Somatic lineage

The term “somatics” comes from the Greek root “soma” or of the body. It’s a broad term and there are many ways to practice somatics, stemming from various ancestral lineages and philosophies. We all have ancestors who practiced somatics- who practiced body-based awareness and healing in a way that was a part of everyday life. Colonization has created an environment where many of us have lost those practices. This is why somatics, as we now understand it, feels like a road back home to so many of us.

As we attempt to bridge the gap between body, mind, and spirit, we have to simultaneously understand the systems of oppression that created these gaps. This makes a somatic practice both an individual and collective one. In many circles, somatic teachings have become clinical and/or ignore (or flat-out appropriate) the wisdom of many BIPOC spiritual traditions and customs- many of which are still in tact.

I’m someone who is engaged in the active pursuit of understanding my own lineage traditions, while still drawing from accessible schools of thought around somatic teachings and practices. Finding ways to name, honor, and be in a state of reciprocity with the lineages that have informed my healing and my practice is still something I’m figuring out. I feel all of this needs to be named when we are speaking about somatics and wanted to touch on this before I name my teachers.

Additionally, my somatic practice (both personally and the way I engage professionally) is a living, breathing, ever-shifting thing. I draw from many different schools of thought and lineage practices and consider myself to be a forever student in this regard.

Much of what I’ve learned about somatics began indirectly through birthwork. The institution I learned from still engages in white supremacist and transphobic behavior so I will not name them here (but feel free to reach out if you are a new or aspiring doula and have questions). I have learned a lot from Sister MorningStar and from being with birthing bodies. I believe this is where I began to witness, firsthand, how to be in a deep relationship with the body. I’ve learned a lot about AFAB bodies and reproductive systems directly from Pamela Samuelson, to whom I am deeply grateful. I named it above, but understanding the mechanisms of my own body was a doorway for me into this work.

I’m also an artist. I have a background in visual arts and acting and was mainly working within the framework of the Chekhovian Method which is very body-based. Along with this, I’ve (informally) studied Jungian Psychology, symbols, and archetypes. This also plays a role within my somatic (and spiritual) practice. It’s something I draw from often with clients.

Formally, I’ve studied with the Institute for the Study of Somatic Sex Education, Somatic Experiencing, Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy (and completed their two-year Comprehensive Training), and Manuela Mischke-Reeds through her Innate Somatic Intelligence Trauma Therapy Approach (or ISITTA) year-long intensive. As a Hakomi trained practitioner, Hakomi is where I find I’m most rooted somatically and in community. I have also learned a lot from people coming out of generative somatics, particularly around politicized and cultural somatics, though I haven’t yet studied with that organization formally.

I have also learned, and continue to learn, from the teachings of Resmaa Menakem, The Rooted Community, Shai LaVie, Manuela Mischke-Reeds, Ashley Ross, Staci Haines, and Marika Heinrichs.