What Is Mindbody/Somatic Healing And How Can It Better Your Life?
What Is Mindbody/Somatic Healing And How Can It Better Your Life?
Mindbody Wellness Clarity Tips
Dear Awesome Woman,
I speak often of mindbody wellness and somatic healing, but some of you might not know what it is and why I use those terms. Mindbody refers to the intimate connection between our thoughts and our bodies—the effect they have on each other, while somatic refers to the body. I use the terms interchangeably.
I’ll elaborate. Our bodies bring us messages in the way of “emotions” which can be defined as “energy in motion.” They are presented to us as physical sensations.
For example:
Excitement—An uplifting of the chest that energizes you positively.
Nerves—A mixture of excitement, vulnerability and fear of the unknown.
Fear (dread)—A message from your body asking you to pay attention to something that doesn’t feel safe. It may be felt as a sinking in your stomach.
Anger—A surge of energy trying to set a boundary. Asks for action to be taken—words to be said or physical distancing—a protection of sorts. It may be felt as a constriction in the chest, a tightening of the jaw, a furrowing of the brows, or a tingling in the extremities.
Joy—an expansion or sense of comfort and safety.
Sadness—a sensation of loss, a desire to bow forward, often being expressed in the eyes and chest.
Shame—a desire to shrink inward, get smaller.
These are general explanations, but perhaps you have also experienced these in the way described? And of course, each one of us is different and our bodies have unique expressions as well.
One of the important things to keep in mind is that because emotions are energetic, they have the ability to flow and shift as well as give us golden information. They can reveal to us how our thoughts and belief patterns are creating our lives. They can reveal to us how people and situations are affecting our health, for the positive and negative. Emotions can also let us know how to redirect our paths to get relief and get more effective results. My job as a Somatic Healer is to help empower my clients to tap into this flow and wisdom to energize positive change in their relationships, careers and health. We cannot necessarily control what the universe, or G-d, brings our way, but we can respond with inner empowerment to release what holds us back and move forward with divine purpose. It is my fervent belief that no circumstance, relationship, or situation is merely a product of coincidence so why not access healing and retrieve our emotional and soul wisdom to get clarity, guidance and relief?
There are Kabbalistic, divine energies that come into the world and are expressed through our bodies. One of these spiritual energies is Hod, which can be defined as “giving space.” When you practice giving space to your emotions, you are taking notice as to the physical sensations that are arising in your body. This is mindful, directive and empowering. Whether you have an interaction with a co-worker, a boss, a friend, a partner, a child, or a stranger, making space to notice with honesty what emotions are coming up for you is a healthy part of the human experience. Denying this part of ourselves can lead to health issues, relationship funks and career limitations, G-d forbid.
Perhaps you have heard of the famous doctor, Dr. John Sarno? He was a physician who revolutionized the medical field with his radical approaches to healing back pain and other physical ailments. Some of the Mindbody approach I was trained in is grounded on his incredible work. He coined the term TMS, tension myositis syndrome, to describe a circulatory constriction in blood vessels that results in pain in the body. This is also known as mindbody syndrome. To sum up what Dr. Sarno has written in one of his many books, The Mindbody Prescription, and taught for over 30-plus years, the brain will cut off blood and oxygen flow to different parts of the body in order to distract the individual from recognizing and feeling emotions that they are trying to avoid. This lack of blood and oxygen flow is the direct cause of pain. In order to get relief from the pain, a person will go running around to different doctors and scouring the internet to get answers and diagnoses for help with pain relief, when the healing is within their reach and within their own body. They just need to feel to heal.
This is not AT ALL to say that the pain is only in the mind. The pain is real and the symptoms are real. But the healing comes from turning inward, getting honest about our emotions—especially our very human emotions of anger, fear, sadness, and grief. Most of us have the very normal habit of ignoring, repressing, and suppressing our emotions. But according to Dr. Sarno, when we give the message to our brain that we are not afraid of our emotions, it won’t try to distract us by constricting blood and oxygen flow and causing pain or dysfunction. We are freeing ourselves from the suppression-pain cycle and are able to live a more vibrant, healthy life.
When you have aches, pains, autoimmune symptoms, migraines—by all means, go to massage therapists, physical therapists, doctors, homeopaths, or nutritionists. There are many channels of healing and your healing can come from a doctor, a pill, or a chiropractic adjustment. However, in my coaching/healing practice and my own experience, I’ve come to learn that without delving into the underlying emotions, our relief is often short lived. Pain brought on by emotional distress, even unconscious emotional distress, will hop around, as a headache today and plantar fasciitis tomorrow.
As I mentioned earlier, emotions are “energy in motion.” This is crucial to understand because they show up as physical sensations in the body, starting out very quiet and subtle, almost vibrational. When ignored, the tension in the body gets louder and louder until it “screams” as a migraine, backache, or some other pain or weakness in the body. The key here is to notice as soon as possible and as often as possible what we are feeling and what our emotions and body are trying to communicate with us—I call this somatic healing and mindbody wellness. Being honest with ourselves is where healing starts and then blooms from there.
Need a helping hand in accessing the golden wisdom of your emotions and body? Want new direction in your relationships, career and health? I invite you to schedule your Free Clarity call today. Download your free gift eguide: “3 Secrets to Solve Burnout and Get Energized the Mindbody Wellness Way” (also gives access to your free download of “Escape from the Borderline/Narcissist’s Web” ).
“Working with Miriam Racquel while I was dating was a transformational experience. I loved how instead of giving me advice, she helped me figure out what I really wanted and what my heart was truly feeling. Working together has helped me realize patterns in myself and others which empowers me to deepen and enrich my relationships. She’s patient and kind and goes above and beyond for her clients. I have so much more clarity and peace of mind after just 3 sessions. Highly recommended!” – F.R., Passaic, NJ
