Somatic this, somatic that... I don't know if it's my algorithm, or if the world is quickly zooming in on the word "somatic". All I know is it took me a while before I understood what somatic really meant and how it applied to my life. Once I understood what it meant, I could not unsee it.
Let's start from the root, soma in greek, which means body. Somatic means anything relating to the body, and because we exist inside this body and navigate life within a body, technically anything could be somatic. That said, somatic in the context of therapy is something that connects body and mind. In other words, anything from the external world that makes us respond at a body level.
Broadly speaking, in the Western world we often disregard our bodily signals (symptoms) and look for a quick fix instead of understanding the origin of them. Examples of this are drinking coffee to combat exhaustion instead of figuring out why our body is exhausted in the first place; or using pain medication for painful periods instead of figuring our what's causing the pain.
By doing so, we are silencing a brilliant alert system made up of symptoms, which are the body's way of communicating to us that something's not right. Our bodies have a great system of signals governed by the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is the part of our nervous system that regulates our blood pressure, breathing, heart rate, and so on. When we detect changes in our environment, our ANS jumps into action and makes adjustments without us having to consciously choose to. An example of this is when we feel anxious (perceived threat) and our breathing pattern changes to a more shallow breath, and our heart rate goes up. Another example is when we are stressed and our body produces cortisol, which in turn ensure we are ready to take action if anything were to go wrong.
The beauty of our ANS is that it does all this work behind the scenes without us being aware. The problem with it is that it takes so much of our energy without us being aware and steers the boat in directions we are not consciously choosing to navigate in.
The good news is that it works on a feedback loop. If a threat is perceived, the heart rate goes up, cortisol is released, our breath gets shallower, and so on. Equally, if we consciously change our breathing patterns and the way we stand, grounding our feet on the floor and breathing with our diaphragm, we can signal to our ANS that it can relax and let go. This gives us some level of agency over our stress responses and once we become aware we become that much more capable of having a positive impact on it.
So what does somatic have to do with this? It has to do with it because there are a series of protective responses that happen at the body level to protect us from the outside world. Tensions in the body are some of these somatic responses. Let's make the example of someone getting bad news at work and not wanting to explode in sobs. They feel a big knot forming in their throat. The emotional cycle is interrupted. They go home, have a family and kids, and still don't feel like releasing those sobs. Life is busy, they go about their day. A day turns into a week, which turns into a month, and so on. If that knot is not somewhat relieved, and the emotional cycle completed, the tension in the throat stays and can become chronic which can cause further issues.
Somatic work can come in several forms: exercises, therapy, workouts, ... At its core, it means that you become aware of your body's automatic responses to external factors and notice the tensions in your body which you learn to release with awareness. It means you become much more resilient in responding to life's ebbs and flows and you learn to have agency over your own body and your healing. Your body has "armoured" over the course of your entire life, so don't expect it to de-armour in one session. Somatic work is a process, it's a journey home to your sensations and your body, and it can be one of the most empowering tools to have.
If this has made you a little more curious about what your own body is trying to tell you, Shiatsu can be a beautiful place to start.
Through touch, pressure, movement and awareness, a Shiatsu session invites you to slow down and reconnect with the sensations of your body — creating space to notice what you might normally move through, override or ignore.
If you'd like to explore the body-mind connection for yourself, I offer one-to-one Shiatsu sessions. Book a session and begin your own journey back into the body.
*A note on this article: This is an educational and personal exploration of somatic awareness, the body-mind connection and Shiatsu. It is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any medical or mental health condition, nor is it a substitute for medical or psychological care. Somatic practices and Shiatsu can support body awareness and wellbeing, but they are not a replacement for appropriate professional healthcare. If you have persistent, new or concerning symptoms, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.