Somatic Experiencing

Somatic means of the body and in this approach, we explore and strengthen our capacity to experience our felt sense; to feel sensations shifting through the body as we experience an image, movement, thought, or feeling.
It is a gentle approach that does not reactivate trauma.

At times, we may feel anxious, agitated and frantic; at times we may feel terrified, alone, confused and have no idea how to take the next step. We may have come into the world with a fright, overwhelmed and unprepared. We may have come into the world without being seen, without comfort, protection or reassurance, without a sense of joy and delight in our presence.

Trauma maybe an acute shock trauma, a specific event such as an accident, medical or surgical trauma, an ongoing build-up of traumatic stress, or developmental trauma from adverse childhood experiences. Trauma is simply anything that is too much, too soon or too fast for our systems to manage at that time.

"Trauma is not caused by the event itself, but rather develops by the failure of the body, mind, spirit and nervous system to process extreme adverse events" Peter Levine

Our nervous system decides for us how we will meet each new experience in our life. Our nervous system decides which survival pattern it will activate.

A healthy nervous system naturally and rhythmically moves between action and rest in a process of self-regulation. It’s when we are stressed, overwhelmed or traumatised that we lose our capacity to regulate in this way and move between these states. This is when the imprints of trauma are revealed to us and we see how they are held as survival energy in our body- the autonomic fight, flight or freeze response.
We can begin to see and understand these hard wired survival patterns and the underlying neurophysiology. Through a process of gentle awareness and attention, we can begin to slowly discharge them.
This is based on the pioneering work of Dr Peter Levine who noticed how animals in the wild responded to threat and naturally discharged survival energy from their bodies by shaking and releasing. He has developed a range of movement, touch, breath and awareness techniques to support individuals to tap into these natural physiological processes.

Somatic experiencing involves slowly tracking together the cycles of up-regulation and down regulation in our nervous system. This supports physical shifts and changes in the body by gently following sensations until completion. These shifts may include yawning, sighing, tingling in the limbs, hands or feet, changes in breath rate or size, softening or a sense of weight or heaviness in the muscles.
At times, we may get a glimmer of stillness, a glimmer of joy, of awe or excitement that reminds us of our aliveness, our connection to earth, to self, to others and to this world. We can deepen this experience through our capacity to stay in connection with our bodies and our senses.

This is the journey of Somatic Experiencing, of somatic healing, to experience ourselves as we are; to experience our natural rhythms of expansion and contraction, of regulation and dysregulation, exploring and withdrawing, opening and closing, laughing and crying, inhalation and exhalation.
From this place, we naturally have a deeper connection with our innate sense of aliveness, vitality and flow.
From this place we trust what our body is telling us.
From this place we trust healing is possible.