Somatics is the practice of learning and understanding the body from the inside. Similar to the practice of mindfulness, it asks us to get out of our head and into the body. When I first began studying mindfulness over 20 years ago, the image that stuck in my head was one of a large brain hobbling around with no body. Our society lives so far up in our heads (and yes, maybe up our you-know-whats too), that we forget to pay attention to life in the moment, and many of us were never taught how to live from within. We've forgotten that our systems, our bodies, are magical and whole. Our bodies are our own universe. A perfect system to sense into and trust.
As my teachers at the Embody Lab describe it: mindfulness is seeing the still lake, and somatics is diving into the felt sense of being in the lake.
Somatics is the practice of learning to hold space for the internal world to guide us.
Soma means "of the body," and the term Somatics was coined by Thomas Hanna, who used it to describe approaches that study the body as it is experienced from within, rather than as an object viewed from the outside. While the term was developed in the 1970s and the field of somatics is relatively new, the practices are not. From more ancient practices like yoga, meditation, breathwork, martial arts, tribal ceremony, and dance, to more modern practices like dance therapy, Feldenkrais, and Rolfing, the body has guided humans for centuries. I have spent much of my life working from within to trust and know this system.
In modern life, there are a multitude of somatic practices, and anything, even cooking in the kitchen or folding laundry, can be a somatic practice. Somatic practices range from therapy, to coaching, to movement. Somatic therapy is a therapeutic approach that helps people become aware of bodily sensations, emotions, and nervous system responses in order to process experiences, build regulation, and support healing. Somatic coaching is a growth-oriented process that uses awareness of the body, nervous system, movement, and sensation to help individuals deepen self-understanding, shift patterns, and create meaningful change in their lives. Somatic movement is the practice of moving with attention and awareness from the inside out, using intentional movement, breath, sensation, and curiosity to cultivate a deeper connection with the body and nervous system. What makes a practice somatic is not necessarily what you are doing, but how you are doing it.
What I teach in my 12-week sessions is the practice of looking within. The slow, steady rhythm, the space for stillness, and the use of sound healing all encourage and allow the body to settle into itself. While the entire session is somatic, in that it is led with the intention that you create a deeper relationship with your internal system, what is considered somatic movement are the sections of practice where there is slow and intentional movement. This movement is meant to help create a relationship with the nervous system and connect to the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is a primary pathway of communication within the parasympathetic nervous system. It is often called the wandering nerve because it travels throughout the body, connecting the brain with the throat, heart, lungs, and digestive organs.
When we begin to access moments of calm and connection through these practices, we can learn to oscillate between moments of stress and reprieve just a little bit better. We learn to connect to ourselves and the space around us with more capacity. With practice, trust builds. Not because life becomes free from stress, uncertainty, or challenge, but because we begin to trust ourselves to meet those moments differently. We learn to listen and respond to the signals of the body and the soft whispers of inner knowing. We even learn to create space for forgiveness when we override that wisdom. We learn to return to ourselves with honesty and compassion.
Join me this fall for somatic movement, stillness, and sound. Together we'll explore what becomes possible when we slow down, listen inward, and cultivate a deeper relationship with ourselves.