What is Somatic Awareness?

“Healing begins when we learn to follow the sensations, not the story.”— Peter Levine

Somatic awareness (also known as body awareness) is the conscious awareness of your body’s sensations. In somatic therapy, there is no judge. There are simply sensations that may feel more comfortable or uncomfortable, rather than good or bad. Physical pain, trauma, and cultural conditioning can disconnect us from our conscious awareness of our bodily sensations. This is normal. This is protection. This is your mind and body trying to help you survive.

Over time, however, as we continue to live our lives disconnected from our subjective experience, from our subtle—and sometimes not so subtle—bodily cues, it begins to take a toll. Somatic awareness is simply the ability to perceive your bodily signals. Our bodies and nervous systems are constantly communicating with us through physical sensations, emotions, tension, breathing, posture, and energy levels. Learning to notice these signals can help us better understand our needs, boundaries, and emotional responses. Our bodies give us information all day long about our world: whether food leaves us feeling energized or depleted, whether a person makes us feel hopeful or uneasy, or whether a situation feels safe or overwhelming.

As renowned writer and researcher, Brené Brown, so poignantly explained in one of her most famous talks,

“The problem is you can’t selectively numb emotions – so if you numb out fear and shame and grief and vulnerability; you also numb out joy and love and gratitude and happiness.”— Brené Brown

This is one reason body awareness is so important. While disconnecting from bodily sensations may have once helped you cope, it can also distance you from feelings of joy, love, wonder, and curiosity.

In my practice, I help clients gently reconnect with their bodies by exploring why this disconnection developed in the first place. Through somatic awareness and a trauma-informed approach, we work toward building a new relationship with your bodily sensations, your emotions, and your inner experience, so you can make choices that feel more authentic, grounded, and fulfilling.

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