Somatics and Emotions - Using the Body to Support Healing

"We are slowed down sound and light waves, a walking bundle of frequencies tuned

into the cosmos. We are souls dressed up in sacred biochemical garments

and our bodies are the instruments through which our souls play their music."  

 Albert Einstein

 If you work with emotions in any capacity, you are undoubtedly using somatic practices. If your client is hyperventilating in session, you may tell them to breathe into their belly, or when strong waves of emotion arise, you remind them to focus on their breath. You may also be in the practice of grounding your clients before they leave your office- having them become aware of their feet and what they are seeing and hearing in the moment, to support an easier transition to the outside world.

But what about body awareness and gentle movements as an assessment, deepening and releasing tool? Yes, the body could (and should) be an integral aspect of all components of therapy. For true healing and transformation to happen, the body must be involved.

Just a Bit of Theory

The first known reference to the body-mind connection was almost two thousand years ago, made by Galen, the ancient Roman physician. But it was Freud’s discovery of “hysterical conversion” (the function by which material repressed into the unconscious is expressed through seemingly involuntary gestures or physical disorders) that sparked the twentieth century inquiries into the body-mind connection and launched the field of somatic psychotherapy. William Reich, Alexander Lowen, Stanley Keleman and Fritz Perls are some of the well-known names in the field. Candace Pert, author of Molecules of Emotion, (1997) can be credited with bringing somatic psychotherapy many steps closer to mainstream. My teacher, Christine Caldwell, author of Getting Our Bodies Back, gave a keynote speech over 20 years ago saying that she believed we would see in our lifetimes new ethics in the field deeming psychotherapy without the use of the body unethical.

Candace Pert’s work tells us that there are molecules of emotion spread throughout the body. What this means is that we store unexpressed emotions in our cells, muscles, organs, tissues, and fluids. Just so happens there is an abundance of receptor cites in the stomach, so gut feeling is no joke. In The Complete Guide to Your Emotions, published in 1992, Emrika Padus writes “It is estimated that 90 percent of all physical problems have psychological roots. That may sound like a gross exaggeration. In fact, it’s probably a conservative estimate. A growing body of evidence indicates that virtually every ill that can befall the body- from acne to arthritis, headaches to heart disease, cold sores to cancer – is influenced, for better or worse, by our emotions.” In recent years, even traditional medical doctors have acknowledged that stress (a catch all term for everything we might be feeling) contributes to illness.

One of the basic premises of DMT is that all feelings have a beginning, middle and end. When a feeling is uninterrupted, it will sequence through of its own accord in very little time. If you’ve been around a well-parented child, you may have seen them move from anger to laughter in what seems to be no time at all. The sequencing of emotions is interrupted when feelings are suppressed, when frozen because of trauma (physical or emotional) and in any situation where what is actually being experienced is not allowed or welcomed.  

Emotions are held in the body. What does that look like? For me, when I get angry and don’t express it, it feels like there is a vice grip around my throat. Clients have reported feeling a lump in their belly or a tightening of their arms and hands when feeling angry.  Sadness is often associated with a heavy heart, while most know anxiety as a tightening of the chest and a shortening of breath.

The body communicates what the mind tries to deny or is not aware of.  

When it comes to trauma, we may need to dance lightly into the body. Many victims of trauma consider the body the enemy as it was the target for the perpetrator. They learned how to escape from the body through dissociation, suppressing and sometimes even intentionally harming the body. Coming back into sensation can be very frightening.

When you are tuned in to your own body, you are many steps ahead in working somatically with your clients. I remember once observing a student mentee in session who was trying really hard (always a mistake in therapy) to give her client what she needed. I cued her to check in with her own body and have the client take the issue into movement. As soon as she did that, the session took off.

Ways to Bring Body Awareness and Movement into Your Sessions

1.      Start with yourself- before beginning the session (or do this with your client if it feels right) take a minute and-

· breathe into your belly

· soften your shoulders, your jaw, and any other body part that would benefit from softening

· ask yourself and your body “how are you?”  

· acknowledge whatever shows up (if I need a nap, I don’t want to or anything else arises for you that would prohibit you from being present for your client- negotiate with yourself – thinks like “help me get through the next 3 hours and then we can go for a walk” will work.)

The more comfortable you are with tuning into your body, the more you will be able to support your clients in doing the same.

2.      When a client says I feel angry, or sad or confused, ask “what does that feel like in sensation?” This question alone could take time and education. Most of us were taught to label sensations, so instead of saying my heart is racing, we’ll say I feel anxious. Instead of saying my jaw is tight, we’ll say I’m angry. Stay with it, until you get a true description of the sensation.

3.      Once the sensation is identified, coach your client to breathe into it and give it space. Allowing the heart to race will help it settle. Consciously letting the jaw be tight will help it soften.

It’s very common for new insights to arise spontaneously when sensation is allowed.

4.      Use the body to deepen positive experiences and feelings. When a client says “I felt so loved, or supported” ask “what did that feel like in your body?” “can you find that feeling now?”

This will help deepen the experience and can be used as a reference for the client to be able to tap into that feeling with or without another loving and supporting them.

5.      It’s not uncommon for clients to feel out of touch with their bodies. Reassure them how common an issue it is and do some education about why it’s important to start tuning in.