What is Somatics?
Do you believe humans can heal and transform in lasting, sustainable ways?
Are there ways that you show up in the world that you wish were different, that aren’t serving you or your loved ones?
Are there qualities that you’d like to embody more?
Somatics is, in short…
The art of how humans change in alignment with our values…
The goal is embodied transformation, individually or collectively, change that shows in our actions, ways of being, relating, and perceiving, which sustains over time. We say that we know that we have “transformed” when our actions align, more and more, with our vision and values, even under the same old pressures.
The art of living with awareness, purpose and vision.
We believe that we are what we practice and we are always practicing something. Somatics has us ask: what are we practicing, and for the sake of what am I practicing X right now, and does this align with my values? These simple questions can unlock deep layers of self-awareness and help us reorient towards our vision and values.
The return to a holistic, interdependent, connected sense of self.
The words “Somatics” comes from the Greek word “soma” and means “the living organism in its wholeness.” The philosophy that underlies somatics is inherently a pushing back on the Western concept that “we are what we think,” and that are bodies are simply there to carry our minds to our next meeting…
In somatics, our concept of “self” includes the body, mind, moods, emotions, internal narratives and how we relate to others, including landscape and spirit. This is an attempt to name and understand the human being as an integrated biological, psychological, social and energetic whole.
Why do you call this “survival skills for the apocalypse?”
We are at a critical juncture on the planet and, with the recent election, we will very likely be facing immense losses, politically, socially, environmentally and economically on a new scale. The temptation to shut down, numb, freeze, run, hide and dissociate will be greater; the temptation to lash out at each other will be greater; the temptation to feel powerless will be greater; the temptation to feel isolated and alone will be greater…
Somatics offers us a rich potent toolkit of the life-giving skills that we need in these times. Through somatic practice and inquiry, we learn how to cultivate resilience and access an unshakeable sense of dignity and purpose, how to be with a wider range of emotions and how to expand our ability to be with uncomfortable feelings, how to feel integrated and connected with our bodies and the earth and each other, how to understand how we really are, how to really feel for and be in authentic relationship with others, how to set the boundaries we need to be in relationship, how to befriend and dignify old patterned behaviors and develop the new skills that we need to move forward in this time.
We need you, here with us.
We can’t afford to cede our precious life energy, our humanity, to the destructive forces that seek to control this country, our bodies and beyond. To survive in these turbulent times and to be able to meaningfully move the needle towards collective liberation, we need you, here with us, in your beautiful glorious body, exactly as you are.
Count me in! Where do I begin?
To support the goal of embodied transformation and collective liberation for all beings and all bodies, at Welcome Home Somatics, I offer individual somatic coaching and a variety of small community groups, all of which incorporate these somatic practices and principles.
If any of this speaks to you, please reach out by signing up for a discovery call here.
Sites of Shaping
In somatics, we want to get to know our “current shape.” What this means is exploring what habits, old patterns or behaviors, thoughts, internal narratives are currently embodied in you. How do you currently show up when you’re under pressure, big or small, internal or external? As part of this exploration, we use this “Sites of Shaping/Sites of Change” model first developed by Alan Greig and generationFIVE, where we examine these major spheres in our lives, from the individual, family, intimate network, community, insitutions, social norms, historical forces, and finally to spirit and landscape, seeking to understand how each site has influenced who you are today and how you view the world and what is possible within it. These broader sites are also where collective, societal change is made, when many people work together push back against oppressive beliefs, laws, norms, etc…
embodied Transformation
Three of the core and overlapping aspects of somatic transformation are somatic awareness, somatic practices and somatic opening, which are all set within our larger social context and our relationship to spirit and land. Somatic awareness is where we focus on building a deeper ability to feel and work with sensations, feelings, moods and habituated patterns in the body. During coaching sessions, as it feels appropriate and supportive to the content that is arising, I will offer body-based somatic practices which aid in the process of getting to know one’s “current shape” or to develop new skills. (All practices can be adapted to all bodies.) Together, we will land on what practices would be helpful for you to do outside of coaching to support you moving towards your goals. Somatic opening is that space where change begins to blossom in your tissues, building from deepening somatic awareness, many reps of somatic practices building new options, and tender processes of deep befriending and learning from all that has helped you survive to this moment.
Background & lineage
The word “somatics” is popping up everywhere these days. There are many different approaches and definitions, with the common denominator generally being that it has something to do with the body. The particular lineage of somatics that I practice (Strozzi/generative somatics) was founded by Richard Strozzi-Heckler in the 1980s, drawing on many traditions and schools of thought such as Aikido, Gestalt therapy, Jungian psychology, the Lomi School, Polarity therapy, and the work of individuals such as Elsa Gindler, Randolph Stone, Ida Rolf, Moshé Feldenkrais Ph.D., and many others. Staci Haines and generative somatics further developed the methodology, bringing a politicized lens to the body of work, broadening the focus on primarily fostering change on an individual level, but also applying it to social movement work and supporting change on a systemic level. You can learn more about the roots of this particular lineage of somatics here.
“Somatics pragmatically supports our values and actions becoming aligned. It helps us to develop depth and the capacity to feel ourselves, each other and life around us. Somatics builds in us the ability to act from strategy and empathy, and teaches us to be able to assess conditions and “what is” clearly. Somatics is a practice-able theory of change that can move us toward individual, community and collective liberation. Somatics works through the body, engaging us in our thinking, emotions, commitments, vision and action.”