What is Somatic Healing?

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

Somatic Therapy is a body-focused approach to healing old emotional energy that has not been processed completely by the mind body in the moment it occurs. This is 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. Emotion is felt in the body so any healing must include the body to be restorative and healing. This is why talking therapies alone do not work - they use the mind to recall the old trauma but they do not heal the traumas at the root - in the body emotion is experienced.

I use somatic awareness & healing techniques in my yoga classes, in my energy healing sessions having trained in 'Root Cause Therapy' & in my breathwork therapy & group practices. I use the body-mind connection to identify in the felt sense, then gently release old stored emotions from the body like guilt, shame, fear, anger, overwhelm, disgust using breathwork, to release & allow you more space to be present & live, not in past hurts, but in the here and now.

Somatic Experiencing was 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