What is Somatic Emotional Awareness?

Emotional awareness is our ability to know and understand what emotional process we are experiencing. Adding a somatic piece to this allows us to include understanding and experiencing this emotion in the body and not just at a cognitive level. Our emotions are considered “feelings” because they carry a sensation in the body. Becoming aware of these sensations and feelings in the body is a very important tool to support us in navigating our interactions, exposing what our core values are and facilitating the interpretation of what is safe and unsafe.

In this 6-week workshop, we are going to navigate the spectrum of human emotion in the body and learn the unique languages of our bodies. Every body has a unique sensory experience that is based on our own history and experiences and during our time together, you will learn your own language unique to your body.

Why is it important to learn Somatic Emotional Awareness?

When we can recognize and learn the feelings and sensations that come up in our body during our daily experiences, we can begin to understand what is being triggered in our body. Understanding what is being triggered in our body allows us to pull the thread of why we are experiencing it and begin to see which wound or painful experiencing the body feels is being recreated.

You see, the body and the human nervous system are incredibly beautiful and complicated. Our nervous systems job is to keep us safe. When we have previously experienced situations that the nervous system deemed unsafe, it will now behave in such a way that tries to avoid recreating that situation or gives you the emotional and somatic warning bells that something isn’t right. The more in-tune we are with the somatic feelings in our body, the more aware we become in interactions and in day to day life. Self-awareness is the greatest tool to regulate and reprogram the nervous system and being aware of our emotions is a very important aspect of it.

When we suppress our emotions and ignore the sensations they offer in our body, they only begin to talk louder and louder, often manifesting in pain, illness and various other physical conditions. Learning the unique language our bodies speak is incredibly valuable in healing the nervous system and the body.