Somatic Therapy and SOMATICS: Reconnecting the Mind and Body for True Healing

Somatics instructor teaching you how to reconnect to your body.

“The body keeps the score: if the memory of trauma is encoded in the viscera, in heartbreaking and gut-wrenching emotions, then healing involves bringing those pieces back together.” — Bessel van der Kolk

Somatic therapy and SOMATICS are emerging as powerful tools for people seeking true mind-body healing. These approaches recognize something simple yet profound: the body remembers what the mind tries to forget.

While traditional talk therapy focuses on thoughts, emotions, and behavior, Somatic therapy and SOMATICS invite us to explore the language of the body—the subtle sensations, patterns, and tensions that hold the stories of our lived experiences.

Why SOMATICS Fills a Critical Gap in Mental Health

Most mental health providers are deeply skilled in understanding emotional and cognitive processes, but few are trained to address the physical aspects of stored tension and trauma. This gap can leave clients with valuable insights—but without the felt sense of relief or safety they’re seeking.

That’s where SOMTICS steps in.

SOMATICS bridges this gap by helping students reconnect with their bodies through gentle, mindful movement and nervous system retraining. It teaches the body to let go of chronic holding patterns that talking alone can’t release.

“The body says what words cannot.” — Martha Graham

As a certified Essential SOMATICS Movement Teacher, my work focuses on helping students integrate both awareness and sensation for deep, lasting change. It is not enough to hear “you are safe”. It must be felt within the body as well.

Pandiculation: The Body’s Natural Reset Mechanism

One of the core techniques in SOMATICS is pandiculation—a gentle, conscious contraction and release that helps the nervous system reset muscle tone and release chronic tension.

It’s nature’s built-in way of recalibrating the body. Unlike traditional stretching, which can push muscles beyond comfort, pandiculation teaches the brain to relax the muscles from within, restoring balance and ease and providing a sense of safety.

Through guided SOMATICS movements and pandiculation, students often experience a sense of lightness, improved mobility, and a deeper connection to their inner calm.

Bridging Talk Therapy and the Body Through SOMATICS

Many of my students come to SOMATICS after years of traditional therapy. They tell me, “I understand my trauma, but I still feel it in my body.”

This is where SOMATICS truly shines—it helps bridge mental understanding and physical release. By working directly with the body, we move from thinking about healing to feeling it unfold.

SOMATICS movement helps regulate the nervous system, reduce pain, and reestablish trust and safety in one’s own body.

Who Benefits from SOMATICS in conjunction with talk therapy?

SOMATICS is especially effective for people experiencing:

• Chronic stress or anxiety

• Depression and burnout

• Chronic pain or muscle tension

• Emotional numbness or disconnection from the body

By working gently and consciously with the body, SOMATICS offers a pathway to healing that honors both mind and body as equal partners.

In Closing

Healing is not just a mental process—it’s an embodied journey. SOMATICS offers the missing piece for talk therapy, helping you move beyond understanding your pain to transforming it. However, SOMATICS can complement, but not substitute, professional therapeutic or medical treatment. I teach SOMATICS for body awareness and self-regulation. Ways to work with me https://www.somaticstampa.com/services