Somatic Tracking for Chronic Pain Relief | Dr. John Stracks & Erica Walker
Video: Watch the full session here → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOUR-LINK-HERE
Dr. John Stracks: Welcome, everyone. I'm Dr. John Stracks, a physician in the Chicago area practicing via telehealth, focused on the elimination of chronic pain and other symptoms using mind-body medicine. I'm joined today by Erica Walker, a colleague at Cormendi Health who specializes in mind-body medicine and has done so for many years.
Erica is a psychotherapist and pain coach certified in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and EMDR. She was previously the Clinical Director, intake coordinator, and clinical supervisor at the Pain Psychology Center in Los Angeles — where she worked with literally thousands of clients suffering from chronic pain and chronic symptoms. She is one of the most experienced PRT practitioners in the world, and we're grateful to have her at Cormendi. Today we're talking about somatic tracking — a key component of PRT and one of the most impactful tools our clients use on their path out of chronic pain.
Erica Walker: Thanks so much for having me. I love talking about somatic tracking.
How Erica Found Her Way Into Mind-Body Medicine
Dr. Stracks: Before we dive in, can you share a bit about how you came to this work?
Erica: I double-majored in pre-med and psychology in undergrad, thinking I'd become an occupational therapist. I wasn't quite ready for grad school at 22, so I stumbled into a massage program at the Institute of Psycho-Structural Balancing — literally mind-body balancing, though I wasn't sure what that meant at the time.
Early in my career as a massage therapist, I had a client come in the day before his wedding — visibly nervous, his whole body full of tension. Intuitively, I placed my hand over his heart, and tears just started to flow. I was fascinated. What is this process? How is the mind-body connection so powerful that a single touch can create that kind of release?
That curiosity led me back to grad school, then to the Pain Psychology Center, and eventually to Dr. Stracks — and we've been collaborating with clients for several years now in what I think is a really effective integrative model.
Dr. Stracks: What's most gratifying to you about being part of people's healing?
Erica: I'm results-oriented and very skills-based. The moment I love most is when a client says, "Oh — I get this. This makes sense to me." And then watching people who are committed to the process actually get better. I text Dr. Stracks constantly — "This client is doing so well, I'm so excited!" It's incredibly gratifying.
I've also experienced this personally. I had debilitating migraines, severe menstrual cramps — if you start from my head and work down, I've had a little bit of everything. It took me a long time to realize it was all directly related to my nervous system being chronically upregulated.
What Is Somatic Tracking?
Dr. Stracks: Let's get into it. What is somatic tracking and what does it mean to you?
Erica: Somatic tracking is a powerful tool that combines two core elements: mindfulness and exposure therapy.
Mindfulness, as defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn, is being present to the moment — on purpose, without judgment. Most of us are anything but present. We're thinking about the future or replaying the past, and when we're experiencing something we don't like in our bodies, we want to force it away.
Exposure therapy means moving toward the thing that makes us uncomfortable rather than away from it. When we do that, we teach the brain that this sensation is actually safe. Together, these approaches help people be with physical sensations without fear — which is at the heart of what somatic tracking does.
Dr. Stracks: So it helps people not be scared of their own sensations?
Erica: Exactly. And it can be easier for some people than others. If the fear of bodily sensation is very high, we start with small increments — just checking in, noticing what's happening in the body while breathing slowly. The goal is simply to build the experience that your body is a safe place to be.
Guided Somatic Tracking Demonstration
Note: Dr. Stracks participated as the example client. Those at home can follow along.
Erica: I'm going to close my eyes — it helps me go inward. You're welcome to close yours too, or simply gaze softly downward.
Step 1 — Establish the breath. Begin by noticing the sensation of breathing itself. Air coming in through the nose, traveling down the throat. Notice the rise and fall of the chest, the expansion of the rib cage, the softening of the belly. You can place your hand on your belly and breathe into it — feeling that gentle expansion. We hold a lot of tension there.
Notice what it feels like as air drifts back out. Is it warm, cool, or neutral? We're slowing the breath down and using it as a signal back to the brain: we are safe here, right now. This is the breath of rest and digest — not the shallow breath of fight or flight.
Step 2 — Create a container. I like to imagine a small wicker basket off to the side. Into that basket, we place anything that isn't serving us right now — judgment, fear, despair, negative fixation. We're not abolishing these things. We're just taking a break from them for a few moments.
Step 3 — Set an intention. This is important. Let's set an intention of peacefulness: May I be peaceful with myself, just for the next few moments. It could also be self-compassion, gentleness, or even curiosity — which is a bigger ask, but a powerful one.
Step 4 — Bring awareness to the sensation. As you're ready, bring attention to a sensation you're experiencing in your body. You might call it pain or discomfort — I prefer the word sensation because it's more neutral. Simply notice it. You might imagine watching it like waves coming into shore. We're not intervening. We're not trying to make it go away. We're just peacefully watching the ebb and flow. This is the exposure piece — being with this without the usual level of reactivity.
Step 5 — Titrate to a neutral area. Now bring your attention down to your feet (or your hands, if feet aren't neutral for you). Press your right heel gently into the floor, lift your toes, give them a little curl, then relax. Left foot — heel down, toes up, curl, relax. Now alternate side to side. Notice the sensations in the tops of your feet, the curl of the toes, the pressure of the heel, the activation in the ankle. We're simulating walking — this gentle motion creates new, neutral sensation and gives your nervous system a break from the original area.
Step 6 — Return to the original sensation. Come back to that first area of sensation. Breathe. Simply be with it. Notice if anything has shifted — is it louder or quieter? Has it moved? Don't try to problem-solve. Just notice, peacefully. May I be peaceful with myself.
When you're ready, open your eyes.
Dr. Stracks: That was genuinely relaxing. I was paying attention to a sensation in my chest, and when I moved my attention to my feet it just disappeared — and when I brought it back, it was there again but with a sense of calm around it that isn't always there.
Erica: That's the practice working. We have a tendency to let a sensation we don't like become our entire focus — forgetting the rest of the body even exists. Titrating away and coming back teaches the brain that we have choice in where we place our attention.
Summary of Steps
Establish a slow, smooth, even breath
Visualize a container — set aside judgment, fear, and negative fixation
Set an intention — peacefulness, self-compassion, gentleness, or curiosity
Bring mindful, non-reactive awareness to the sensation
Titrate to a neutral body part (feet, hands, belly) to take a break
Return to the original sensation and notice what's changed
No gold medal for somatic tracking — there's no right or wrong way to do this. We're not in the yoga Olympics. We're simply allowing ourselves to slow down.
Somatic Tracking in Motion
Erica: Somatic tracking doesn't have to be done seated and still. It can be practiced with movement — exercise, sitting and standing from a chair, bending forward, or returning to an activity you've been avoiding. If someone hasn't been on their Peloton for a year, we might just sit with the machine, slow the breath down, get on, and notice what sensations arise — not working out, just noticing. We go back and forth, gradually building safety.
Even tying your shoes can become an avoidance activity for someone with back pain. Entering that movement slowly and mindfully is a way to rebuild trust with the body.
Q&A Highlights
Q: How often should I practice somatic tracking?
Erica: There's no prescription. Try it and see if you like it. If you do, you can work it into your day in a non-obsessive way — even 30 seconds counts.
Q: I'm very in tune with my body — I'm a dancer. I feel like I'm already too aware of every sensation. Is this technique for someone like me?
Erica: What you're describing is monitoring — the constant checking: is it there, is it gone, is it worse? That's actually a form of self-aggression. The shift we're making is from monitoring to mindful, non-judgmental awareness. Can I notice what's happening without going into demand or judgment? That's a meaningful difference, and yes — the non-judgment piece is critical.
Q: What about vertigo? Being still is so hard when you have dizziness.
Erica: Stillness doesn't have to mean rigid and upright. If you need to move a little, that's fine — I move a little when I meditate myself. The goal is to be present to sensations with curiosity rather than reactivity, not to perform a perfect stillness.
Q: When I wake up with pain, is somatic tracking a good approach?
Erica: It depends on the level of pain, but there's generally no harm in trying. I've done it myself — woken up with unexpected tension and just breathed into it to see what happens. Early morning can actually be a good time for it.
Q: When should people NOT do somatic tracking?
Erica: If the fear of a sensation is so high that it's generating genuine terror, working with a professional is ideal rather than going it alone. If you notice your fear rising significantly during the practice, that's a signal to shift gears. At a lower level of fear or discomfort, it's completely safe to try on your own.
Q: Is there a connection between somatic tracking and the vagus nerve — and could it help with IBS or stomach symptoms?
Dr. Stracks: The vagus nerve is what conveys the relaxation response throughout the body. When we're curious, present, and non-reactive, we're likely pulling the vagus nerve online — and the vagus nerve governs rest and digestion. So yes, there's probably a direct correlation with IBS, stomach pain, and other GI symptoms. When we're in prolonged fight-or-flight, digestion is one of the first systems to suffer — the body doesn't need to digest food when it thinks it's running from a grizzly bear. Anything that settles the nervous system is, almost by definition, activating vagal tone.
Dr. John Stracks practices mind-body medicine via telehealth nationally and internationally, focused on the elimination of chronic pain using mind-body methods. Erica Walker is a psychotherapist, pain coach, and certified PRT and EMDR practitioner at Cormendi Health. To work with Erica or Dr. Stracks, visit cormendihealth.com/contact.