Somatic embodiment is about getting your mind and body re-connected. It is tuning back in to how your body and your physical senses experience the environment you move in and can be a game changer when it comes to wellbeing. Once you start listening out for examples you will notice where this communication between body and mind is often going a bit wrong…
For example, last week I was having a drink with a friend when she commented how too much coffee made her anxious. Unfortunately for her, my favourite new bugbear is how often I hear natural body reactions being mis-interpreted or medicalised with a label such as ‘anxiety’… so bless her, I was on my soap box before she could say ‘give it a rest, it’s the weekend!’
Short Rant
Caffeine is a stimulant, it increases adrenaline and alertness. Have too much and your heart rate will increase. If there is no outlet for that boost of energy then, sure, a racing heart and overactive brain can feel like anxiety but what you are experiencing first and foremost are the effects of caffeine in your system. If you do have anxiety then these sensations can worsen your symptoms.
Adding a label can reinforce an idea. Say you regularly have a coffee before leaving for work you can come to associate the racing heart with concerns about your job or the journey. We love to attach a story to our experiences so these can quickly become self-fulfilling prophecies as we focus on the examples that bolster our chosen narrative.
Somatic Embodiment
Recent work with clients has taken me down a path of discovery into somatic practices. The term comes from the Greek word soma, meaning ‘relating to the body’ whilst embodiment is about being in our bodies. It calls for increased body awareness through mindfulness around how we move, breathe and connect with ourselves.
Embodiment might seem a strange term, after all where else are we going to be? Yet too often we are living completely in our heads, and that is a place not bound by time so we can easily get caught up in the past or the future and miss out on the here and now.
As I have learnt more about the nervous system, and in particular, the parasympathetic nervous system or ‘rest and digest’ mode, I began to understand how little I was communicating with my body and how messages were misinterpreted or, at the conscious level at least, missed altogether.
Tuning In To your Body
Stop reading or listening to this blog for a moment and tune into your body, what do you notice? Have you been sat for too long in one position? Do you need the toilet? Are you thirsty? Does your knee ache? How is your breathing, is it shallow or deep? Are you holding tension in any areas?
Your body will be sending you a constant stream of messages. Were you aware of any of them before you stopped to tune in? If you weren’t, then you weren’t fully in your body, so where were you?
Like a car dashboard, our bodies flash up warnings of what needs attention. The more we ignore the warnings the louder they shout. This is how we can miss a habitual movement or posture until it’s causing pain.
The body is the place where we meet our environment. Amazing, mundane and terrible things happen there. Difficult experiences or trauma can increase the dissociation with the body further; what better way to escape shouting parents than to float off in your head?
In our digital age this has been taken to a whole new level. Most of our interactions can be carried out in the absence of our body’s input. We don’t need to go anywhere or physically connect with anyone.
Now add a bit too much coffee and not enough sleep. How you feeling?
What story have you attached to that?
The Body Remembers
I was first drawn to the idea of bodywork as a cornerstone of trauma therapy by Bessel Van Der Kolk’s groundbreaking book, The Body Keeps The Score (2014). He’d seen, in his work with veterans, how the body stored trauma that needed to be heard and processed before psychological healing could happen. Cognitive understanding alone is not always enough. Working with the body can re-establish a sense of inner safety and so become the bridge to recovery.
A Healthy Mind / Body System
We experience the world through our bodies; our eyes, our ears, our skin. Our brain interprets this sensory input, adding its own nuance. To start building a healthier relationship with yourself try checking in various times through the day, maybe first thing in the morning, last thing at night and as you move from one task to another. Be curious about the sensations you are experiencing. Think about what they might be telling you. By noticing them you are starting to reconnect mind and body, creating a partnership instead of a struggle for mastery.
Since Descartes wrote ‘I think therefore I am’ the balance of power between body and mind has swung heavily in the mind’s favour. We think of our body as something to be overcome, to be disciplined, or conquered, rather than something to be grateful for; something to be nourished and cared for.
References
Van der Kolk, Bessel. "The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma." New York 3 (2014).
Comments