The change in Perspective
"There is something in Nature that forms the patterns. We, as part of Nature, also form patterns. The mind is like the wind and the Body is the Sand. If you want to know how the wind blows, you can look at the Sand."
- Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
Once we change our mind - we change our body.
“What makes somatics different is that you use your brain to change your body.”
Before I studied Somatic Education, I had adapted to a strong belief that I am not my body. Immersed into Advaita Vedanta philosophy (a school within Hinduism that emphasises the non-dual nature of reality, asserting that the ultimate truth is the identity of the individual soul - Atman with the universal consciousness - Brahman) for several years and focusing on the presence of my own heart led me to believe that whatever is happening within my body is not mine/not me.
Somatic studies changed my entire view in no time, as I started to learn and feel more about my body - I noticed the parts I was disconnected from: the slow and extremely gentle approach helped me tap into places I wasn’t aware I was not in touch with. The term is called Sensory Motor Amnesia - “it takes skill and practice to sense and feel your body when it’s easier to “check out”.
Not everybody will resonate of course, but with the help of therapy and Somatic Education - I gained some more awareness and understanding what it means to “check out”. That’s where my Trauma comes into the picture. In my early childhood experiences, I had moments where it was too painful to be in the body and I chose to disconnect from it. My own experience and tendency in those moments are to go to a fairyland and engage with an illusionary story that is sweet, beautiful, and perfect. This is the source of my suffering, and Somatics plays a crucial “coming back” card.
By going deeper into my everyday practice - I realised I am doing ancestral work. The old stories from my family line started to show itself on my skin - my mom has had eczema all her life. And now, I have it too. It seems like a legacy to me to be reminded of when I look at it when I feel it itch. It makes me humble, it helps me to go deeper into the flesh of my ancestry, into the stories of our DNA and unroot, and to deeply feel the conditioning of my present life and the lives before me.
My recent experience had an extraordinarily liberating flavour. I feel that coming to a certain place like that is my readiness and capacity to let go, to remember and feel it. It was a deeply suppressed inner scream, coming out from deep within. It was a silent scream of injustice when as a kid I was silenced by what I perceived as something extremely inhumane. My suffering and ability to express - allowed me to feel and see the world’s suffering. I saw and felt the chaos of what’s happening outside of me and I truly understand now - that our unresolved traumas are the reflection of the world. We all play a part in it and we must take responsibility to come to a peace within ourselves first.
I had the freedom and inner guidance to pick the tools that resonated the most with my being: the combination of self-inquiry, breath work, Somatic and Dance are my life friends helping me to foster presence, vigilance and live life in reverence and Gratitude.