Somatics is a holistic way to transform. It engages our thinking, feeling, sensing, and actions. Transformation, from a somatic view, means that the way we are, relate, and act becomes aligned with our visions and values -even under pressure.
More than understanding and insight, it supports us in embodying new ways of being aligned with a broader vision. Somatics is very effective in healing trauma and embodying new skills for leadership, organization building and social change. It teaches us how to be able to do the things we want to do and how to be ourselves.
Somatics introduces us to an embodied life and reminds us that we are organic and changing people. There are vast amounts of information within our bodies and sensations. When we learn to listen to the language of sensation, to live inside of our skins, a whole new world opens. What is most important to us, what we long for, is found and felt through our sensations, impulses, and embodied knowing. Through the body, we can access ourselves, develop self-knowledge, and change.
The habits and survival strategies we develop through life are also bodily phenomena. One of the most effective ways to interrupt reactions and respond based on what we care about is through the felt senses. This is where we can learn about and retrain our nervous systems and develop ourselves.
Finally, somatics can remind us that we are human, connected to a much wider fabric of life. Objectification of others and disconnection from the land and our living environments require us to numb, separate, and disassociate.
Not feeling ourselves allows us not to feel others. Opening to our own senses, perceiving, and aliveness allows us to develop and remember our empathy and interdependence.
Somatic Stress Release
Somatic Stress Release™ is a holistic system to enhance body awareness and increase the capacity to complete biological stress responses. The intention is to restore and optimize your ability to adapt and navigate life with ease and agency. By working with me you will learn how to enhance your capacity to identify internal responses to stressors and mobilize that energy toward restoration and ease.
Somatic Stress Release will provide you with:
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A deeper understanding of the biological, social, and psychological aspects of stress
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Empowered responses to somatic symptoms and triggers for emotional and physical distress
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Embodied mindfulness and resilience techniques that will work for you
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Confidence to engage in movement meditations and breath work that releases trapped or stored arousal energy
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New habits that rebuild depleted biological resources
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A customized curriculum to help you take control of your relationship with stress to live a life of greater well-being
Somatic Stress Release™ empowers you to discharge stress holistically, blocked emotions, and body tension and relieve stagnated energy while restoring resilience.
Somatic Mindfulness Coaching
Our system is intelligently designed to protect us from pain and overwhelming emotional intensity. We call this survival response- trauma. It’s how our system has organized in response to what has happened to us -or- didn't happen "for" us. It is not necessarily an event that leads to trauma but the absence of resources and support, internally and externally.
Trauma is stored in the body as energy and sensations, along with associated thoughts and memories. ​
Our nervous system has an unconscious process of detecting threats and then activates a survival mechanism of fight/ flight/ freeze/fawn to protect us. It believes our thoughts and may respond to traumatic memory as if it is present-moment danger. ​In this work, we maintain mindfulness of our thoughts and sensations in our bodies. This focus helps to take traction away from our automatic strategies for avoiding uncomfortable or threatening feelings (that we all do).
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“Safety IS the treatment.” Dr Stephen Porges, Polyvagal Institute
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Our goal is healing and freedom! We need to know what grabs us and makes us go unconscious. From the safety of this moment, and with clarity and kindness, connecting with our inner world heals us. We see through core deficiency beliefs and develop authentic connection with ourselves and then with trusted others.
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We use tools for thought, like tapping and frame/trace, and tools for sensation, like locate/describe and mining for meaning. We cultivate awareness of breath.
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Our body signals danger through sensation (with associated thoughts), and we listen:
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When did I tighten up, and why?
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Can I stay present in my body and with my breath?
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Can I stay connected and be kind and patient with myself?
Traumatic memory feels like a threat, and we hold our breath and tighten. Grounded in this present moment, we signal back safety by easing our breath and softening our bodies. We connect with our younger self, who is hurt and scared.
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We have direct experiences that it is safe enough to stay present. Understanding ourselves through a trauma lens, we release shame for our experiences and our past and present nervous system responses. We get to know and trust ourselves. Our sessions are a place where we practice being deeply authentic and on our own side.
I am proud to be a certified, trauma-informed Somatic Mindfulness Coach and CPTSD advocate.
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Lynn Fraser's Stillpoint community members are eligible for 60-minute facilitations for $90 Cdn + HST. A limited number of "pay what you can" sponsorships are available to coaches in training.
For free Somatic Mindfulness Inquiry resources & online courses to support you between sessions, go to: https://lynnfraserstillpoint.com/somatic-mindfulness-inquiry. Lynn and her colleague Lane Ledoux are the guides I turned to for support with burnout recovery and healing from the lingering symptoms of complex trauma.
The Somatic Stress Release Workshop
Workplace Wellness Series: When you're flooded by a stress response, it becomes difficult and exhausting to show up wholeheartedly in your life, work and collaborations.
Increasing your capacity for self-regulation means less energy is expended when facing challenges.
One of the most effective pathways towards that awareness and resolution is through feeling a deeper sense of —and connection with— the body-mind, an approach called somatics.
As stress is experienced and expressed through the body, a somatic or body-focused approach can more quickly address habitual responses to internal and external stressors.
Invite me to your next group meeting and experience a 60-minute experiential workshop. You'll be guided through practices to regulate your nervous system and transform your response to current life stressors. Virtual workshops for groups of 20+ start at $1000 + HST.