Sue Redmond

It’s not all in your head — it’s in your body. Your body (soma) holds on to memories of stress and trauma. Somatic therapy can help release them. 

Have you ever found yourself reacting disproportionately to the situation in front of you? 

Picture this: you're racing against the clock, trying to get your kids out the door in the morning. The usual hiccups and delays are par for the course, but then it happens. One of the little ones can't find a shoe. The clock's ticking, your nerves are on edge, and your amygdala is sounding the alarm like it's a major crisis.

But in reality, it's just a missing shoe, a minor inconvenience. No big deal, right? But your body, carrying a backlog of suppressed stress and trauma, responds as if it's a matter of life and death. This overreaction spills into your day, impacting what you do next. 

Think of your body as a volcano, with years of suppressed emotions and experiences held inside, ready to erupt. Leaving the house is the trigger, and your body is desperately trying to get your attention to ask you to deal with these buried issues.

Your body is wise; it wants to release these pent-up emotions. It communicates through these overreactions, urging you to address the hidden turmoil within.

If you listen to your body, it will guide you towards healing.

So, how does somatic therapy work its magic?

Somatic therapy is a remarkable body-based approach to healing stress and trauma. Through techniques like somatic mobilization, breathwork, and specific eye movements, individuals are supported in releasing trapped energies from their fight, flight, or freeze responses.

To understand how it operates, let's dive into the intricacies of the autonomic nervous system, which controls functions like breathing, digestion, and heart rate, while also reacting to threats.

Traditionally, the autonomic nervous system was believed to consist of the sympathetic nervous system, triggering fight or flight, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms the body. But Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Nerve Theory presents three ways of engaging with the world: social engagement, fight-or-flight (mobilization), or freeze (immobilisation).

The dorsal part of the vagus nerve, belonging to the parasympathetic system, reacts to danger signals by pulling us into the freeze response. The ventral part, on the other hand, responds to cues of safety, promoting feelings of being secure in our surroundings and socially engaged.

In this system, there are three zones:

1. The ventral vagal system (social engagement) - The green zone - where you feel relaxed and safe enough to engage socially.
2. The sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) - The red zone - characterised by anxiety, stress, and high alertness, designed to protect through action.
3. The dorsal vagal system (freeze) - The blue zone - associated with some form of freeze or dissociation, where the body shuts down, feels heavy, and becomes numb.

Somatic therapy empowers individuals to move from the blue and red zones to the green zone through a range of techniques, including somatic mobilisation, breathwork, and movement practices. These practices help you become more attuned to your nervous system's various states, enabling you to return to a place of safety and engage in life more fully.

In the red zone, techniques like slowing your out-breaths, gentle movements, and mindfulness of the senses can be supportive. In the blue zone, mobilising the system through movement and activating the body's innate fight-or-flight energies can help.

Somatic therapy takes you on a journey to access suppressed memories and emotions, allowing you to acknowledge and release them from your body. This process prevents trapped emotions from developing into mental health issues like anxiety and depression, offering a systematic and nurturing way to deal with feelings of hurt, anger, frustration, sadness, and grief.

As you release trapped energy and emotions, you learn to develop greater awareness of your body's needs, establish boundaries, and release repressed emotions. This empowers your body's innate healing processes and enables you to reconnect with yourself, find peace with past experiences, and cultivate resilience.

The benefits are profound: clients often report feeling deeply connected with themselves and others, lighter, and more liberated following somatic release. Somatic therapy can be a game-changer, breaking the cycle of fear and frozen time, allowing you to appreciate your body's messages of hurt and facilitating a profound reconnection with yourself.

Nature and toddlers offer us profound examples of how we should deal with emotions. When animals, such as dogs or ducks, experience stress or excitement, they shake it off, returning to a calm state. Toddlers, too, have tantrums as a way to release accumulated stress. We should learn from these natural responses.

Unlike in the past when tantrums were seen as bad, we now understand that they are a natural response. Repressing these emotions leads to depression, as emotions need to flow, not stagnate and turn into physical, mental, or emotional illnesses.

Somatic therapy can help you tap into the healing power of your nervous system. Join a retreat or connect for some 1-1 work. Contact me at [email protected] or 086 8102770 for more information.

Here's what people are saying:

"I was surprised that I could let go so freely, and I credit the blindfolding for the somatic therapy." – Aideen Moynihan

"I've been in therapy for years, but nothing has brought me to this sense of ease and lightness in my being before." – Anonymous

"It was what it said on the tin... a real retreat... I could deeply connect with me and even could release some stuff in my heart..." - Torsten Eisenberg

"A lovely day, a gift to myself. The chance to delve into my own inner thoughts and processes." - Una

 “An absolutely amazing weekend. It was a retreat and a half for the mind body and soul I will be reaping the rewards for some time to come. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to pause, feel and reflect on where they are and where they want to be. Thank you, Sue, so much, you are a gifted person” - Triona Kennedy

“I’m sending such love and gratitude to the world today. I’m singing at every opportunity.” - Participant

“I just woke up and it all naturally flowed out of me. I feel all through my body full of love. It is so powerful and it is really important work. I danced all morning and want others to know what you do is so needed in the world.” - Participant

“Completely floating today. I want to express my sincere gratitude for all that you gave of yourself and your knowledge and care. This is actually a brand new day, thank you for helping me find a funny, kind, beautiful free spirit with a rebels heart and nurturing soul within me.” - Participant
 
 “I am a different human today, I am softer and I am not resisting my life anymore. Before I was finding fault with everything and now I can acknowledge the pain that it is bringing to myself and others. I can't tell you how important this work is.” - Participant