What I Do 

Somatic Expriencing - Somerset, UK & Online

I believe that the body holds the key to relief from the effects of stress and trauma. When we experience difficult feelings we also experience physical sensations. There may be a shortness of breath, a quickening pulse, parts of the body that feel tight or cold. Many of these are indications that our autonomic nervous system is agitated, out-of-sorts or dysregulated. Our bodies are talking continuously, speaking of our needs and pleasures, of what we are attracted to and what we are repelled by. Through our upbringing and as a result of the conclusions we make based on our life experience, we often ignore or override what our bodies are saying.

When we are feeling relaxed, open and happy, our autonomic nervous system is in its normal or default state. All our bodily functions are operating smoothly, our breathing is easy, heart rate and blood pressure are normal, muscle tightness is released. We smile, we feel connected, we relate well with family and friends. 

When our nervous systems are jangled, our ability to deal with difficult situations is reduced and our capacity for emotional and physical pain is diminished. When we experience stress, our bodies and minds respond in ways that are designed to keep us safe and to return us back to a happy equilibrium. But it takes a lot longer to get back to that relaxed, happy state, than the millisecond it takes us to get stressed. We often forget this and we don’t allow ourselves the space and time to come back to equilibrium after getting stressed. So the stresses keep piling up, one on top of another, there is no recovery time and then eventually we get overwhelmed.

When we are overwhelmed, we are no longer able to respond to life with our normal full set of skills, acumen and resources. Our body takes over and does whatever it know’s to do, responses which were very often learned as small children. So we may find ourself shutting-down, overcome by tiredness, listless, depressed, numb. Or we may leave a situation, disappear, distract ourselves. Or we fight, get argumentative and angry.

By learning to recognise the signs of dysregulation in the body we can choose to do some things that will restore balance. By bringing our attention to the sensations that this dysregulation creates will begin to bring about change and ease. As balance is restored we are better able to feel the things that perhaps we have been avoiding or hiding, that are in fact the cause of the dysregulation.