When Talking Isn't Enough: Why We Are Turning to the Wisdom of the Body

Let’s explore why combining talk therapy with somatic work and a coaching approach can have the right ingredients for deep healing.

It’s Time To Talk

Traditional talk therapy emphasises cognitive and verbal processing as the main tools for understanding and addressing emotional experiences. And this is an important part of therapeutic work.

You are encouraged to share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences, allowing therapists to offer insights, guidance, or strategies for change.

The focus tends to be on the mind, with the understanding that insights gained through conversational exploration can lead to healing. And it’s true that this approach can and does have a profound impact.

Listening To The Body

Somatic therapies centre on the sensations and cues from the body being a key part of the healing process. These therapies recognise that experiences of trauma and anxiety are often held in the nervous system and expressed through physical sensations and ailments.

By tuning into the body, you can gain a deeper understanding of your experiences and release stored tension, facilitating a more holistic healing process.

Somatic therapies view the source of distress as being within the mind-body. While talk therapy tends to explore past experiences through cognitive reasoning and patterns, somatic approaches look at how unprocessed emotions manifest physically.

Headaches, nausea, tension, breathing patterns, posture changes putting pressure on the skeleton, joints and muscles, sensations of anxiety and stress, fatigue, and brain fog can all be related to past emotional experiences we haven’t fully understood. This is because of the role the nervous system plays in our overall health and wellness.

We use techniques like breathwork, movement, and mindfulness to help you become more aware of these sensations, when they occur, if there are triggers. Then we can use talk therapy approaches to make the cognitive connection.

Why We Do Both

Both methods are invaluable. But think about it for a moment: why would talking alone about our emotional landscape allow us to fully heal? The language and emotional centres of the brain are on different hemispheres. We cannot logic our way through an emotional experience. We have to find a way of integrating and aligning both halves of the brain. This is why somatic practices like IFS and EMDR are so powerful; we are integrating our emotional experiences with our cognitive reasoning.

Somatic practices offer a unique perspective by acknowledging the inseparable link between the mind and the body, empowering you to engage in healing from a more embodied place. Through this lens, you may find a richer pathway to understanding your trauma and anxiety, leading to more profound and lasting transformation.

So often we are disconnected from our body and its signals. Somatic therapy aims to integrate the hemispheres of the brain — our logic and our emotions — with the wisdom of our body. It encourages you to really get to know, become familiar with, and acknowledge the pain, suffering, beauty, and joy of the body.

And How To Practice At Home

Tuning into the wisdom of the body is an essential skill for personal healing and self-awareness. Here are some steps to help you connect with your body's innate knowledge that are safe to try at home. But remember, if you have experienced or are still experiencing situations that are traumatic, then get professional help:

1. Practice Mindfulness

• Set aside time each day to focus on the current moment. This can be when you’re eating, going for a walk, preparing a meal, cleaning and tidying away clutter. Any boring, regular moment can also be turned into a moment of attentional focus.

2. Body Scan

• Lie down in a quiet space and mentally scan your body from head to toe. Pay attention to areas of tension or discomfort. Acknowledge these sensations without judgement, simply observing what arises. You can also let go of that tension by encouraging the muscles there to relax.

3. Movement and Stretching

• Put some music on and move. You can dance, stretch, move intentionally, move freely, or just sway. This is particularly useful in a moment of high tension or stress, or after a long day at work. Movement soothes the nervous system and releases feel good hormones. And stretching lubricates the joints and releases tension.

4. Relax in Nature

• Spend time in nature, focusing on your senses. What do you see, hear, smell, or feel? This can heighten your awareness of your body’s responses to the world around you. And bring calm as you orient yourself away from difficult emotions and reconnect with the energetic vibrations around you.

5. Seek Stillness

• Find quiet moments in your day to simply be. As you sit in stillness, notice any thoughts or emotions that come up. Understand that these are part of your body's way of communicating with you.

6. Listen to Your Gut

• Pay attention to gut feelings and intuitions. Often, your body’s immediate response to a situation is deeply rooted in your subconscious. Take note and reflect on these feelings. What do they mean to you? This can help stop you reacting and allow you space to reflect and respond more calmly and from a place of centred awareness.

By consistently engaging in these practices, you can develop a deep connection and trust in your body’s wisdom. This can lead to greater personal insight and a more balanced relationship with your Self. Trust in the process and be gentle with yourself as you embark on this journey.

If you’d like to work with me one to one, you can book a free consultation to discuss your concerns and find out more about how I work by clicking the button.