What Is Somatic Work? How Reconnecting with Your Body Can Change Your Life
Have you ever reached the end of the day and realized you’ve been running on autopilot? You pushed through back-to-back meetings, responded to everyone else’s needs, and now you’re too tired to even think about your own. Maybe you’ve been feeling disconnected from joy, purpose, or even your own body’s signals. Maybe it feels like you’re living from the neck up.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Many of us—especially those who care deeply, give generously, and lead in our communities—end up living this way. But there’s another way forward. Somatic work offers a path to come home to yourself, realign your daily choices with what you truly value, and create change that lasts.
What Somatic Work Is and Isn’t
The word somatic comes from the Greek “soma,” meaning “the living body.” Somatic work is about more than physical fitness or posture. It’s about cultivating an intentional, living relationship with your body—paying attention to sensations, patterns, and cues—and then using that awareness to guide your choices, relationships, and healing.
Here’s what it’s not:
It’s not about “fixing” your body to meet an outside ideal.
It’s not just exercise, stretching, or relaxation techniques (though those can play a part).
It’s not bypassing discomfort with “positive vibes only.”
Instead, somatic work invites you to tune in to the way your body speaks to you and get curious about what these signals mean. Through breath, movement, grounding, and mindful attention, you begin to integrate your mind, emotions, and body into a fuller, more connected self.
Why the Body Matters for Change
Our bodies are like living archives. They hold our experiences, our joys, and our unprocessed pain, often below our conscious awareness. That’s why you might notice your stomach clench before a hard conversation, or your shoulders tighten when someone crosses a boundary.
These aren’t random quirks. They’re your nervous system doing its best to protect you, shaped by years of experiences and patterns. But without awareness, we can end up stuck in automatic responses: snapping in anger, freezing in conflict, overcommitting when we mean to rest.
Somatic work helps you catch these moments sooner, so you can have more choice in how you handle the difficult moments. Instead of reacting out of habit, pause, feel into your body, and respond in a way that reflects your core values. Over time, with consistent practice and guidance, this changes how you feel, how you live, and how you show up in relationships.
Somatic Work in Action: Real-Life Examples
To make this real, here are three ways somatic awareness can shift daily life:
1. Boundary-Setting at Work
A nonprofit leader notices that every time a colleague says, “Can you take this on?” their jaw tightens and shoulders rise. Before, they’d ignore those sensations and say yes, piling more onto an already full plate. With somatic practice, they pause, take a slow breath, and check in with their body. The tension is a clear no. They respond: “I can’t take that on right now.” Instead of guilt, they feel relief and a growing sense of self-respect.
2. Reconnecting to Joy
An artist, drained by years of hustling for projects, realizes they haven’t danced in years. In a somatic session, a simple sway to music awakens a spark in their chest. Following that spark, they bring dance back as a weekly ritual. Their mood lifts, creativity flows again, and they show up to work more energized.
3. Navigating Grief Without Shutting Down
After losing a loved one, a parent feels a heavy ache in their chest. Before, they might have pushed through, trying to “stay strong.” Now, they sit with the sensation, placing a hand over their heart and breathing into the heaviness. The grief moves through in waves instead of bottling up, deepening their emotional connection with family and friends.
Is This Right for You?
Somatic work is for anyone ready to slow down, listen, and live from a place of enoughness rather than exhaustion. It’s especially powerful if you’re:
Navigating a career shift, burnout, or an identity change.
Longing for more joy, connection, and self-trust.
Interested in healing in ways that honor both personal and collective well-being.
If you’ve been feeling the pull toward something deeper—something that integrates your mind, heart, and body—Soma Reclaimed is designed for exactly this moment. It’s a six-month coaching experience for women and gender-expansive leaders, creatives, and changemakers who are ready to reclaim their energy, power, and purpose in community.
Your Next Step
If you’re curious, start with the Enoughness Guided Journal. It’s a free resource filled with somatic writing prompts to help you listen to your body’s wisdom. From there, you can explore whether joining the next Soma Reclaimed cohort feels like your next yes.
Your body has been speaking to you all along. Somatic work is the practice of listening and letting that listening transform the way you live, love, and lead.