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Somatic Awareness is a powerful tool for healing and well-being. Our brains are receiving constant input from our bodies. This input shifts our mood, feelings, behavior, and what we perceive as salient information. When we bring awareness to this process we are better able to utilize somatic input and make coherent decisions in our lives. These sensations are also the source of our feelings of goodness and happiness. Becoming aware of bodily sensations helps us make decisions that create more sensations that lead to goodness and happiness.

Another reason to focus on somatic awareness is to process stress and trauma. This lowers cortisol levels and makes us healthier, overall.

Yet another reason to build somatic awareness is that it can make meditation much easier. Here’s why. Past and present stress is held in the body. When we meditate, all that information starts to come into awareness and it can be overwhelming. The result can be that it’s too uncomfortable or overwhelming to meditate. Meditation actually becomes stressful! When this happens our nervous system begins to shut down which isn’t healthy especially on a repetitive basis.

It helps a great deal to have a trained and knowledgable guide for somatic awareness. The presence of another human being, their voice, their understanding, their eye contact, has a powerfully stabilizing effect on our nervous system. This allows us to explore bodily sensations that might otherwise be overwhelming. In addition, if any traumatic material does come up, a trained Somatic Experiencing® Professional can help you to process it constructively. This results in an increased sense of aliveness and goodness.