How does Somatic Movement help me?
Somatic Movement or Somatic Wellness is a type of body-based trauma therapy that aims to address the physical symptoms of trauma.
This stress on our body causes muscles to tighten, the tighter they get the more pain we experience, and as a result the more mental and bodily discomfort it can cause.
Somatic Movement may help alleviate:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Grief
- PTSD
- Self-esteem
- Trust and Intimacy
Somatic is a uniting force between our emotional mind, our intellectual mind and our nervous system.
Benefits of Somatic Movement:
- Gentle recovery from an injury
- Retraining of muscle and mind connection
- Increased flexibility and movement
- Greater health and well-being
- Promotes deep relaxation and pain relief
- Brings together your body, mind, emotions, soul, heart and spirit.
- Can be done at your own pace
Why is Somatic Movement helpful?
It boosts recovery, gently heals, and prevents the following conditions:
- Bursitis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Disc problems
- Fibromyalgia
- Frozen shoulder
- Functional leg length discrepancy
- Hyperlordosis
- Idiopathic scoliosis
- Joint pain
- Osteoarthritis
- Piriformis syndrome
- Plantar fasciitis
- Postural kyphosis
- Sciatica
- Spasms & cramps
- TMJ disorders
- Tendinitis
- Thoracic outlet syndrome
- Whiplash
- And more!
Some Frequently Asked Questions
Can one lose weight with somatic movement?
It is a well known fact that oxygen breaks down fat in the body. Specific guided movements conducted in somatic movement, it is slow intentional movement involving activating muscles and breadth, this combined effort helps to reduce weight on the body. It is important to note that somatic movement is not claiming to be a weight loss machine, but we all are aware of what stress does to our body. When you approach somatic from the perspective of healing and connection, you start to experience the many benefits of it, decreased stress, decreased pain, better sleep, and the loosening of what we can only call sticky stress weight.
Once you start to introspect why you were in pain, why you continue to push your body, and further stress it, you start to see your mental health gets the love and affection it needs.
You start to see that the ease of somatic movement loosens the weight sitting on your body, and it starts to melt off.
How will somatic movement help menopause?
Perimenopause/menopause can often be accompanied by unpleasant emotional and physical symptoms, hot flushes, depression, irritability, edema, weight gain all due to the rapid hormonal shifts. The notable decrease in estrogen and progesterone levels are the main physiological causative factors of this. Over and above this, women are often still managing families, work, aging parents, and their own personal aging challenges, which further contributes to menopausal stress and symptoms.
Somatic movement helps us focus and bring awareness to the mind-body connection. This connection and small intentional movement, using breadth as your life source, brings us back into our body while we navigate brain fog, restlessness, insomnia, pain, erratic moods, anxiety etc that come with the onset of perimenopause & menopause.
Why can I not continue with my physiotherapy while doing somatic movement?
Somatic movement works across the whole body.
Physiotherapy is targeted at individual muscular situations.
When somatic is practiced regularly – mind, body and the neural connectivity inside the body is strengthened.
Physio is an isolated, compound stretching of muscles, but the neural connections happen over a longer period time, if at all.
The main difference, physio can help you strengthen individual muscular parts, somatic is a more balanced whole body approach.
What is the difference between somatic movement and yoga?
Within yoga practice stretching is integral to many forms of yoga. Somatic movement is about not stretching at all.
Why?
Static stretching, involves pulling on an inactive muscle, this has no long lasting affect or relief, the fact is the muscle will start to tighten as your stretch reflex normalises. Static stretching is usually uncomfortable, and can cause muscle strains if done too quickly or deeply.
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Active stretching, done in somatic movement, focuses completely on internal sensations, and by doing this your body starts to guide you accordingly, you’ll instinctively move, rather than force the movement. Your breath will guide you through these moves and stretch and lengthen with zero stress on the body. Remember somatic movement is about connecting with your body, moving lovingly with your body, engaging breadth through that movement and easing your body into a supple and easeful equilibrium.
