“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” — Lao Tzu
Exploring the world of somatics within the context of mental health opens paths full of possibility. During times of anxiety, depression, PTSD, or ADHD—conditions that are increasingly prevalent today—the body can feel like a battlefield. Having sensations like that of your heart wanting to burst, or experiencing a paralysis that traps you in bed; along with feelings like the impulse to flee, or equally to freeze; each of these are intense and profoundly uncomfortable physical experiences. Under these conditions, the body ceases to be a safe place. Yet, all these symptoms are also stories that the body needs to tell, which often remain unspoken. Somatic therapy works with the body, acknowledging it as a territory rich with memories, experiences, sensations, and emotions.
The personal history of your body and mine necessarily begins at birth, where we are completely dependent on our caregivers, endowed with hyper-sensitive senses, full of curiosity, and the ability to absorb and account for every experience. From birth to the age of five, we develop from 25% to 90% of our total brain mass. Our biological strategy involves being born immature to rapidly and specifically adapt to the space, time, and circumstances of our birth. These early years are primarily staged for a significant conflict between authenticity and attachment—often too big, too fast, too soon, too painful, too little or too much for too long; all of which have happened to each of us to varying degrees. But the final ingredient that encapsulates this early life process is that we cannot recall the events that shaped our adaptation. There are no memories or words to help us process what happened; unknown yet sensed, and felt within the body.
Somatic practices do not operate within the realm of reason but rather evoke the deep, organic wisdom of the body. Discussing the body’s intelligence begins with understanding that we are part of a comprehensive natural system. This intelligence is expressed in the forces that allow atoms to attract each other, organize into molecules, cooperate, and form complex systems. The human body, as an ecosystem, encompasses about 40 trillion cells that work in harmony to maintain the necessary balance for life. This is not merely poetic, it is this force of cooperation and organization that enables us to exist, every minute of every day.
Various perspectives suggest ways to explore this bodily wisdom. Although each approach has its uniqueness, all share a common element: the focus is on the body, on internal listening, and on allowing a slowed and safe time where the important thing is not to do, but to be. For me, speaking about somatics is to talk about a return. It is the possibility of recovering the experience of feeling safe in my own body. ‘Recovering’, because at some point that feeling of safety existed but was lost. It also implies returning to a sense of belonging because it is actually something of mine, something that was always there and that I can find again.
