A Journey Into Somatic Healing: When Your Body Holds the Key to Recovery
Newsletter No. 15 - October 28, 2025
The days are growing shorter in the Maiella, and the colors are slowly shifting. We await the arrival of snow—it has fallen once already—and hope to be skiing soon on the slope we gaze upon from our balcony in Decontra.
Last week marked the beginning of my three-year journey with Somatic Experiencing® International. I took the train to Rimini, Italy, where I joined 30 other women, 10 assistants and my remarkable teacher, Pedro Prado, for six intensive days of study and practice. What I experienced there was so profound that I felt compelled to share how this seemingly simple method can heal traumatic responses in your nervous system and create real physiological changes.
You may remember from my last newsletter that I spent a week in the Dolomites at the end of September. During that trip, I experienced a terrifying fall in the mountains—sliding down a slippery slope of slushy snow for nearly 15 meters, unable to stop, with nothing but a field of rocks visible below me. I was fortunate to stop before reaching them, walking away with only minor cuts and a mild concussion.
I've fallen in the mountains before and been able to brush it off and move on. This time was different. The event kept circling in my head, accompanied by waves of emotion, extreme fatigue, and a persistent headache that wouldn't respond to multiple osteopath sessions.
When I arrived at the Somatic Experiencing® training, I felt disappointed in how my body was holding me back. I wanted to be ready to learn and engage, but instead found myself struggling to feel comfortable in my own skin.
As it turned out, I was exactly where I needed to be.
Every morning, I walked the beach—a practice that kept me resourced throughout the training. These walks brought a sense of calm and permission to slow down, allowing me to simply be with whatever sensations and emotions arose.
This image perfectly captures the concept of the trauma vortex and its counter vortex. In essence, we experience rushes of arousal energy that feel beyond our control, but we can learn to access the counter energy—our internal resources—that helps deactivate this overwhelming charge.
When we learn how to restore this balance, we free up tremendous energy that can be redirected toward living our lives more fully.
Understanding Somatic Experiencing
Peter Levine defines Somatic Experiencing (SE) as a therapeutic approach aimed at resolving trauma and stress-related disorders by working with the body's natural ability to process and recover from distressing experiences. Rather than focusing on cognitive or emotional processing, SE directs attention to internal bodily sensations, allowing the body's felt experience to guide the healing process. It works by completing the interrupted fight-or-flight responses that often become frozen in the body after trauma, releasing trapped survival energy and helping the nervous system return to balance.
Unable to continue functioning with my intense headache, I signed up for a session with a teaching assistant (which is also required for graduation). The process was remarkably gentle. I was guided to connect with my resources—with the feeling of safety in my body in the present moment. Then, slowly, I allowed myself to reconnect with the mountain experience, feeling the fear and helplessness, before returning to my place of safety.
The phrase "I am safe, I am alive" arose spontaneously and produced a huge wave of emotion. I allowed myself to stay in this space, gradually dipping my toes into the feeling of safety. Eventually, that same phrase began to make me feel powerful. "I am alive" sent waves of circulation through my cells—I could picture them dancing with joy. I am alive, I am alive.
My headache subsided. My muscles began to relax. My eyesight became clearer. The next day, I woke with more energy than I'd had in weeks, suddenly aware of how much energy had been consumed by housing my traumatic symptoms and holding my body in freeze mode. I had dropped into the experience of my own nervous system at a deeper level, witnessing it with entirely new perspective.
The next day brought tangible changes: open eyes, a relaxed jaw, my head floating freely on my spine instead of feeling pinned down. A new sense of freedom had emerged.
I entered that session hoping it might lessen the sympathetic charge when thinking about the fall. I never expected to leave without a headache—and for it to stay gone. But it has. For the rest of the week, I felt clearer and remained headache-free. The work had truly changed my body's physiology.
There's so much more I want to share, but I'll save that for future newsletters as my journey continues. If you're curious about experiencing this work yourself, I'd love to share it with you. I already incorporate this "bottom-up" approach into my empowerment and pleasure coaching sessions, though I'm not limiting this work to just those topics.
Nervous system regulation has become quite the buzz term, but I believe there's a world of difference between understanding the concept and actually experiencing it. If you'd like to explore how you can find more freedom and choice by learning to regulate your own nervous system, I invite you to sign up for a free clarity call.
PS. I will be looking for a few clients to work with as I deepen my training in Somatic Experiencing®. If you are interested, contact me. Sessions will be deeply discounted.
Harlow says hello and is sad he won’t be able to join in me in Vermont. He is slowing down but still perks up for his walks and is always up for barking at the many cats in the neighborhood.
