Somatic Healing from a Holistic Massage Therapist’s Perspective

Somatic Healing from a Holistic Massage Therapist’s Perspective

I am a massage therapist rooted deeply into holistic practices that encompass mind, body, and spirit ideals. I am not a psychologist, but I did take one course in high school and I’ve been in therapy most of my life. (haha) Still as a massage therapist people tell me everything about their pain, past pains, traumas, and their lives. I can feel old injuries, scar tissue, walking patterns, and how they hold themselves in the world. For 22 years I felt these things and heard where the pain was in people’s bodies, and started to see connections. Connections to old traumas and new wounds; to people’s pain physically and their emotional pain. To people who suffered in life and carried it  into their bodies through fibromyalgia, autoimmune diseases, and chronic pain. People who are so disconnected to their bodies, because the pain is too hard to bear. 

I have come to the conclusion that everyone has trauma and that trauma will manifest itself into some kind of pain or disease in the body. Did you know the number one killer for people over 50 is not heart disease, but it is loneliness? This was not true ten years ago, so why is this true now? We have lost connection. Connection with ourselves, connection with each other, connection with our surroundings, connection with nature, connection with god. It makes sense that somatic healing has become more popular in a world that has lost connection. So What is somatic healing?

According to Google, since most people refer to this first..

Somatic therapy is a holistic healing approach that focuses on the connection between the mind and body to treat mental and emotional health issues. It can help with a variety of conditions, including:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Complicated grief
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Trust and intimacy issues
• Self-esteem problems 

Somatic therapy aims to: 

• Relieve pain and other manifestations of stress 
• Cultivate an awareness of bodily sensations 
• Teach people to feel safe in their bodies 
• Regulate the nervous system

Somatic Therapy is creating connection between the body and the mind. How can we connect the body and the mind? Well for me it’s obviously through touch. Touch awakens the body and brings awareness of that part of our body to the mind. 

As someone who has been using touch to help people heal their pain, I can say without a doubt that this world is lacking touch. But as a massage therapist who got burnt out on a 22 year career, I can also say seeing a massage therapist is not the definitive solution. As a society, we need to learn how to touch each other and ourselves in a healthy, healing, and somatic way. 

First of all let's be clear on the word somatic means…

According to google…

so·mat·ic

/səˈmadik/ Adjective relating to the body, especially as distinct from the mind.
"patients completed a questionnaire about their somatic and psychological symptoms" Biology relating to the soma.

We are mindful beings that relate with words and body language. We forgot how to be somatic beings, relating with healthy and healing touch. In recent years we have even been taught to keep our distance from each other or we could get an infectious disease. 

But we are somatic beings who thrive on healthy touch and we need to remember this is our truth. A new born baby will literally die without human contact. Babies and young children will develop mental and physical disabilities, without healthy touch. Studies have proven over and over again that people do better with human contact and healthy touch. We thrive on hugs and closeness. We grow and heal with human connection and love.

What can we do to bring more healthy touch into our lives? How do we rediscover the closeness we once were as humans? How do we become somatically intelligent beings?

Written by:

Theresa Green

Dec 7th 2024