Therapeutic Somatics:
Movement, Yoga, Breathing, Sounding, Self-Touch
An Integrative Approach for Restoration and Resilience
How you feel in your body; how you move; how you breathe; and the baseline state of your nervous system are all shaped by the entirety of your lived experience. In turn, the state of your nervous system will determine your experience of life and how safe you feel in yourself, in relationship to others and the world around you.
These sessions offer an experiential therapeutic approach to support you in exploring, reclaiming, and integrating all aspects of your being (your soma) into the embodied experience of wholeness and safety.
Somatics offers a non-dogmatic approach to working with the body, where focus is given to the inner experience rather than the external form. There is no perfect end goal to attain in any given movement or practice; rather, the emphasis is on curiosity and enquiry into the unfolding of your felt experience on a moment-by-moment basis.
When these practices are approached with openness and sensitivity, they offer an ongoing process of self-discovery and embodiment, inviting you to explore and establish a more accepting and loving relationship with yourself, where the wisdom of your body (somatic intelligence) is honoured, trusted, and able to fully express itself. Ultimately, your body becomes your best teacher.
On the most basic level, somatic intelligence lets us know when we need to take care of our biological needs such as eating, drinking, eliminating and sleeping. Somatic intelligence also speaks to us, via the language of sensation, to take care of our psychological, emotional, and social needs. If we lose touch with what the body is saying, or if we refuse to listen and respond, the body speaks louder and may even shout a clear NO, resulting in physical and psycho-emotional conditions such as chronic pain, anxiety, depression, disease, and burnout to name a few.
All aspects of our being are interrelated: body-mind-breath, brain-body, gut-brain; separation is a cognitive illusion. This means that when we make a change in one aspect of our being, there will be a ripple effect throughout our organism. So it’s not just the brain that is adaptive, but the whole organism - this is known as bioplasticity. As an example, studies now show that the gut microbiome can have a huge impact on mental and emotional health as well as physical health.
Noticing, sensing, feeling and responding to what is actually happening, in and as your body, invites you into a space of joyful exploration, connection with who you are and what you need, trust and gratitude where there is no need to be more, do more, have more. You are already enough - you always have been.
When we are in touch with somatic intelligence, we are in touch with the flow of life within, and will naturally enjoy more vitality, clarity, balance, contentment and creativity. The more you can relax into the wisdom of somatic intelligence expressing itself, the more likely you are to experience the deeper fruits of the practices - the experience of your own wholeness.
What happens in sessions?
Sessions are experiential, also known as a bottom-up approach. Together we will explore practices specific to your individual needs from somatic movement, somatic yoga (in movement and in stillness), breathing practices, sounding, and/or self-touch as an invitation for you to become more intimate with your own physiology and states of being.
This happens by reestablishing, or deepening, your capacity for interoception, the felt sense of the body from the inside. In becoming more aware and attuned to what you are feeling inside, and responding to it, real and lasting transformation happens.
What can sessions be used to explore?
These sessions can be used to explore any and all aspects of your being, including:
- Restoration of structural integrity and core strength via gentle, accessible practices;
- Embodied recovery from physical pain and accumulated tension via re-patterning of neuromuscular pathways;
- Developmental re-patterning;
- Restoration of functional breathing (scroll down for more info);
- Reclamation and restoration of boundaries, integrity and authenticity;
- Befriending your body and restoration of a healthy relationship with yourself, and those around you;
- Mapping the nervous system to understand your baseline state, reactions and individual signs of dysregulation (scroll down for more info);
- Stabilisation, recalibration and rewiring of the nervous system;
- Restoration of emotional resilience;
- Completion of thwarted stress / defence responses stored in the tissues;
- Titrated, gentle, safe release and metabolisation of residual trauma stored in the tissues;
- Reestablishing a felt sense of safety, integration and wholeness - feeling at home in the body.
What are the potential outcomes of these sessions?
- Feeling more connected with the body;
- Feeling more relaxed, grounded and centred in the body;
- Feeling more balanced and integrated in daily life;
- Experiencing relief from stress, tension, anxiety, and exhaustion;
- Experiencing more energy, vitality and joy;
- Experience better quality sleep;
- Experiencing more contentment, lightness, and clarity;
- Experiencing more emotional resilience and ability to cope with life’s challenges in healthy ways;
- Experiencing more self-acceptance, compassion and self-love where innate wisdom is honoured and trusted.
What do I offer as a facilitator?
These sessions are for everyone, irrespective of age, capacity, or experience - If you have a body and can breathe, you are welcome; all parts of you are welcome! Your body is your best teacher, so my role as a facilitator is to walk alongside you on your journey of discovery, and to provide a safe and compassionate trauma-informed space which supports the unfolding of your authentic Self. Sometimes old wounds resurface so they can be acknowledged, honoured. and released, and additional support is provided to work through anything that may arise. I bring 27 years of personal exploration and experience (which is always ongoing), 22 of which include supporting others.
You can find out more about my journey in my bio.
RESTORATION OF FUNCTIONAL BREATHING
The way you breathe tells the story of your lived experience, and also determines your physiological state and psycho-emotional wellbeing. The act of breathing should be the easiest thing in the world, and yet it’s where so much dysfunction shows up.
“When we don’t breathe fully in or out, we are withholding from full participation in both our living and dying, receiving and giving.”
— Linda Hartley, Wisdom of the Body Moving
Breathing is an act of generosity where you are both giver and receiver - with every inhalation you are given life anew and with every exhalation you give back to the plants and trees. However, breathing “fully in and out” may not mean deep breathing as you know it - functional breathing is by nature slow, relaxed and subtle. Learn how to give your breathing back to the intelligence of your body so that every breath is nourishing you on all levels.
Sessions are an invitation to do less and to feel more, exploring somatic practices that reveal any habituated breathing tendencies, patterns and dysfunctions so as to bring them into conscious awareness. You will be invited to deepen your intimacy with what is actually happening in and as your body breathing, so that the deepening of your awareness invites transformation to happen from the inside out.
As you develop a different relationship with your body breathing, and return to more functional breathing where the breath can be received by the abdomen and pelvis, you may experience more ease and freedom not only in your breathing but also throughout your whole organism, especially the nervous system.
NERVOUS SYSTEM REGULATION FOR RESILIENCE
The baseline state of your nervous system has a huge impact on your life, especially your physical and psycho-emotional health, your relationship with yourself and others, and how safe you feel.
Signs of dysregulation in the nervous system may include chronic stress and tension patterns, emotional reactivity and reduced capacity to cope, chronic fatigue, difficulty sleeping, chronic disease, and conditions that are often considered mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression…. to name a few.
Dysregulation will also manifest as an altered perception of risk and safety, making it difficult to connect and attune to others. Studies have shown that when the nervous system is out of balance, we perceive hostility, threat and danger even in neutral facial expressions. All this happens below the threshold of our conscious awareness, and such misperceptions reinforce the feeling of lack of safety and lead to more isolation, when what we most deeply need as human beings is healthy connection with others.
Being human means you will face all manner of challenges during your lifetime but you don’t need to live in a state of chronic stress and constant overwhelm. Becoming curious about your nervous system and its adaptive survival responses are the keys to compassionate understanding and healing.
With practice and commitment, it’s possible to re-establish more resilience in the nervous system, meaning having a flexible system that has the capacity to move through all the states as and when needed without getting stuck, and where the experience of safety and connection is your baseline state.
Pricing
Sessions are offered with a tiered pricing structure rather than one fixed price. The intention is to allow more people to access sessions, supported by those who have access to more funds. Please choose the option that feels appropriate to you and your circumstances. You will not be asked to justify your choice.
REBALANCING
For those with good financial resources who wish to support others and help rebalance systemic inequity.
€80 / £70 p/h
FAIR
For those with sufficient financial resources who can pay the fair value for the sessions.
€60 / £55 p/h
SUPPORTED*
For those who currently have limited financial resources and can benefit from sessions supported by the community.
€40 / £40 p/h
Sessions are available in the Lourinhã area, Lisbon and online.
*At present, the SUPPORTED rate is only available for online sessions.
Due to the nature of this work, one-to-one sessions are recommended. Group sessions are available by request and the practices given will be adapted to a group setting, rather than specific to any one individual.