Why Somatics?

First let's talk about what exactly is "Somatics"

The root of the word somatics is Soma - meaning “of the body” or “the body as perceived from within” or “the living body in its wholeness.”  We all have a body.  And that body can be perceived by us and by others.  Soma, on the other hand can only be perceived from within the body. 

No one else can have somatic awareness of your body; only you.

The term was first coined by Thomas Hannah in 1976.  Hannah’s studies in neuroscience at the university of Florida Medical School taught him that every psychological process is accompanied by some change to the systems of the body.  Trauma, whether physical, mental, or emotional has an impact both on the mind and on the body.  They Sympathetic Nervous System that can put us into a fight/flight/freeze/fawn state mentally also impacts our physical body and muscle holding patterns. Therefore, he realized that the issues of the mind can be much more fully addressed by also working through the body.

Somatics is a study of the body in terms of physical sensations, perceptions, and experiences.

Somatics is a part of many forms of movement and therapy. There are two primary goals of somatic work.  

1. Physical: Retrain the body to relive pain brought on by trauma and/or habitual movements and muscle holding patterns.

2. Mental/Emotional: Process trauma and/or break patterns of thought and behavior that have an impact on moving forward with life by seeking and listening to the deep inner wisdom held in the body.  

The beauty is this: It is all connected.  When you work on the physical side, you will often begin to notice shifts in patterns of behavior and thought.  When you work on the mental/emotional side you also begin to move with more ease.  When you work with both there is an even greater opportunity for success.  Some examples are listed below:

• Movement: Yoga, Pilates, Dance, etc.

• Movement Therapies: Feldenkrais Method, Alexander Technique, Rolfing Structural Integration

• Clinical Somatics: Movement education for the relief of pain and retraining of muscle memory

• Somatic Coaching & Therapy: Coaching methods that tap into the inner wisdom within the body to help the client resolve trauma and move forward in life

• Breathwork: A means to access the inner wisdom of the body through sustained and controlled breathing patterns. 

Why do we incorporate Somatics into TAP?

We all have the stories we tell ourselves, and we all have the stories that our body tells us.  When these stories are consistent, connected, and in alignment it is easier to move through life.  When they are disconnected, both body and mind suffer.

Your body is continually sending sensory signals to your brain.  Some of these are from external scanning to help maintain safety (sight, sound, etc.) and others are internally generated to help maintain homeostasis (thirst, hunger, pain, sleepiness, temperature).  You cannot stop the regulatory function of your body sending signals.  But but you can disconnect from these signals, thereby denying your body a dialog with your brain, and resulting in a disconnection in the mind/body story.  The body says, “Hey, I’m hungry!” Or “That hurts!” Or “I need sleep!” And the mind says, “I’m fine.”  

Or perhaps at some point in your life you had a feeling, and a caregiver or someone you trusted or looked up to told you that this feeling was wrong. You were basically told you that the signals from your own body could not be trusted. 

This incongruence, whether it originated from within or from someone we trusted, can cause us to begin to distrust our bodies and the result is that we feel our body is no longer trustworthy or safe.  Mind and body become disconnected and we lose access to all of the body’s wisdom. 

There are times when we can make a conscious choice to override our body’s homeostatic messaging, such as when training for an endurance event, or dieting, or starting an exercise program to get into better shape.  This is not disconnection.  This ability is actually a skill. It is more like a conversation.  “I know you’re in a bit of pain, but it will help us be in the shape we need to run that marathon.” The pain, hunger, thirst, discomfort, etc. is acknowledged and consciously overridden. The dialog continues.

Then there are times, however, when the choice is not conscious. In times of trauma or extreme stress we may disconnect from our body’s signals as a means not to feel. In these times the body doesn’t feel like a safe place to be.  This often occurs when we feel that our circumstances are not within our control. Or if we were told by someone we were supposed to trust that our body’s signals were wrong, over time we start to believe that we can’t trust our own body.

From a neurological point of view we will often develop a coping mechanism (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) which can evolve into a lifelong pattern of behavior.  From the body’s point of view that trauma or stress is stored (and possibly ignored from then on.)  The behavior(s) that emerge and the storage of the original trauma are forever connected.  A part of the behavior pattern can be this disconnection from the body’s messages. We no longer listen or trust our own bodies. 

When we work from the point of view of the mind, thinking, and behavior patterns to make positive change, we might notice that there are also changes to tension we hold in the body.  When we work from the body’s point of view and learn to regain connection to the body and release tension, we might also unlock the underlying trauma that was being held there and  also notice a gain in confidence and a change in behavior patterns. There are two keys to unlock the door, two paths in to make change.  Sometimes one or the other key doesn’t function as well.  Working with both, we have a greater chance for success.  (Read my somatic success story here.)

The activities in the 12 Steps of TAP are largely focused on the brain, the nervous system, and nervous system regulation. We use top down methods to unlock old patterns. We also include experiential practices to help our clients attach to and embody the new patterns.  

The Soma-Breath sessions introduce a bottom up approach focused on creating safety from within our own bodies, and then working to release old trauma by reconnecting our bodies with our minds through movement, breathwork, and deep internal listening.  

Both top town and bottom up approaches help us find and connect with our own answers and inner wisdom. Working with them together creates conditions for lasting change.