What does somatic practice session look like? Well, it can look very different from person to person and even session to session with the same individual. One focus that remains consistent in each meeting is that of sensation exploration. In this blog I’m going to share a bit about what a session might look like, what to expect, and what the variables might be that determine a session.

The somatic practice offering I currently provide as I write this, is called Integrative Bodywork. I think of this type of session as a container that holds all of the skills, techniques, and tools I can provide to an individual. So, if you decided this is how you’d like to work with me, we would first begin by defining what exactly you are looking to improve, change, or nourish within yourself. In our first session we talk a lot more than we practice. I want to know what has worked for you in the past and what has not. I’m curious of the narratives you hold surrounding your body, sensation, and pleasure.

In addition to learning more about you in our initial session, I’ll also share what techniques and direction I think might suit you based on what you’ve shared and we’ll co-create a plan for future sessions based on your needs. It’s important to note that each time we meet, there is opportunity to check in and make any adaptations to the plan along the way, you always have choice here.

In our following sessions, I loosely follow a guide to keep us on track with flexibility for curiosity. This looks a bit like:

• starting with a review of our previous session

• exercises aimed at landing in the room and body

• discussion of observations from exercise, assessment and plan of how to move forward with the inquiry of “what does support look like for you in this moment?”

• practice and care based on our plan

• finally, we’ll close out our session with reflection of practice and creation of what support looks like until our next session (some might call this homework)

Woven in between each opportunity to connect is invitation to notice sensations. The tools and techniques I use to assist this exploration are somatic experiencing, touch work, guided bodywork, therapeutic movement, and other supplemental resources to help along the way.

As you can imagine, the simple act of noticing a sensation can be difficult to keep our attention on, especially if the sensation is quite uncomfortable. When we work together in this way, you can certainly expect to be challenged, but only within your window of tolerance. This means I will always guide you in a direction that feels accessible to you, allows you to breath easily, and does not re-activate you in any way. If ever I notice signs of moving outside of this capacity, I will move the practice towards a personal resource or coping skill we established in prior sessions.

Again, I can not emphasize enough that you always have choice in this work. If I invite you into a practice, you can decide beforehand if you’d like to join or adapt. We have space to move around and determine what is available in each session, for you. Human centered somatic therapies and practices should never aim to push you into a state of high activation. Even with challenges throughout, this practice is slow, so you can notice when something is not right for you as soon as possible.

Variables that might determine our time together depend on you, your experiences, and goals. Say you’d like to work towards receiving touch, we certainly wouldn’t start there. We might begin with somatic exploration and discuss what comes up with the thought of touch. From there we might move towards guided bodywork and inquire how it feels to care for your self, and what feels comforting. I want to make sure you are so resourced before we ever move to touch work.

Perhaps you often feel anxious without being able to notice sensation, and your goal is to find ease and stability in your body. In this case, we might start out with touch work if that felt accessible to you. Touch can be incredible supportive when it comes to noticing sensation, because there is context from an external source, which in this case is me. We might gradually work towards a session that looks like guided bodywork, and then just somatic exploration. This example is completely different from the first, showcasing that not every one will have the same experience and in fact an opposite session plan!

I only shared two examples here, and want to highlight that you are your own unique expression of the universe coming in with all of your life experiences, of course it would be specific to you. It has to be. Your body has arranged time and time again to adapt, so that you can expand, move, and engage. Personally, I think that’s pretty amazing.

Furthermore, as complex and dynamic creatures, we are not just a bag of bones, or a mind in a container. We are all of our parts, including our subtle energetic body. The way we experience this world and emotions, are intertwined in our tissues and apparent in our expression. We can not seem to address one engendered pattern without tending to the whole. Integrative Bodywork does just that, when we work together in this way it is understood that your physical body is not having a separate experience from your thoughts, memories, and spirit. All of you is welcome.