What is Somatic Awareness Healing?

The only investment that truly changes anything in life is the one you make in yourself!

Somatic Awareness Healing is a body-focused approach to healing old emotional energy that has not been processed by the mind body which can be stored as triggers to trauma and old emotional distress. Somatic means to do with the BODY and emphasises the connection between the mind and body, helping individuals process and release old emotional trauma stored in their physical sensations. Developed by Doctor Peter Levine who created 'somatic experiencing therapy' uses techniques like interoceptive (internal body awareness), proprioceptive (spatial orientation), and kinaesthetic (movement) exercises to increase bodily awareness and promote healing.

Unlike traditional talk therapies, somatic therapy starts with the body rather than thoughts or emotions, aiming to address how trauma manifests physically. It can be particularly beneficial for conditions like PTSD, anxiety, depression, and chronic stress. I use a combination of the body and the mind to release these stored energies.

Somatic Experiential Therapy is grounded in the idea that the body holds onto old emotional energy, even when the mind has repressed it as sensation it did not like. By working with your body’s sensations—like tension, tightness, or other physical cues—it aims to gently unlock and process these stored experiences.

A typical session might involve:

• Body Awareness: Paying attention to sensations, like the way your chest feels when you're anxious or the tightness in your shoulders.
• Grounding Techniques: Practices like focusing on your breathing or the way your feet feel on the floor to help you stay present.
• Movement and Release: Encouraging small physical movements to discharge pent-up energy associated with trauma.
• Mindfulness Practices: Cultivating an awareness of how thoughts, emotions, and body sensations interconnect.

Somatic work can be used alongside other therapeutic modalities, too, for a more holistic healing experience.

'because the overwhelm and the fight-or-flight are things that happen in the body' the golden route' to healing 'is to be able to help people have experiences in the body that contradict those of the overwhelming helplessness. And my method is not the only way to do that' 'many therapists, for example, will recommend that their clients do things like yoga or martial arts.' Dr Peter Levine https://www.psychotherapy.net/interview/interview-peter-levine#section-releasing-trauma-from-the-body

I use elements of these somatic awareness & healing techniques in my yoga classes, in my energy healing sessions & in my breathwork groups. I use the body-mind connection to release old stored emotions like guilt, fear, anger, overwhelm, disgust to allow you more space to live in the here and now.