Tide Song Healing Arts

---

Our somatic or felt-sense experience is the primal language of the body. In the modern world, most of us have grown to be disconnected from our bodies through the effects of trauma and the abstractions of our language and culture.

In my experience, most people’s tendency is to describe what they are sensing with abstract concepts such as “feelings” like good, bad, happy, sad, angry, etc. These words can subtly perpetuate disconnection between mind and body because abstract concepts lack the nuanced details of the direct embodied sensory experiences. Our living bodies are speaking to us all the time, and when we learn to listen, we begin to experience embodiment in new and surprising ways.

Somatic exploration is about reawakening the sensual experience of embodied wisdom and cultivating a more direct relationship with the inherent healing forces within. Effective healing emerges from the inside out rather than external forces. By learning to listen and follow what our embodied wisdom is telling us, we have access to a more empowered healing process.

Somatic Exploration may be useful in resolving both chronic and acute issues including:

+ Stress management
+ Habits in how we hold and move our bodies
+ Pain & Tension (both chronic & acute)
+ Emotional & Mental Imprints & Patterns
+ Spiritual Issues
+ Embodiment Issues
+ Grief & Shame
+ Effects of Trauma

Somatic exploration can be a stand-alone approach or can be integrated with most other modalities including manual therapies and remote healing sessions. It usually involves some verbal interaction as we seek to identify and develop a deeper relationship with the sensual language of the body. This can range widely from very specific anatomical sensations to more abstract images, memories and waking dreams. Every session of Somatic Exploration is completely unique to the individual and what is emergent in their process.

Sensation Lexicon

The following document is a list of sensation words that can be helpful in developing language to describe our somatic experiences. The more we are able to recognize the details inherent in our felt sense, the more connections we are able to make in the experience of our bodies. Connections bring recognition and integration which leads to fluidity, resolution of chronic patterns, and coherence between systems.