somatic therapy
Why is the body important in growth, transformation and healing?
We live in modern societies where bodily forms of knowing, which we all have, are not as honoured as they could be.
Our bodies perform the many trillions of complex integrated functions that give us life almost without our noticing. When all is well, we can take our bodies for granted. But they carry our life story, and through interoception (our felt sense), we can tune to our bodily signals when long-buried experience, or the need for new life comes to our attention. The body can ‘speak’ experiences or emerging needs we don’t yet have words for. Or which feel almost too much to be said. The body is our great resource, where we find ourselves. It knows. It never lies.
In paying detailed attention to our bodies – ‘listening’ to its ‘voice’; we move from trying to find instant answers or ‘fixing’, towards an opening to receive what we do not yet know. Here, through spontaneous bodily responses, we discover a movement toward healing, toward wholeness. From this perspective, we honour our ‘gut feelings’, the ‘burdens we shoulder’, what we ‘know in our bones’, what we ‘can’t stomach’, and our ‘heart felt’ desires. We honour our living experience of ourselves in relation to our world.
We work intuitively with care, compassion, skill and honesty. We take heed of somatic, bodily communication and our imaginative, creative souls. Through becoming aware of any associations these somatic responses hold for us we start to make sense of our states of being, of our reactions and responses to life. We listen… move closer, curiously enquire. We work on the edge of not knowing.
Depth psychologist Michael Meade writes:
‘we cannot remain in control and undergo change at the same time. Someone or something other than our usual self must take charge. There is always a price that must be paid for genuine learning and inner growth. The cost for finding greater truth involves giving up habitual attitudes and sacrificing fixed beliefs to make room for living wisdom.’
Working with the body in this respectful way, naturally, and in right time, reveals to us what has been in the shadows of our knowing all along... waiting for our bodily receptivity and consciousness.
Session by session we start to experience ourselves in new ways. We encounter new sensations, emotions, images and stories in the depths. We find expression of these newfound experiences and little by little, we are able to find meaning, to integrate, and to live-out who we are becoming in the world.
Healing, then, isn’t only about insight but also about experiencing ourselves differently in relationship with the world around us. It is a home-coming. Coming home to our bodies as part of the natural wisdom of LIFE.
Somatic Therapy offers an approach to growth and healing which does not start with words but with bodily awareness and being truly seen.
It is helpful to look at what the word somatic means: The word somatic comes from the Greek word soma, meaning ‘the living body in its wholeness’. It relates to how we experience life from the inside; quietening our busy thinking heads and awakening our sensing, feeling, and intuition through bodily awareness. Our awakened and sensitised body becomes our access point to a deeper knowing of ourselves in relationship with the world around us.
A body-focused approach does not exclude thought. Involving the whole body, including thinking at focused times, is important in bringing the work to consciousness and realising mind-body unity.
The work supports those experiencing:
A desire to move closer to your true and unique self
Significant life transitions
A feeling that, even after years of talking therapy, something is missing.
High achievement and the cost of success on inner life.
Residue from traumatic life events
A desire for depth, truth and devotion to life.
A desire to awaken/re-awaken your creative self
A sense of stuckness and stagnation
A sense of disconnection from your body
Anxiety and depression
An unhealthy relationship to food/eating
Physical discomfort and pain
Social and relational difficulties
Self-esteem issues
Grief and bereavement
Loneliness and isolation
And more…
Please feel free to contact me to book an initial discovery call (free of charge) to discuss how we might work together.
What to expect:
You will be invited to engage with your feeling, sensing body. Throughout the session, I will regularly invite awareness of embodied experience through verbal cues, prompts, questions and exchange; supporting, guiding and moving with what is present as I respond to the uniqueness of you as an individual and what emerges.
For in-person sessions, consented hands-on touch may be a part of the process.
The work is a process and in general needs time. We will discuss together the timeline for your unique enquiry. Sessions are weekly and generally on the same day and at the same time each week. If your work has an irregular shift pattern, where possible I will try to accommodate.
Please see About me and my approach for more information.
Sessions generally last 1hr but longer sessions may be possible, depending on availability.
Half-day, full-day or two-day retreats are also available on a 1-1 basis and can be very beneficial for some. Please feel free to get in touch to discuss this.
Pricing:
Sessions cost £75 per hour.
I hold 4 x reduced rate sessions per month for those experiencing real financial hardship. Please get in touch to discuss this possibility.
online or in-person sessions…
I offer sessions in-person or online from my studios near Kendal, Cumbria & Skipton/Leeds, Yorkshire
Stvaveley, Kendal studio:
A beautiful studio 1 mile drive/walk from Staveley village/train station.
Skipton studio:
Holistic House- a little haven in the centre of Skipton.
Studio: Staveley, near Kendal, Cumbria
As a registered somatic movement educator and therapist (RSME/T) I adhere to the ISMETA code of ethics and standards of practice:
