what are somatics?

Somatics comes from the word “soma” which is Latin for “body”. Somatic practices are practices which are rooted in the body, and center the body’s natural wisdom. Rather than solely using the brain or rational thought to interpret our experiences, somatics focuses on our felt sense, or the wisdom we are able to gather by turning our attention toward the feelings and sensations that that are alive in our bodies.

With a somatic lens, we see that all the experiences we have survived stay in our bodies, through memories, unconscious tensions, chronic pain, fear or numbing.

For Black, Brown and Indigenous bodies who face ongoing systemic oppression, the soma (body) can become overburdened with nervous-system arousal, leading to complex racial trauma and a deterioration of overall physical health and wellbeing.

Somatics asks the question “what memories, experiences, ancestral traumas and wisdoms are living in this body, and how can I honour them?”

It is important to acknowledge that while the modern field of “somatics” is regularly appropriated by white psychological systems, somatics are an inherently Indigenous practice.

All traditions and cultures have ways of connecting to the body through movement, ritual and community.

The white, western division between mind/body - and denouncing of the body - is what necessitated the labeling of a separate field of “somatics”, which uses body-based approaches to transformation and change.

In other cultures and traditions, this distinction is unnecessary, as the body is not separate from life or self or nature, but interconnected with all.

The benefit of using a somatic approach is creating change in the body, which builds inner resistance, improves mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health, and leads to embodied communities who are able to be responsive and resolute in the face of change.

As we build together toward racial justice and collective liberation, somatic skills are vital to creating embodied and just communities.