Understanding Somatic Tracking: A Deep Dive into Bodily Awareness

Hi, I'm Elynn Light, Integrative Healer, happy to be with you here today. We're talking about somatic tracking today. What does that mean? It means being present in your body. Soma is body. And in recent years, there's been a lot of discussion from Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score, to Peter Levine with his approach to somatic tracking, and Gabor Maté, emphasizing the importance of being present in the body.

The Natural Reaction to Pain

We know that it's counterintuitive to be present to pain. Our natural instinct is to get away from pain, to suppress it, to ice it, to throw meds at it, or to distract from it. So I want to encourage you to understand that somatic tracking is one of the most potent methods you can employ to alleviate pain. There are various causes for pain, but if your pain is mental or emotional - meaning if you have an unprocessed emotion like frustration, anger, grief, or fear lingering - the body carries that energy. Typically, this energy might be situated in your stomach, throat, or back.

However, it can manifest anywhere in the body. The body holds onto this energy, often becoming locked and stagnant. Even when we think, "Oh yeah, I dealt with that. I'm beyond that. I'm over that." If the energy still resides in your body, you might have moved past it mentally, but your body hasn't. It remains burdened with that excessive energy.

Steps to Somatic Awareness

Somatic tracking incorporates several steps to ensure the best outcome, but the first step is to become comfortable with feeling sensations. It involves naming and identifying sensations, such as, "Oh, it's tight. Oh, it's empty. Oh, it's sharp. Oh, it's pulling. Oh, it's hard." And if you're a visual processor, you might even visualize something there. We process sensations visually, kinesthetically, and auditorily.

By being present with your standard ways of sensing and processing, you can make significant progress with anything related to mental, emotional, and blocked energy. So, take a moment, breathe deeply, immerse yourself in the body, become curious, and see if you can become more at ease with feeling pain, rather than suppressing it and avoiding it.

See you soon.