In this article, I am called to share my journey of embodiment and somatic healing, highlighting the profound transformation it has had on my life. How it has become an inspiring practice that I include in my daily rituals. Somatic healing became a tool for me to come home to myself, and I would love to share this with you, Beloved.
Understanding Somatic Healing
Somatic Healing, or somatic therapy, is a holistic, often spiritual, and mindful approach to health and well-being that focuses on the body, mind, and spirit. It is rooted in the belief that our bodies hold onto past experiences, especially those that are traumatic or stressful. These experiences can cause our nervous system to become stuck in a state of “freeze,” forcing a regulatory halt on our ability to fully process and release these emotions. Through somatic techniques, we learn to listen to our bodies and release the tension and emotions stored within. Somatic Healing specifically opens up the emotional and physical states through a combination of meditation, mindfulness, and physical movement that guides individuals to self-awareness and healthy coping mechanisms.
This practice is well-known in trauma therapy, allowing you to break your triggers down into bite-sized pieces of emotional responses rooted in areas that require healing, and then providing you with healthy releases for each of your triggers.
In the simplest form, if you are feeling incredibly angry or frustrated, instead of keeping quiet and bottling it up, Somatic Healing provides you with tools to move your body, ground your energy, stomp your feet, dance, perform, scream, hold your chest, and create a safe space for your emotions to release. This practice helps to let go of suppressed emotions but also helps with clearing out our sacred containers, to only store what is beneficial for the body, mind, and spirit.
How I found safety in Somatic Healing
My journey with somatic healing began because of a deep need to feel safe in my own body. I experienced an attack in my own home 15 years ago. Afterwards, I found myself disconnected from my physical and emotional being, as a means of coping. It felt like I was just going through the motions, but I felt dissociated from the world around me, from myself, my body, and my confidence. It was a gradual process of reconnection, starting with small practices like feeling my feet on the ground and noticing the sensation of my body in different environments.
For some, the aftermath of trauma can feel like being frozen for life, and the process of getting back into their bodies can only occur through deep inner work. If your body is telling you to hibernate first, remain in that “freeze” response for however long it needs to. Sometimes the body and mind need time to process before they can start with the healing process. The next step is always a conscious choice; you consciously choose to find a safe space for yourself; for me, that safety was nature, mountains, the breeze, and the sun on my skin. Each person is different; your safe space may be a dance floor, therapy, or working with animals.
The mind-body connection is an important part of safety, it allows your psyche to feel safe, and your body and mind to feel safe in a world that remains unpredictable. When you are connected to Source, the world drifts away slowly, not because it doesn’t matter, but because you no longer connect your self-worth to it, but rather it is grounded deep within your relationship with Spirit, the Land, and yourself. Each person will connect with Source differently on that level, and each person can customize their somatic healing process to attune to what their body needs.
Embracing Nature and Self-Connection
When I subconsciously started my somatic healing journey, I asked myself these questions, and I invite you to do the same:
- Have I properly nourished my body today, mind, body, and spirit?
- Have I been in nature?
- When was the last time that I felt the sun kiss my skin or hear the birds singing?
- Have I grounded my body today?
- Have I touched the soil, grass, sand, or earth with the soles of my feet?
When you consistently follow through with these practices, it brings you back into your body, it brought me back to a sense of remembrance. Knowing that I was more than my past experiences. My traumas did not define me, and they never will.
Nature became a profound ally in my healing journey. I found solace in the earth beneath my feet, the gentle embrace of the wind, and the soothing sounds of birdsong. These moments of connection with nature allowed me to ground myself and reconnect with the present moment, anchoring me in a sense of safety and belonging.
My relationship with the land was built on somatic healing, and working with the land became a sacred aspect of my healing journey as a whole. I learned to be attuned to the rhythms of nature, feeling her pain, trauma, and resilience. As I healed the land, I found echoes of my own healing, a symbiotic relationship between inner and outer landscapes. It is so strange to think of a day when I don’t integrate at least one part of my daily life with the land, where I am on the earth, foraging, walking, or just being in her presence.
It also gave me an innate sense of self, the more I connected with Gaia, Mother Earth, Source, and my environment the more I connected with myself. Slowly but surely, it felt like my confidence crept back and I could become more honest with myself. As I connected with my body and reclaimed my body, I had to relearn what she liked, what she didn’t like, and how she perceived the world around her.
Coming Home to Yourself: Self-Touch and Self-Love Practices
Reclamation plays a vital role in Somatic Healing for me, reclaiming yourself and remembering who you truly are. To be very clear, remembering who you are does not mean reverting to your past self, it means you are remembering your essence, from an ancestral aspect to a spiritual one. The core of YOU. Through trauma, we can often feel like our core is under attack, and like we are not the same person, and this is completely true: trauma changes each person uniquely.
Reclaiming your core essence doesn’t just happen overnight; it is a process. What I have found, and many Somatic Healers and practitioners speak on this, is that:
Self-touch and self-love are central to somatic healing.
These are equally as important in the journey of remembrance and embodiment. Through gentle touch, massage, and nurturing practices, I learned to listen to my body’s needs and honored her messages. This included exploring sensuality, self-pleasure, and the profound act of loving myself fully and unconditionally. It can be as simple as holding yourself first thing in the morning, embracing your body’s curves, lines, shapes, and bumps, and giving yourself a warm hug. It may feel odd at first, and you may feel deeply uncomfortable with self-touch, but this in a way, forces you to be touched in a safe space, by yourself and it is entirely within your control.
Even today, I utilize self-touch and self-love as a daily practice. My two children are both profoundly in tune with physical touch. They are often wrapped around me, running up for hugs and cuddles. I adore it more because I know that it provides a sense of safety and security for them. It helps them regulate their nervous system and, often when they come for a cuddle, they allow themselves to express the emotions they have been experiencing throughout the day. We often practice with massages and aroma therapy, preparing them for the future to sustain these practices of self-care for themselves, as continued rituals of embodiment.
The Self Care Practices you could follow:
- Mindful Breathing: Practice deep, conscious breathing exercises to calm your nervous system. You can do this from the comfort of your bed, floor, or in nature.
- Body Scan Meditation: Take time to scan through different parts of your body, noticing sensations and releasing tension.
- Grounding Exercises: Connect with the earth by walking barefoot, gardening, or simply sitting on the ground and feeling the earth’s energy connect with yours.
- Self-Massage: Use gentle massage techniques to release tightness, this will help your muscles relax which in turn, will help regulate your nervous system.
- Movement Practices: Engage in mindful movements such as yoga, dance, or sensual movement to cultivate awareness of your body’s sensations.
- Creative Expression: Use creative outlets like dance, art, writing, or music to express emotions and connect with your higher self.
- Self-Compassion Practices: Cultivate self-compassion through loving-kindness meditations, affirmations, and acts of self-care.
- Nature Connection: Spend time with Mother Earth, engaging your senses and connecting with the natural environment through mindfulness and gratitude.
- Positive Affirmations: Practice affirmations that promote self-love, body acceptance, and gratitude for your body’s unique abilities.
- Mindful Eating: Approach meals with mindfulness, savoring each bite, and listen to your body when it is full or in need of specific nutrients.
- Sensory Exploration: Explore different sensory experiences, such as aromatherapy, soothing sounds, or tactile sensations, another wonderful practice to help self-regulation.
Commitment to daily practices that nourish the body, mind, and spirit is important to somatic healing, and, in all honesty, any form of healing requires commitment. This includes mindfulness, breathwork, movement, and connection with the earth. These practices have served as anchors, grounding me in the present moment and fostering a deep sense of self-awareness and emotional regulation. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I take a step back and allow myself the space to nourish my body, mind, and spirit and I use the tools and techniques of somatic healing to center me, grounding me back into my body.
When I feel like I have been stuck behind my screen, or like my work/life balance isn’t aligning with the vision I want for my life, then I take a step back, asking my body what it desires. I feel myself longing for the outdoors, to feel the grass tickling the soles of my feet.
What is your body longing for, Beloved?
Have you allowed yourself to play? To explore, to go on adventures?
Have you allowed yourself to be present, to live within the moment?
We often hide behind work, the hustle and bustle of life, and we forget to STOP.
PAUSE. Take a breath. (In fact, take a few deep ones.)
Pay attention to what is present within your system. Can you find the ability to relax and be fully present, or do you notice a constant internal restlessness or a compulsion to keep moving? Are you able to allow your nervous system to unwind completely?
If not, consider this as an invitation to delve into what needs acknowledgment, expression, and nurturing within yourself. All of the online courses we offer specifically work with deep inner healing, they all mirror what needs healing and provide you with the tools to invite you back home to yourself.
Embracing my Journey and my Emotions
My journey with somatic healing has been a profound awakening to my own divinity and inner wisdom. It has taught me to trust in the innate intelligence of my body and to honor the cyclical nature of healing. Each day is an opportunity to reconnect, recalibrate, and reaffirm my commitment to self-love and self-acceptance. Each moment is an opportunity for me to show up for myself.
It has taught me the importance of embracing all emotions, even those that may seem challenging or uncomfortable. Anger, grief, joy, and fear are all part of the human experience, and by allowing myself to fully feel and express these emotions, I have found profound healing and liberation.
Embracing these emotions does not mean that you succumb to them, if you are experiencing anger then embrace the sacred rage within. If you are experiencing grief then perhaps it is time to let your soul hibernate, journey into the cave, and grieve. By truly embodying your authenticity, you will innately connect deeply with your emotions and allow yourself the space to FEEL them. To regulate our nervous system, we require the ability to recognize our emotions and then go a little deeper into what they may be stemming from.
When experiencing an emotion, ask yourself:
- Why do I feel this way?
- What has caused my body to respond in this way?
- How can I release these emotions in a healthy manner?
Your Somatic Healing Journey: Where to go from here
You are here to create change within yourself, to break away from old systems, patterns, beliefs, and ways of being. The conscious decision for change and healing is what is needed as we make our way to this New Earth collectively. So I invite you to trust in your innate wisdom, trust your body enough to listen to it, trust in your divinity, and trust in the work you have done.
Through this choice, and this conscious movement toward healing, you will need to pause, take a few steps back, and perform regular self-inquiry. The alchemy, the reconnection, the rebirth, coming home to yourself: all of it is sacred. But more importantly, it is conscious. As you decide to walk the path of somatic healing, remembrance, and living within your sovereignty, you will find your own way of expression. Whether it be through song, creativity, art, poetry, ritual, circle, land healing, or something completely different, it will be evident in how you show up for yourself. AS YOUR TRUE SELF.
Somatic Healing is a tool you use to come home to yourself, to your body, mind, and spirit.
Before we go, as a reminder: somatic healing invites us to listen deeply to our bodies, embrace our emotions, and trust in the inherent wisdom of our being. Through daily practices, connection with nature, and a commitment to self-care, we can embark on a path of healing and wholeness that transcends trauma and fosters profound resilience and well-being.
You are magic, you are Divine, and you deserve to feel safe in your body, mind and spirit!
PS: I would also like to offer my dearest friend: Rebecca Tolin as an immersive resource to anyone who longs to start their somatic healing journey.
Please visit her website: www.rebeccatolin.com
