Somatics

“Somatics” refers to a range of body-based awareness practices, with the goal of regulating your nervous system and healing trauma. In somatic therapy, you bring attention to your present-moment experience, including particular bodily sensations, movements, postures, and impulses.

The idea is that our body-mind system knows how to release chronic tension, but we often inhibit that process. In a sense, we “forget” how to shift from “protection mode” to “connection mode”—how to return from a survival state (like fight-or-flight) to a state of ease and comfort. We get stuck in hyper-arousal (feeling “too up”) or hypo-arousal (feeling “too down”).

Somatics is about “remembering” how to move from protection to connection. The somatic therapist helps you get “unstuck” by stoking the innate intelligence of your autonomic nervous system, so that you feel more regulated, resourced, and resilient.

I’ve gotta say, I love the somatic approach! I’ve trained in the Tao of Trauma and Somatic Experiencing systems, and I find somatics to be an essential tool for anyone who feels overwhelmed by their protective states—folks who chronically feel “too up” (like in anxiety, rage, hypervigilance, and worry) and/or “too down” (depressed, withdrawn, hopeless, and numb).

The somatic component of my sessions is usually done while seated comfortably in a chair. I sit across from you and I help you become aware of your “waves”—your sympathetic up-waves and parasympathetic down-waves—and I support your process of “surfing” these waves with confidence and skill.

When you mindfully experience the waves of your nervous system, in the presence of an attuned guide, you’ll typically find that you can expand your capacity. You’ll discover that you can remain in “safe connection” with your present-moment experience, even when things get stressful. Gradually, you’ll stop feeling “too up” or “too down.”

In my sessions, I give clients the option of combining somatic therapy with a needle-free acupuncture treatment. (They complement each other very nicely!) Or, you can choose to focus on one or the other modality (either needle-free acupuncture or somatics).

I recommend somatic therapy for anyone dealing with chronic stress, tension, anxiety, depression, insomnia, or trauma. Click below to learn more about my sessions or to book a session.