somatics
What is Somatics?
Somatics is a body-based approach to movement and healing that focuses on internal awareness — how movement feelsrather than how it looks. The word soma means “the body as experienced from within,” and this practice emphasizes reconnecting with the body’s sensations to support physical and emotional wellbeing.
Core Principles
-Mind–Body Connection
Somatics recognizes that the mind and body are deeply interconnected. Increasing bodily awareness can positively influence both mental and physical health.
-Internal Awareness
Movements are slow, intentional, and mindful. Rather than focusing on performance or fitness goals, the emphasis is on sensing and understanding internal experiences.
-Nervous System Re-Education
Somatic practices help release chronic tension, pain, and habitual movement patterns by retraining the brain-to-muscle connection.
-A Bottom-Up Approach
Instead of beginning with thoughts (as in traditional talk therapy), somatics begins with physical sensation, allowing stored stress and trauma to be accessed and gently released through the body.
Somatics
Somatic Techniques
-Somatic Techniques May Include:
- Slow, mindful movement (such as Cat–Cow or pelvic tilts)
- Breathwork to regulate the nervous system
- Grounding practices to increase presence
- Body scans to identify areas of tension
- Pandiculation — gently contracting and slowly releasing muscles to reset tension patterns
Common Somatic Modalities
-Common Somatic Modalities
- Hanna Somatics – movement education to relieve chronic pain
- Somatic Experiencing (SE) – trauma-focused therapeutic work
- Feldenkrais Method – movement-based learning to improve function and ease
- Body-Mind Centering – integrating movement, touch, and awareness