Why the body?

Hands gently and lovingly hold a happy looking, shaggy, kid crafted, pottery unicorn monster creature.

Our mind, body and emotions are deeply entwined. Our thoughts are generated by (and for) our bodies. Our emotions are made up of sensations and thoughts that we interpret and make meaning from. Think of a queasy stomach with fear, or a tingling sensation with excitement. Our bodies also communicate so much non-verbally—from facial expressions, to posture to movement: a head hung low in sadness, or jumping for joy. This is all vital information to help us navigate the world.

Despite how central the body is to our experience, sometimes we learn to suppress, numb or override what is felt and sensed through the body. Most often this happens in service of our survival. For many of us, the path to disconnection from our bodies begins in childhood: maybe we were told that our sensory experience, and ways of being, learning and doing are not OK; that we are ‘too sensitive’; ‘exaggerate’ sensory discomfort and even pain. 

This is particularly harmful for us because it is our divergent, novel and often sensitive nervous and sensory systems that distinguish us as autistic/ND people. It is both how we function, and who we are. Disablism and other forms of oppression compound our vulnerability to somatic injuries, like burnout, masking and trauma. Somatic therapy is a way to invite our bodies—and the fullness of our experience—back into awareness and being in a curious, compassionate and meaningful way. It is an opportunity to turn back toward ourselves.

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I wanted to share some of the many ways that somatic approaches can support autistic/ND people to heal these somatic injuries at the root:

  • Un/masking: reconnecting and embodying parts of us that have been hidden, hibernating, or beyond awareness.
  • Increased clarity, understanding and insight when we invite all dimensions of experience in.
  • Developing a felt sense of needs and boundaries.
  • Learning to resource through the body; balancing activation, energy and mood; resolving burnout, hyper/hypoactivation.
  • Accessing and processing experiences that are held in the body, and which have been difficult to shift with talk, thoughts and intention alone.
  • Healing and resolving traumatic experience. Through the body, gently returning to previously overwhelming experiences at a pace, and with a sense of agency that was not available to us at the time.

More than just symptom relief, somatic approaches provide a pathway to embodied presence, peace and meaning.