Life As a Somatic Exploration
“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are….The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure” - Joseph Campbell
As babies we are bundles of pure emotion and we communicate solely through touch, facial expressions, and sound. As toddlers we find our legs and are thrilled to begin exploring “hands on” the world around us. Everything is so exciting! We intuitively feel that all things will be better understood if put in our mouth…. All senses are involved in learning…. And, there is very little differentiation between us and all things around us. As we learn to talk, the world opens up even more and interaction becomes more multi-dimensional. For young children being alive is an emotional extravaganza each and every day and the learning process an experience that is forever shape shifting into new beautiful configurations like an intricately blossoming kaleidoscope!
Then we begin to grow up and our reasoning brain starts to take over. Our learning capacity deepens and we are able to understand concepts with more complexities. We begin to view ourselves as “our own Being”, separate from “Other”, and we intuitively begin to ask ourselves the question “Who am I?” … It is during this malleable time in our development that we can be a little uncertain or confused. We suddenly have concerns about our image and how we are being perceived. We learn that situations can be manipulated. Other peoples opinions affect us and thoughtless comments or perceived social pressures can have long-term traumatic effects on our life. In school we explore social dynamics that help us find “our place” amongst others and during these years we generally experience many different activities, which help us to discover what we enjoy. We learn what kind of people we want to be and what kind of people we want as friends. A sense of self identity and the development of ego begin to take root, which serve an important purpose and is a natural process. We need a strong sense of “Self” to get along in this crazy world and a ton of perseverance to create a sustainable and self reliant life! Life is a continuously tricky balancing act … and it can be exhausting to realize that jumping through all of the hoops is just part of the process!
So…… What is “Somatic Therapy”, “Somatic Psychology” or “Somatic Bodywork”? “Soma” is a greek word meaning “living body”. When you think back on your childhood, adolescent years, and young adulthood what are the adventures, social dynamics, and activities that you feel shaped you? What were some of the “defining moments” that sculpted what you choose to create in life or turned you in the direction you took… the direction that became “your path”. Throughout the journey of your life what are the biggest emotional experiences that stand out, the great successes, or the times you were “under tremendous pressure” or felt “suffocated by grief” or felt “uncontrollable rage” or felt “trapped” by your work/family/circumstance? Have you ever felt like your own needs were inconsequential or that you were just “plowing” ahead without a sense of purpose? Have you ever felt that you had to “stand your ground” for an extended period of time, or “protect your heart” from the world, or had to “grin and bear it” regardless of your true feelings? How did you “move” through these challenging phases in life? How did you acknowledge the celebrations? We are continuously communicating to the world around us who we are through what we do and how we act.
Structured in our body posture and moving through our energy system are the emotions and experiences of our life. Somatic (body) practices are awareness oriented approaches that connect us with our body. If we recognize that …. our attitudes, beliefs, values, hopes, dreams, fears, memories, and experiences are expressed through our body and reflected in the way we move through the world ….., then we realize it is possible to access greater understanding of ourselves through connecting with the body. The choices we make, the food we eat, the substances we become dependent on, the habits we form, the environmental factors we surround ourselves with and the emotions we cultivate all contribute to how we are “literally” physically shaped, how we “feel” in our body, how we deal or dance with life, and how life “responds” to us. That being true, we can explore who we are and heal the “disturbances in the force” using our awareness, movement, breath, and visualization to connect through the body. We can learn to listen more deeply to the sensations, impulses, and feelings that communicate to us what is needed for our own healing. We can get in touch with our past, shaking off what doesn’t serve us anymore and we can feel into the visions our soul is asking us to manifest for the future, breathing in the possibility of change. We can release painful imprinting or tap into deep wells of joy we have never known. Massage & Somatic bodywork, mindfulness practices, gentle exercise, spontaneous authentic movement or dance, emotional releases where tears of sorrow and laughter become one beautiful flood of emotion, exploring altered states of consciousness, meditation and meditative movement practices like Tai Chi or Qi Gong, connecting with nature, or practicing loving communication are all ways to connect more with ourselves and cultivate healing. Living life more consciously through our body, every breath becomes more meaningful and every interaction with others more connected.
