Bodywork & Massage | Soul Path Wellness

What does “Somatic” Really Mean?

Amy Holaday — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 22:07:36 +0000

Listening to the Body as a Path to Nervous System Healing

The word somatic has become increasingly popular – often used alongside trauma recovery and nervous system healing – yet it’s still widely misunderstood.

At its core, somatic simply means “of the body.”

The word soma literally translates to body.

So when we talk about somatic work, we are talking about listening to the body’s signals, sensations, and wisdom – and allowing the body itself to guide the healing process.

Listening to the Body Is Somatic

A simple example of somatic awareness might look like this:

You notice tightness in your stomach…and instead of pushing through, you choose not to attend something your body isn’t ready for. That moment of noticing – and responding – is somatic awareness.

This is a foundational principle of my somatic bodywork sessions.

We don’t override the body.

We don’t force release.

We listen.

Why “Somatic” Is Often Linked to Trauma and Nervous System Healing

In recent years, the word somatic has become closely associated with trauma recovery and nervous system regulation/resonance – and for good reason.

Some psychotherapists now incorporate awareness of body sensations into their sessions. When they do, this is often referred to as Somatic Therapy. What they are usually working with is the nervous system and trauma through sensation awareness. However, psychotherapists are generally discouraged from using physical touch as part of their therapeutic practice. For example, in the state of Georgia where I practice, psychotherapists are not licensed to touch.

The Power of Safe, Attuned Touch

As a licensed somatic bodyworker, I am trained and permitted to work directly through the body, with touch or no touch as needed. My RN license also gives me a second license to touch. With clear consent, I place my hands on the part of the body that is asking for support.

This matters – because safe, attuned touch is profoundly regulating for the nervous system. Stress and trauma are not just cognitive experiences. They are stored, held, and often frozen in the body. The body knows what the mind often does not.

My Own Healing Through the Body

Healing through the body is what finally helped lift my lifelong low-grade depression in my twenties – after experiencing it on and off for most of my life.

Like many people, I carried early patterns that began long before I had language – from womb, infant, and toddler stages of life. When these early patterns remain frozen, they can feel existential simply because we’ve never known anything else. This is the work I’ve spent years doing – in my own body and nervous system.

Finding Alchemical Alignment in 2019 was life-changing for me. I have repeated the training three times for deeper embodiment and lived understanding. I have also received professional sessions monthly for the last four years. I have received monthly therapeutic bodywork for 26 years. I live what I do. Prayer and my personal relationship with God and nature have been central to my healing as well. And so have real friendships – the kind rooted in attunement, presence, integrity and care.

Why Co-Regulation Is So Healing

Being with others who can truly attune means being with people who have regulated, resonant nervous systems themselves. When someone can remain present and regulated, their nervous system naturally supports the regulation of others. This is known as co-regulation – or what I sometimes call co-resonance. To me, this is what healing was always meant to look like.

Not forcing.

Not fixing.

But being held in safe, attuned presence.

Why I Facilitate Sanctuary Nervous System Recovery Groups

This is why I feel deeply called to facilitate Sanctuary nervous system recovery groups. When group spaces are held with integrity, pacing, and attunement, the nervous system can finally settle – not through pressure or performance, but through shared presence.

Now that I have metabolized much of the early freeze in my own system, my body naturally holds more ease, regulation, and health. From this place, clients often reach similar states more quickly – not because I am doing something to them, but because the nervous system learns through co-resonance.

The Body Leads the Way

Somatic healing is not about forcing change. It’s about creating enough safety – internally and relationally – for the body to soften, thaw, and reorganize on its own timeline. The body already knows the way.

Gentle Invitation

If you feel called to experience this work in a slow, supported group setting, you’re welcome to explore Sanctuary – a small, trauma-informed nervous system recovery group rooted in safety, attunement, and co-regulation.

[Learn more about Sanctuary]

The post What does “Somatic” Really Mean? appeared first on Soul Path Wellness.

What Is Somatic Trauma Recovery?

Amy Holaday — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 02:25:46 +0000

What are somatic trauma recovery sessions? Ever wonder what happens during somatic energy work sessions? Somatic Trauma Recovery Bodywork/Alchemical Alignment sessions in particular? You’re in good company if you are curious! So, it is my honor to share more about this practice.

What are somatic trauma recovery sessions?

My Somatic trauma recovery sessions are based on my training in Alchemical Alignment, which is a type of energy-based bodywork for trauma resolution. The practice supports the release of somatic trauma held in the body and nervous system. It provides a safe and nurturing healing space to explore, release and integrate body, mind and spirit.

Are you someone who can benefit?

Did you have a difficult birth experience or trauma as an infant?
Do you have childhood trauma that makes you feel triggered as a result?
Sometimes the experience of an accident, assault, fetal loss, difficult pregnancy, birthing experience, illness or surgery can be a factor
Someone who has difficulty living in the present, or continually focusing on the past or the future?
Is it hard to get grounded into your body?
Do you feel like you leave your body and go elsewhere?

If you can identify with any of these questions, then you may have trauma that is unresolved. As a result, your nervous system may be dysregulated. Nervous system dysregulation can manifest in physical and emotional ways. There is no singular set of symptoms or feelings that captures trauma and trauma response fully. Your feelings are always valid.

How can I benefit from somatic trauma recovery/Alchemical Alignment sessions?

Releasing the emotional charge of trauma supports healing. Supporting health, stability, and resource and working with the stored experiences in short sessions helps avoid re-traumatizing the body and nervous system. Releasing means that the memory can no longer demand attention. And that means resolving physical symptoms, emotional triggers or barriers to relationships or work.

While everyone is unique in what somatic trauma release offers them, there are some general benefits that you might experience:

Sessions can result in a feeling of more expansiveness and lightness in the body.
Feeling more comfortable and at home in your body.
Engaging with life and having a sense of renewed resiliency.
You may feel less hypervigilant in your environment and have a greater sense of safety and calm in the world.
Establishing healthy boundaries may be easier as is grounding in the present.
You may feel more connected with others around you and more connected to yourself, your body, and your spiritual life.

What is an alchemical alignment session like?

Every alchemical alignment session is unique. Sessions can be in person or remote over the phone or via Zoom. Also, no physical touch is necessary.

Initially, the client leads with an intention of what they hope to accomplish in a session and what their body wants to release. Personal choice is always honored.
Once that is determined, we begin grounding in the present and being in the body.
Next is following the body and nervous system’s lead to stabilize, identify and release stored trauma.
Since the body has its own rhythm, we honor your pace. Accordingly, the process happens in small pieces. Client comfort, safety and choice are always central.

What if I don’t think I experienced trauma? Can I still benefit?

What we call trauma does not have to be anything monstrous. If you have ever had a sense of being overwhelmed or felt like a situation was too big to cope with, then your body may have experienced a somatic trauma. An example could be having to stand outside in the cold as you waited for the bus as a child. It could be the memory of sitting at the dinner table until you finished the last lima bean on your plate or being sent to bed without dessert or without a hug. The body experiences overwhelm, fear, excess, and lack in the nervous system. The inability to cope with or somatically process an event or series of events is considered trauma and is what often gets held in the nervous system.

Examples

As an infant or child:

If your parents or caregivers were comforting and soothing (co-regulating), then trauma processed and was not held in the body.
Without the benefit of this somatic co-regulation, you could be experiencing fight, flight, freeze or fawn. These responses can get “trapped” or stored by the nervous system and later experienced as emotional triggers and/or physical symptoms until they are released.

As an adult:

When something overwhelms your nervous system, you may feel dysregulated. Covid, health issues/illness/surgery, world politics, family dynamics, work circumstances, etc. These things are as “qualifying” as sexual assault, an accident or other trauma.
The common denominator is your ability to cope and release. Many of us have found nervous system regulation and our ability to “bounce back” from trauma more challenging in the last few years.

If you feel at all curious after reading this post, consider soul embodiment and alchemical alignment.

To experience Somatic Trauma Recovery session, click here to schedule an appointment. Questions? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation. You deserve to feel good in your body, experience wholeness and enjoy your life fully.

The post What Is Somatic Trauma Recovery? appeared first on Soul Path Wellness.