body perceives a danger it can’t escape, the amygdala unleashes a biochemical blast, activating the hypothalamus and switching on the sympathetic, hyper-aroused branch of the autonomic nervous system.
Once the threat is over—if the being (animal or person) escapes—the nervous system usually returns to baseline quite quickly. The person goes back to what they were doing; the animal to grazing or swatting flies. We relax and get on with our day. Phew.
However, when trauma is severe or repetitive, and we haven’t been able to metabolise it, it gets stuck in the body—often from very young, most likely under age 20. A protective part quickly steps in to watch for the exiled feeling and protect us. It remains as a stuck pattern and returns at full strength when that feeling is triggered in later life. (Here we can pause and connect with embodied Self or the warm presence of a co-regulating other—breathe, pause, and befriend the protector…)
If no help is available, and the stuckness becomes overwhelming, the system can drop into dorsal (parasympathetic). We become numb, dissociated, and our feelings are depressed.
Much of the story is then locked in the lower brain, often inaccessible to words.
Stuck trauma shows up as symptoms—tight shoulders, painful neck, insomnia, numbing, intrusive memories, shame, self-hatred, panic attacks, hypervigilance, nightmares, flashbacks, startle response, chronic pain, migraines… These may have stories to tell—or be taking on a protective role. Let’s listen.
What tends to happen next is a traumatic polarisation between hyper and hypo states—oscillating between these poles (two parts, often a Manager and a Firefighter, or two Managers, etc.). It’s exhausting—emotionally and physically. Metabolic waste products can lodge in muscles and organs, which may contribute to chronic illness.
A mini Somatic IFS–Polyvagal experiential
Rather than more theory, let’s imagine a short journey—moving through the somatic sequence, bringing in polyvagal and parts work.
Please titrate: use your dimmer switch; invite parts to blend just a little—nothing major. Or, IFS-style, imagine you’re on a balcony looking down at the theatre where you’re on stage.
Picture yourself going to a train station, a shop (IKEA?), or a supermarket. As you arrive—people, buzz, busyness—someone shouts at someone else. There’s a mini hyper-arousal.
What’s happening in your body? (See after the box for more.)
1) Hyper-arousal (mini spike)
A brief, hyper-aroused moment (see box—check your body: what’s going on in this mini trauma?).
Then:
Feel your feet. Breathe—lengthen the exhale to apply the vagal brake.
If you can, add organised movement.
Offer comfort: say inside, “I’m here for you; it’s OK.”
Imagine being with someone who cares about you; co-regulate if you’re able.
Return (hopefully) to ventral vagal/social engagement. Safe.
However, sometimes safety isn’t available. Many of us may stay hyper-aroused (fight/flight), drop briefly into freeze (a sympathetic–parasympathetic combo), and/or blend with protectors. The situation may feel familiar—an echo that cues an old protector: “Get out the mask—keep the feelings at bay.”
Try noticing which part comes in.
For me, it’s an “I can do this—bulldoze through” part: tall stance, straight back, social smile. I can manage for a while.
What do you do? Guard dog? SWAT team? Walk out? Judge? “Look at me” performer? Get busy like a steam train? Social masking?
Notice the box: what are you doing somatically—breath, movement, posture? How do you engage with others—and they with you? This may work for a time, but if you can’t return to social engagement…
2) Hypo-arousal
When the above stops working or becomes intolerable, the system can head down to dorsal: collapse, flop, dissociate.
For me: sit somewhere quiet, disengage, get food/drink, collapse a bit, scroll, numb out—blank.
Again, notice the box: how does your body feel—posture, breath, resonance, movement? What about touch?
3) Returning to social engagement
Now shake it off or simply remember you’re here with us.
Pause, breathe—sip inbreath, short outbreath (a quick oxygen boost).
Orient: look round the room, feel your feet on the floor.
From here, you can (hopefully) return to feeling connected and in flow—Self energy, nature, glimmers, play, song, a companion animal or someone you love.
Good news: we have neuroplasticity. With Self energy and care we can begin to flow again. To get back to social engagement you often reverse through a little sympathetic before settling into ventral vagal.
In the moment:
PAUSE. Breathe. Feel your feet and the air on your skin.
How am I relating to myself and others?
Is there a movement that wants to happen, or touch (imagined or real)?
We can also work in sessions with these body sensations, chronic holding patterns, and interrupted movements.
“The feral animal of our body, startled by the light, may scurry back to hide in the dark corners. The touch, the nourishment, the movement that our body craves may be buried under history of neglect and trauma. We may feel our body has betrayed us. We may have internalised an objective attitude toward our body. Our individual hurts and collective societal burdens lodged in our tissues await the light of our courage and compassion shining into the depths of our interiority, leading us to the essence of our being.”
How to do Somatic IFS
We do the same IFS, bringing body and breath into every step.
Self energy expands to help heal trauma.
We befriend protectors that block body awareness.
We resonate with hyper- and hypo-aroused parts and welcome their responses.
We witness the feeling story.
We support reversal of the ANS sequence and finally anchor physiological unburdening.
Right now: is there a place in your body that could benefit from your compassionate, focused awareness?
Extra notes
These are the nuggets I found particularly helpful from Susan’s book. I encourage you to read the book and study further if this interests you.
How this maps to IFS
Managers
Often hyper-aroused from mini/major traumas. They inhibit body awareness; tense/brace/constrict; stay hypervigilant; hold rigid or diffuse boundaries; objectify, blame, or criticise the body.
Try: invite a familiar Manager to blend briefly (ask others to relax for a minute—you’ve got this).
What is your body feeling like?
Notice your breathing.
How do you relate to yourself and others?
What’s the movement like with this part on board?
What’s the quality of touch (your own and others’)?
Then do the 6 F’s, including these somatic observations.
Firefighters
Can be hyper or hypo: substances/self-harm to soothe or distract; or dissociation/numbing.
Try the same brief blend-and-observe (body, breath, relating, movement, touch).
Exiles
The feeling ones. (We won’t blend with them here.) Perhaps send warmth if it’s congruent. They often live in hypo (exiled), but can surge into hyper. They hold frozen body stories—and the chemicals released during trauma remaining in tissues/organs—leading to pain and, eventually, chronic illness.
Core assumptions
Therapist and client embodiment is facilitated at every step.
Self energy must be embodied to be fully potentiated.
Parts’ stories may be implicit, recorded subcortically, expressed non-verbally.
The body has innate intelligence, creativity, and healing capacities.
Embodying the internal family supports individual and societal transformation.
Transcending the mind/body dualism opens to spirit.
Trauma stories are written in our bodies, shaping how we live and love.
Protectors block awareness to keep Exiles’ body stories from being re-injured.
Somatic awareness (EARTH)
Reading the body story: being a body rather than having one.
Can you inhabit your body from the inside? Notice one hand’s sensations, then compare with the other. Awareness of leads to awareness in.
Notice, accept, observe, focus, deepen, allow—be the sensation.
70–80% of communication is non-verbal.
Ground: feet on the floor, sit bones—connect with the earth. We need a secure, solid place of belonging.
Befriend protectors that exile the body—no agenda. Body stories of vulnerable parts are stored in tissues; they don’t want to be crushed again.
The guard dog at the gate matters; it’s there for a reason. Befriend and appreciate—no agenda.
Three sensory processes:
Interoception (inner sensation—key to accessing Self energy)
Exteroception (awareness of the outer world)
Proprioception (body position, balance, coordination)
Sometimes focus on positive/neutral body sensations to anchor the present. Ask protectors for a 30–60 second trial, then debrief: Was overwhelm OK? Would you try a little longer?
Conscious breathing (AIR)
Conscious breathing activates the ventral vagus, easing sympathetic arousal; reduces blood pressure/cortisol/anxiety/depression; boosts immunity; supports embodied Self; re-establishes psychobiological regulation.
Sense the vertical plane—ground below, sky above; interdependence (oxygen in, carbon dioxide out).
For some, breath awareness activates parts—note any existential themes.
Practices: box breathing, ujjayi.
Observe your next 5 breaths—pace, rhythm, sensations in/out. Take 5 more, imagining you breathe through your pores.
Radical resonance (WATER)
Relational right-brain/limbic interplay: mirror neurons, heart, gut, ventral vagus. Builds capacity for resonance and healthy relationships; allows the ANS to rewire and influence gene expression—rich, horizontal field of connection.
Short walking meditation (Susan’s): side-by-side; jiggle/wiggle to feel bones (earth); reach with breath (sky); step earth/sky, gather both into heart.
Protectors may block resonance; bring curiosity and compassion to them.
Note societal burdens beneath individual trauma (e.g., white supremacy, heterosexism, binaries, hierarchy, meritocracy, individualism; objectification of bodies). One person’s privilege is another’s trauma—we all lose.
Dan Siegel’s healing process: P.A.R.T. — Presence, Attunement, Resonance, Trust.
Start with the body, not the mind: rest, play, connection; tolerate discomfort; explore safety in our bodies and with other bodies. Keep developing as therapists/companions—we heal in relationship.
Movement (FIRE)
Free, expressive, empowered movement restores safe, trusting connection with self and others. Being witnessed engages the prefrontal cortex so sensations, beliefs, thoughts, images, and behaviours flow rather than stay stuck.
Failed attempts to reach out, escape, push/defend show up as habitual patterns, inhibited moves, impulses, chronic holdings.
Bring mindfulness to posture (collapse/flexion/extension/misalignment), facial expression (eyes/jaw), eye contact (note neurodivergence), repetitive gestures, stiffness, blocked movement, impulses to reach/run/fight/tremble.
Support movement from numb/collapsed, express failed attempts to fight/flee, restore reaching for help and safe connection, reinstate limits, pushing away, escaping/fighting, boundaries, safe secure connections.
Helpful movement resources (developmental patterns):
Body-Mind Centering overview (long): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxKXMi5Rxc8
Series of five (15–20 mins each; this one introduces yield): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3115sM76KgM
(Yield, push, reach, grasp, pull.)
Bring mindfulness to a habitual posture, a gesture of reaching/pushing away, or a stuck place. Might this be the beginning of a part’s story?
Attuned touch (all four elements together)
The most primary and potent form of communication. Releases oxytocin, regulates the vagal brake—calming, bonding. A corrective experience of the pleasure and comfort of touch; can reverse physiological effects of trauma.
Includes imaginary touch, self-touch, and (where appropriate) therapist’s touch.
The client is in charge—kind, location, duration—with permission of all parts.
With trauma, track carefully: touch will not be sexual; watch for any signs of re-traumatisation. Trauma can affect the ability to sense touch, notice its effects, and set boundaries.