Examples of Somatic Practices: 

Somatic Attention- somatic attention acknowledges body awareness, and how to cultivate body awareness in and around the body. Knowing bodily sensations educates us on understanding what are we experiencing– what are we carrying- and where are we in our bodies-- it is like coming to the kinder garden school- starting from the beginning- co-creating a beginner’s mind at a cellular level. 

The first step is to identify various tensions, constrictions, movements, flow, thoughts, feelings, tightness, numbness, and other sensations, and bring these to conscious awareness. Start small as small as simply adjusting the posture, and creating body alignment. This slow process of cultivating attention and amplification of sensations brings awareness towards the deep healing experience and gradually shifts experiences.

• Resourcing – Resourcing gives access to what is already present within/around us as our resource to sustain our weary hearts. It is a process of acknowledging, and strengthening abilities nervous system’s ability to identify what is around and within. 

• Centering/ grounding- it is a practice to experience the current moment. As a pottery student, I am learning that if my clay is not centered, I can’t give it any shape. Centering is the key to pottery. Centering or grounding is also a key in dance, to be able to connect with the body- fully experiencing ourselves- connected in the world around us. I have learned from my meditation practice that it is an essential first step before going into a deeper meditation experience. The four elements exercise is an example. Such as focusing on earth- by bringing feet to the ground, focusing on air by engaging with the breath, focusing on the water by bringing saliva in the mouth or noticing any tears in the eyes, focusing on the belly’s digestive system, and so on. 

• Space: It may at times simply be a practice to co-create a brave space – a space in mind and/or in our environment to access peace, calm, and comfort. It could be imaginary or real.

• Individuals- more than human and humans: We also carry memories of those who had been protective/nurturing/ wise in our lives. They could be humans or more than humans.  These could be memories or human or more-than-human beings and can be our resources when seeking protection, nourishing presence, wisdom, empowerment, strength, trust, and more. You may be invited to ask to attend to your body; for example: “How does it feel in your body when you bring an image in your mind of those who are protective towards you?”

Our nervous system brings forward the same sensations, thoughts, and feelings associated with the feeling of being protected as it was felt in the past. You are then invited to attend to this union of mind and body. This attention to the union of mind and body offers a resource for the time in trauma memory, and pain experience and offers an anchor to replenish and restore a wholistic presence. It is a practice.

Descriptive language- this is an invitation to describe exactly what is happening instead of getting into what one thinks is or should be happening. Openmindedness, Wonderment, and staying curious help in tapping and tracking bodily experiences. For example, when dealing with anger, one can describe how the body deals with anger and where it shows in the body. A descriptive language that might help would be–  “as I track my body, it feels like a ball of fire is sitting in my belly, I feel the heat in my chest, and on my face….”. As you stay with the sensations, and follow what happens next, you’ll notice the anger moves, and how it slowly shifts as you focus on the descriptive body sensation instead of the details of the upsetting event. You can use descriptive language as a method to deepen whatever you’re experiencing. Some descriptive words are warmth, cold, tingly, sharp sensation, numbness, dull pressure, ease, spinning, lifting, swirling, or calming.