What Is Somatics And Why Is It So Confusing?
It all began when my mom added a somatic book to her cart from an Amazon recommendation, along with a heavy volume of Saint Augustine’s work.
Before I received such an interesting and impulsive present from my mother, I had little to no knowledge of what somatics were. I had seen videos on the internet, brief reactions from Christian YouTubers or Instagrammers, misappropriating somatics as a means to denounce therapy as a whole, confidently saying that “people will do anything but pray” in a thirty-second video, scoffingly. To be fair, it was an extreme video of a woman hysterically crying and screaming while tremors went through her body, which, with my limited knowledge, I recognized as somatics, albeit an extreme representation of it. It is easy to see why moral panic surrounds this practice, particularly when unexplained, misappropriated, or extreme and distressing versions are exposed to ridicule and publicly dissuaded with little to no context, amounting to the claim that this practice is ridiculous, bad, and unfaithful.
So when I received the book, to say the least, I was curious. I knew that therapy in general, especially within more fundamental Christianity, is sometimes looked upon unfavourably or misunderstood, such as in the case of the misappropriating video I found on Instagram and YouTube. But because of this book, I was given the opportunity and space to look at this specific therapy and ask questions about it. Should Christians be put off by it, as some of the fundamentalist reactionary videos encouraged? If so, should this extend to all forms of therapy? If not, how can we be more concise so blanket statements such as the one in the video are discouraged and curiosity is encouraged? And most importantly, what even is somatics?
And so my journey into finding out what somatics is began. As I read more and more of the book, I became encouraged and hopeful that it might help me with my particular struggles, but I was no closer to finding out definitively what it was or what its origins were. Nevertheless, as I finished the book and began to put into practice the exercises that suited my needs daily, I found some benefits and became further intrigued by the history and origin of somatics. I shut the book after finishing its last pages and found myself no closer to understanding what somatics is, or at least its history, as the author does a great job explaining many things lightly but never truly touches upon its origins. So my journey into researching additional sources began.
What I found was interesting, to say the least. It itched the part of my brain that I could not quite scratch while reading Somatic Exercises for Nervous System Regulation. It seemed to me, even as just a curious “laywoman” in matters of health, that my elusive hunches were right. What do I mean by this? Well, the exact definition of somatics that most practitioners and practices revolve around is something like this:
“Somatic exercises involve performing movement for the sake of movement.”
Roughly translated, it means: It can be what you want it to be. This extrapolation may feel vague to some. Given its popularity in recent years, surely there has to be a more precise box somatics can fit into?
Recent popular articles, both medical and fashionable, support this vagueness. This vagueness is, in fact, one of the most accurate and definitive descriptions. Multiple different sources describe somatics as:
“A mindfulness method you can apply to physical activity.”
“On the body’s sensations; purposeful, mindful movement is emphasized.”
“Focuses on the internal effects over the physical—and strives to help people have an emotional release.”
“Coined in 1976, somatic exercises are rooted in alternative medicine practices, focusing on experiencing the body from within.”
Although all these statements feel cohesive in their descriptions, and the term “somatics” can be traced back to a recognizable origin, the exact practice remains broad. As seen in the book and through additional research, the exercises and definitions cover a wide range, from something a physiotherapist might recommend to what a yogi might suggest. What do they mean by “mindful movement,” or even “a mindfulness method”? Overall, somatics draws from many different thoughtful movement practices and refuses to frame itself strictly as either physical exercise or spiritual movement, instead emphasizing the mind–body connection.
In an interview with Women’s Health Magazine, Dr. Alixandra Blackman, PsyD, a Brooklyn-based clinical psychologist, states:
“Trauma is in the nervous system, and there are [physical] ways in which we can access it that can offer us healing and relief.”
Her voice is one of many that medically support somatics’ reputation and effectiveness. She explains that “somatics” is a blanket term that can refer to many different body-centred modalities with various offshoots in particular practices. Thus, the idea that “it can be whatever you want it to be” seems to stand. All of these sources, both medical and fashionable, fail to clarify exactly what is happening, offering only partial intellectual relief by referencing broad components such as the “nervous system” or “mind–body connection.” Why is this?
In a blog post by Dance Magazine, written by Nancy Wozny and titled Somatics 101, the writer explains:
“The somatic movement was already well under way when the philosopher Thomas Hanna coined the term in 1976. Somatics derives from the Greek word for the living body, soma, and is the study of the body experienced from within. The roots of somatics can be traced back to the late 19th-century European Gymnastik movement, which used breath, movement, and touch to direct awareness… They seemed to be saying, ‘The body is the person,’ thus joining mind and body in a celebration of the human form.”
She goes on to explain how somatics developed over long periods of time, shaped by numerous professionals and pioneers in the field expanding what somatics is and inventing new ways for it to be implemented. Rather than having a single point of exactness, it is a work in progress brought together by people from all walks of life, expressing a strong ambiguity.
But then again, somatics is like many things, constantly developing and being refined, much like technology. Similarly, we can observe a comparable moral panic within Christian communities surrounding technology. In an article written by David Sessions, he astutely points out this nuance and contradiction by quoting Emma’s book Rethinking Sex:
“Technology is alienating; apps are disrupting our natural, healthy forms of relation and association, harming women and children; our sex and relationships are dehumanizing and socially corrosive because we basically treat them like ordering DoorDash.”
He ends his essay by asking:
“Whenever the clouds of consensus gather, it’s worth at least asking: what is this causing us to miss that we should be seeing? Are we stuffing reality into recycled tropes instead of taking a genuine interest in what it’s like? Why—and what is that creating a permission structure for?”
I believe what David Sessions comments on regarding moral panic matters not only to theology but to the human condition as a whole, particularly our tendency toward group polarization and tribalism. That being said, ambiguity can hide harm and nonsense, and uncertainty is a very real reality. But ultimately, this response to somatics isn’t just about somatics; this isn’t just about Christians, this is about how humans react to uncertainty as a whole. But avoidance isn’t the solution to ambiguity; progression toward clarity through discernment is, as the ambiguity becomes less and less. As ambiguity develops, this requires Christians specifically to be engaged instead of detached or defensive to the point of moral panic and overcompensating aggression.
Overall, somatics as a Christian makes for a very interesting experience, almost as much as ambiguity itself. One will encounter very scientific-sounding “trauma exercises,” alongside practices that may feel uncomfortable or even out of the question for some. This ambiguity isn’t original to somatics and can be found everywhere. This begs the question for Christians: Is ambiguity actually the problem, or is ambiguity essential to discovery and progress?
If you’d like to explore more LeranWell Books, you can visit their website here.
That'thats all folks! If you enjoyed the essay, feel free to share and or leave a comment below. How do you feel about Somatics? Has it helped you at all? ❤❤❤
📬 Stay Updated!
I've added a subscription option to my blog’s main page, so you can subscribe and receive email notifications whenever I post. Feel free to check it out 😊
Comments