What is Somatics? 

The field of Somatics is rooted in self-awareness and self-acceptance, valuing the ability to experience and perceive the body from within. All too often we’re culturally conditioned to perceive the body from the outside-in. This generates self-judgement and a lack of acceptance that is the foundation for disharmony. This can lead to pathology which can extend to sexism, racism and many forms of “other-ing”. When we can begin to perceive ourselves, from within, as whole, as a working organism that is beautiful, coherent and unified, then we might begin to accept the world, to see that our world too is whole. Not that we are not in process, nor that the world is not in process, but that there is wholeness and beauty within the fumbling sometimes awkward moments of existence.

Working with the Soma begins with revisioning the perceptual framework of the body, redirecting our attention towards an internal landscape of discovery. Martial arts, Qigong, Yoga and meditation, are just a few of the many pathways that evoke these qualities of sensitivity and deep listening. I think of each modality as a tool or vehicle, towards unlocking the soul of the soma, an intersection of meditation and movement.

I utilize various modalities to approach and encourage a somatic playground of discovery, curiosity, and intensity. My hope is to engage a full pallet of movement color, such that my students and myself might move boldly and quietly through our lives with the fullest and most subtle forms of expression at our fingertips, and experience the growth of consciousness this way of being awakens. Thus, enhancing qualities of engagement, compassion, and a positive stewardship of our bodies, and therefore the world.