When I scroll through Instagram I am inundated by posts and accounts about Somatic exercise, yoga and breathwork. The algorithm knows where my interests lie!
I think it's fantastic that so many people are tuning into how our nervous systems operate and are affected by external input. I think having techniques to help you self-regulate is a wonderful thing and I hope that these resources are genuinely helping people to find some calm in a busy and stressful world.
I do worry, however, that people believe this is a quick and easy route to heal from trauma. Trauma wounds can run deep and whilst giving your nervous system a break from time to time, exercises and breathing alone are unlikely to address the bigger issues.
Working somatically means more than just finding a movement to release anger, anxiety, sadness etc. - it means working with those difficult feelings as well.
Where have they come from?
Where do they sit in your body?
What impact do they have on you physically and emotionally?
What do you need in order to release them?
Working with a somatic therapist is important when dealing with deeper issues for a couple of reasons.
Trauma is overwhelming - trying to work through it on your own means there is a risk of constantly feeling overwhelmed and unsafe. A therapist can support you to work through small pieces of the trauma, one at a time, addressing the sensations, images, emotions, meanings and behaviours attached to them while looking for signs of overwhelm and helping you to move away from it back to safety.
Trauma is isolating, it is an experience unique to you that you could not stop happening or cope with when it happened. In therapy, you are looking at how you experience the memory of the trauma now, in a safe environment, with someone there to validate your experience but also remind you that you are now safe.
Co-regulation is how we learn as babies to regulate our own emotions. When you are living with trauma your nervous system becomes dysregulated - being in contact with someone (a therapist), who is able to remain regulated in the face of your experience, will assist your nervous system in returning to a more regulated state.
The responses & reactions from others, following a trauma, can impact how you heal from it. If you didn't get what you needed following a traumatic event it can be that which is causing you problems with moving on. A therapist can visit the experience with you (not relive it) and provide what you needed at the time.
In short, I love somatic work and that it is becoming more recognised. However, from the training I have done I also know that for certain traumatic experiences it is not something to be practised alone in order to heal, but by working with a trained therapist it can be life-changing.
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