SOMATIC RELEASE
A body centred approach to releasing stress, anxiety, depression, and emotional wounds
How it works
Somatic refers to the body. Somatic Release connects directly with emotions and sensations in the body to release associated stress, anxiety, depression, and emotional wounds.
Somatic Release is a somatic therapy that incorporates meditation and breathwork techniques. Sessions are always flexible and tailored to meet your needs wherever you may be in that moment.
Here's what you can expect:
Welcome
The first step is getting to know you, including why you have chosen Somatic Release. It's about understanding what is going on for you now and what you want to achieve.
Somatic Preparation
This will help you regulate your attention and tune into your body sensations. This creates a foundation for exploring and releasing stress, anxiety, depression, and emotional wounds.
Somatic Exploring
This is where the release happens. You will be gently guided to explore the reality of what's happening inside your body. We will hold a safe space together and allow stress, anxiety, depression, and emotional wounds to present clearly, express itself, and release. Sound healing techniques may be used to help with releasing and holding the safe space.
Capacity Building
Capacity building is about practicing activities that increase the awareness of safe spaces in and around your body, and improve your ability to rest awareness in these safe spaces during challenging circumstances. Over time you will find it easier to remain calm and non-reactive when stress, anxiety, depression, and emotional wounds are active.
Your life is likely to transform significantly when you release emotional wounds and increase your capacity to feel safe. You will be unlocking your potential.
Somatic Release sessions are offered online. 60 minute sessions cost $130 and 90 minute sessions cost $160.
Why it works - Survival Physiology
Somatic Release is based on the premise that stress, anxiety, depression, and many emotional wounds are essentially accumulated survival stress trapped in the body, which is dysregulating the nervous system.
Somatic Release focuses on releasing the trapped survival stress, while also increasing capacity to carry survival stress harmoniously in the body. This is a fundamentally different approach to psychology which addresses anxiety and depression by attempting to 'rewrite' the beliefs and thoughts that anxiety and depression create in the mind.
Somatic Release taps into human biology and survival physiology. Here’s how:
-
Have you heard of the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response? This is survival physiology at work. It is part of our human biology and it is designed to keep us safe. Survival physiology is an automatic process. Sometimes before we’ve even realised what is happening, we’ve perceived a threat and considered fighting it off, or escaping it. If these options aren’t possible, then we become immobolised. The part of the human body that is regulating this survival response is called the Autonomic Nervous System.
-
By design, Survival Physiology overrides the rational mind to keep us safe. However, if we become dysregulated our Survival Physiology may incorrectly perceive a threat. When a person’s rational mind is overridden, they may behave in ways that seem irrational, and they cannot be reasoned with.
-
Our survival physiology doesn't differentiate between physical threats and psychological threats. This means if we are in a psychologically unsafe environment (whether perceived or real) then our survival physiology responds in the same way as a physically threatening environment.
-
A psychologically unsafe environment is one where you feel afraid, excessive pressure, or abuse. Sometimes, psychology unsafe environments are so subtle your mind may not even be aware that you feel unsafe, but your body is reacting.
-
When you spend long periods of time in psychologically unsafe environments, including workplaces, survival stress accumulates in the body and dysregulates the nervous system. When this survival stress accumulates, you will experience stress, anxiety, and depression.
Somatic Release works because it deals directly with your Survival Physiology and dysregulated nervous system rather than the associated thoughts or behaviours.
