Somatic Psychotherapy

“Neuroscience research shows that the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going on inside ourselves.”  – Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk

The inner life of the body doesn’t have to be a mystery. It can be our best friend, if we just spend enough time bringing our present awareness to it. Through guided imagery, felt-sense body sweeps with our present attention, and other somatic entree points, we can begin to find that loving awareness has the capacity to hold our most wounded parts.

“Traumatized people live with seemingly unbearable sensations: They feel heartbroken and suffer from intolerable sensations in the pit of their stomach or tightness in their chest. Yet avoiding feeling these sensations in our bodies increases our vulnerability to being overwhelmed by them. Body awareness puts us in touch with our inner world, the landscape of our organism.” – Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk

The breath is one of the strongest vehicles we have in re-setting our central nervous system. Focusing on a long exhale automatically brings the parasympathetic nervous system online. It is amazing how we take our breathing process for granted and assume that it will take care of itself. And yet, Pranayama is an entire body of work dedicated to breathing techniques that can aid us in relaxing our bodies enough to feel safe inside them again, now. Every conscious inbreath is a chance to begin again, and each conscious outbreath, a chance to let go.

It begins within. Mobilizing our inner life, by natural extension, will mobilize our outer life so that we can make fresh choices, and truly change our lives.