What is Somatic Awareness Therapy?

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

Somatic Awareness Therapy is a body-focused approach to healing trauma and emotional distress. It emphasizes the connection between the mind and body, helping individuals process and release trauma stored in their physical sensations. Developed by Doctor Peter Levine who created 'somatic experiencing therapy' this 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.

Somatic Experiential Therapy is grounded in the idea that the body holds onto trauma, even when the mind has repressed it. 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 therapy 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 techniques in my yoga classes.