Integrating Mind and Body: The Benefits of Somatic Bodywork

Whether you’re new or a seasoned wellness junkie, you probably already know a bit about bodywork.

Maybe you love getting massages, thermal wraps, or facials. A visit to the spa is part of your dream day.

And you also probably know about talk therapy where you’re able to talk through your emotions with a trauma informed practitioner.

Now, imagine if those two were combined: soothing bodywork techniques paired with delving into your internal world, almost like body psychotherapy.

Well, somatic bodywork does just that.

It includes things like reiki, craniosacral therapy, and you guessed it, somatic yoga. It’s the type of bodywork where you really tune into how you feel inside.

It’s not just about rubbing muscles; it’s about using words and touch together to help you connect deeper with yourself. This kind of bodywork isn’t just for loosening tight spots—it’s about exploring and healing on a whole other, deeper level.

What Is Somatic Bodywork?

Somatic bodywork is a holistic approach that combines traditional bodywork techniques like massage, reiki, or craniosacral therapy with verbal communication to help you connect deeply with your inner bodily sensations and perceptions. It’s a core part of somatic therapy and helps to promote healing, release tension, regulate your nervous system, and soothe chronic pain caused by emotional and physical distress.

Trauma and stress get stored in the body, and often, we can’t talk our way through physical pain or muscle tension. Our bodies hold discomfort, trauma, and produce stress hormones. Sometimes, the quickest path to healing is through somatic healing and getting into your mind body connection through somatic awareness.

From a trauma healing and embodiment perspective, somatic bodywork is an incredibly powerful tool in your healing process. Somatic bodywork helps you release stored tensions and trauma by working not just on the physical level with body awareness but also on the emotional and energetic layers of your body, tapping into your mind body connection as well as your soul and spirit.

This approach, often rooted in physical touch and somatic experiencing, is a therapeutic approach that encourages awareness of bodily sensations to promote healing and bring a sense of wholeness to your whole body.

When tied into yoga, somatic bodywork enhances your time on the mat by encouraging slow, embodied movement and a deeper connection with your body’s signals.

You can release trauma on a cellular level when you combine somatic work with meditation, mindfulness, and embodied yoga.

This integration can help you heal more quickly, handle difficult emotions as they arise, release tension, and work through past traumas with a deep sense of awareness. Really, somatic bodywork is tapping into your body’s innate wisdom to process stress and trauma and return to your natural state of health and balance.

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Benefits Of Somatic Bodywork

Our bodies are a treasure trove of wisdom—a true “body of knowledge.” They have been present at every moment of our lives, experiencing everything through our senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.

Our bodies contain the narrative of our lives. It’s essential to “listen” and pay attention to mind body sensations, as these sensations are the body’s language. As a somatic bodyworker, you’ll guide and teach your clients and students to listen to their body. You’ll help them tune into their inner experiences through bodily awareness and live life in a whole new way.

This approach to bodywork is gentle and effortless. When you do any form of somatic therapy, you’ll typically feel energized and revitalized rather than drained. Most people feel a sense of self compassion, a release of tension, or an emotional release. No matter what, you gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your ability to recognize your symptoms and process emotions through somatic awareness and bodywork.

Somatic bodywork offers numerous benefits that enhance overall well-being. Here are some of the key advantages:

Improved Awareness

Somatic bodywork helps you develop a heightened sense of awareness of your body, allowing you to recognize and address areas of tension and imbalance more effectively. Somatic therapies are a form of therapy that focus on the body and how emotions are stored. Through movement and focus, you gain a better understanding of how to respond to your feelings when they arise and process them through the body.

During meditation or savasana, you may have tried a body scan, feeling where any tension takes form in your body. A somatic practitioner helps you find other forms of emotions in the body and how to process them so you can release them.

Stress Reduction

By focusing on mindful movement and breath, somatic bodywork activates the body’s relaxation response, significantly reducing stress and anxiety levels (Smith et al., 2017). Some even refer to it as sensorimotor psychotherapy. Somatic therapy is often the therapy of choice for anyone who has stored stress in the body, especially those with a trauma background. Somatic therapy is an effective treatment on one’s healing journey and it’s known to have great effectiveness when facing feelings of stress and anxiety.

Pain Relief

Techniques used in somatic bodywork can alleviate pain that’s chronic by addressing muscle tension and improving posture (Jones & Smith, 2018). Somatic therapy is often recommended for anyone who suffers from both physical aches and the stress of anxiety. You can create new patterns and learn to work with your body to alleviate symptoms, especially if you work with a somatic therapist.

Emotional Release

Somatic practices can facilitate the release of stored emotions and trauma, promoting emotional healing and resilience (Brown, 2016). Being alive in modern times takes a toll on our bodies, and most of us have experienced some form of trauma in life. While talk therapy can help, somatic therapy can help the body release the stored emotions.

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Enhanced Flexibility and Mobility

Somatic bodywork encourages balanced movement, leading to greater flexibility and mobility in everyday activities. If you’re on the mat, bringing in somatic bodywork will only enhance your range of motion. And if you’re looking to stay flexible as you age, somatic bodywork can help.

Better Sleep

Regular somatic bodywork sessions can improve sleep quality by reducing stress and promoting relaxation (Williams & Anderson, 2019). When you carry less stress and tension, you’re less likely to stay up at night with worry. Your body can fully enter its parasympathetic state and you can sleep more soundly.

Holistic Well-being

By integrating physical, emotional, and mental aspects, somatic bodywork supports overall holistic health and well-being (White, 2020). While Western medicine has its place, you can boost your health with holistic practices, like somatic healing, too. The more you become aware of your body, the more you’re able to advocate for yourself and your health.

Mind-Body Connection

Your somatic practice strengthens the connection between your mind and your body, helping you become more attuned to their physical sensations and emotional states. In our modern world, we spend a lot of time numbing out, whether it’s binge watching shows or endlessly doom scrolling in bed. Somatic yoga can help you get back in your body and feel how your mind and body are working together and connected.

Trauma Healing

Somatic bodywork provides a safe space for you to process and heal from trauma, and can help with enhancing your ability to cope with stressors (Johnson, 2017). Again, just like you can release emotions, you can release trauma too. The body holds onto past traumatic experiences and through somatics, you can release that stored trauma, and help others do the same.

How To Become A Somatic Bodyworker

To become a somatic bodyworker, you’ll need a few things: somatic training, hands-on practice, a supportive community, and a willingness to focus on your own personal growth.

Here are the steps to guide you on this fulfilling path:

1. Find an embodiment training

Just like you would vet a yoga training, you want to do the same when choosing where you study somatic bodywork. Enroll in a program that offers training in embodiment along with research-based foundations and practical applications of techniques like embodied yoga. If you’re looking for somewhere to start, join my Embodied Yoga Workshop.

2. Gain certification

Make sure you choose a training where you’ll receive a certification. Certification ensures you meet professional standards and can provide safe, effective treatments to your students and clients. In my Somatic Yoga Training Certification program, you receive a life coaching certification rooted in embodied yoga, so you can facilitate lasting change for your students

3. Master your cues and communication skills

In order to effectively guide your clients and students, you need to speak their language, a language that helps them get into their body. Make a list of the cues that work in each session. In my training program, I give you a manual with all the cues I use for each type of somatic coaching and embodied yoga poses.

4. Get hands-on experience

Before you can start working with clients and students, you need to practice. In my training program, you’re working with a cohort of other yoga teachers, coaches, and healers, and you get to practice on each other. You can also start working with clients under supervision of another somatic bodyworker to gain practical experience. Maybe you want to join a local wellness center where you can apply your skills and receive feedback from experienced practitioners.

5. Continue your education

The beautiful thing about somatics is the practice is always evolving, as are you and your students! I’m constantly learning new ways to apply somatic bodywork to my yoga practice and for the students I teach. I’ll be sharing some of my latest and greatest techniques in my Embodied Yoga Workshop.

Attend workshops, read relevant books and articles, and join somatic healing groups to keep enhancing your knowledge and skills. Your work as a somatic bodyworker will continue to evolve as you do.

Final Thoughts

By improving body awareness, reducing stress, alleviating pain, and promoting emotional release, somatic bodywork provides SO MANY benefits that extend beyond the mat or bodywork session.

Whether you seek relief from chronic pain, stress reduction, or a deeper mind-body connection, somatic bodywork can be a valuable addition to your self-care toolbox, and you can bring it on the mat too, deepening your practice.

Next Steps

If you’re ready to deepen your somatic practice, join my Embodied Yoga Workshop. I’ll show you practical tools to enhance your daily life and relationships through intuitive movement and somatic bodywork.

Or if you’re ready to learn more about somatic techniques and how to teach somatic yoga and bodywork, sign up for my 200-Hour Online Yoga Teacher Training. This comprehensive training will equip you with practical tools and insights to enhance your somatic practice and effectively guide others on their somatic bodywork journey.

If you’re interested in exploring the benefits of somatic bodywork for yourself, consider scheduling a session with a certified somatic therapist to experience the practice firsthand. Look for practitioners who have comprehensive training and a good reputation to ensure you receive the best care. You can also start integrating somatic techniques into your daily routine by practicing mindful movement, breathwork, and body awareness exercises at home. I show you how to do this in my Embodied Yoga Workshop.