What's your frequency #5: Body Wisdom: A Somatic Technique to Release What's Stuck

Because sometimes healing happens below the level of words.

We've talked about emotional flow and why feelings need to move through your system. But here's something most people don't realize: your body is holding conversations you're not even aware of.

Right now, as you read this, your body is storing information. Not just physical tension, but emotional imprints. The argument you had last week might be sitting in your shoulders. The grief from losing someone might be wrapped around your heart. The stress from work might be coiled in your gut.

These aren't just metaphors — they're actual energetic patterns your nervous system has learned to hold. And sometimes, no amount of thinking or talking can reach them. Sometimes you need to speak your body's language directly.

The Science of Somatic Healing

Your body processes emotional information faster than your conscious mind. The vagus nerve — your primary information highway between body and brain — carries signals from your organs to your brainstem at lightning speed, creating felt sense before thought.

Research in neuroscience shows that trauma and chronic stress create patterns in your fascia (the connective tissue that wraps around your muscles and organs). These patterns can persist long after the original trigger is gone, creating physical holding patterns that influence your emotional state.

Dr. Peter Levine's work with Somatic Experiencing demonstrates that the body holds healing wisdom — it knows how to discharge stuck energy and return to regulation. We just need to know how to listen and guide the process.

Your body is constantly trying to communicate with you. Today, we're going to have a conversation with it.

Preparing for Your Somatic Journey

This isn't about forcing anything to happen. It's about creating space for your body's natural healing intelligence to emerge. You're going to be both the observer and the participant in this process.

Find a quiet space where you won't be interrupted for 15-20 minutes.

Sit comfortably in a chair with your feet on the ground, or lie down if that feels better. This isn't about perfect posture — it's about being present with whatever is.

Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Take three slow, deep breaths, letting each exhale be longer than the inhale. With each breath, let yourself arrive more fully in your body.

Step 1: The Body Scan - Mapping Your Internal Landscape

Start by bringing to mind something that's been weighing on you lately. It doesn't have to be the biggest thing — just something that feels unresolved or heavy when you think about it.

Maybe it's stress from work, tension in a relationship, grief over a loss, or anxiety about the future. Don't try to solve it or think your way through it. Just let it be present.

Now, scan your body from the top of your head down to your toes. Notice where this feeling lives in your body. Where do you feel it most strongly?

Common places emotions get stored:

• Throat: unexpressed words, swallowed feelings

• Chest/heart: grief, heartbreak, overwhelming love

• Shoulders: carrying burdens, feeling responsible for others

• Stomach/gut: anxiety, fear, "gut instincts" we've ignored

• Jaw: anger, frustration, things we want to say but don't

• Lower back: feeling unsupported, carrying too much

• Hips: stored trauma, unexpressed sexuality or creativity

Don't worry if you feel it in multiple places. Just notice where it feels most concentrated right now.

Step 2: Getting Curious - The Felt Sense Exploration

Now comes the fascinating part. Instead of trying to change or fix what you're feeling, you're going to get curious about it.

Focus on that area of your body where the emotion feels most present. Imagine you could see this feeling as a shape, color, or texture. Don't think about it — just let your body tell you.

Ask yourself these questions and let the answers come intuitively:

What does it look like?

• Is it a shape? A color? A texture?

• Does it have edges or is it fuzzy?

• Is it moving or still?

• Is it solid like a rock, or fluid like water?

• Is it transparent or opaque?

What does it feel like?

• Is it hot or cold?

• Heavy or light?

• Rough or smooth?

• Tight or loose?

• Pulsing or constant?

What size is it?

• As small as a marble or as big as a boulder?

• Does it take up your whole chest or just a tiny corner?

• Is it growing or shrinking as you focus on it?

Does it have a quality or personality?

• Does it feel old or new?

• Familiar or foreign?

• Protective or destructive?

• Stuck or trying to move?

There are no right or wrong answers. Your body's wisdom speaks in images, sensations, and felt sense. Trust whatever comes up.

Step 3: The Dialogue - Listening to Your Body's Message

Now you're going to do something that might feel strange: you're going to have a conversation with this feeling.

Place your hand gently on the part of your body where you feel this emotion most strongly. Breathe slowly and imagine sending your breath directly to that area.

Ask silently: "What do you need me to know?"

Then listen. Not with your mind, but with your body. What comes up? Maybe it's an image, a word, a memory, or just a feeling. Don't judge it — just receive it.

You might ask:

• "How long have you been here?"

• "What are you trying to protect me from?"

• "What would help you feel safe?"

• "What do you need from me?"

Sometimes the answers come as thoughts. Sometimes as sensations. Sometimes as sudden insights or memories. Trust whatever emerges.

Step 4: The Breath Bridge - Creating Movement

Continue breathing slowly and deeply, sending each breath to the area where you feel this emotion.

With each inhale, imagine you're breathing space around this feeling — not trying to push it away, but giving it room to be exactly as it is.

With each exhale, let your body soften around it. You're not trying to make it disappear, just allowing it to exist without resistance.

As you continue breathing, notice if anything shifts. Does the shape change? The color? The intensity? Does it move to a different part of your body?

Sometimes emotions need to move before they can release. If you feel energy wanting to shift, let it. If you feel like shaking, shake. If you feel like crying, cry. If you feel like making sound, make sound.

Your body knows how to discharge stuck energy. Your job is just to get out of the way.

Step 5: The Release Visualization - Letting Go

Now, if it feels right (and only if it feels right), you're going to invite this stuck energy to transform.

Continue breathing into the area where you feel this emotion. Imagine that with each breath, this feeling is becoming softer, more fluid, more willing to move.

Choose one of these visualizations that resonates with you:

The Dissolution: Imagine this feeling slowly dissolving, like salt in warm water. See it becoming lighter, more transparent, until it's completely integrated into your system as pure energy.

The Release: Visualize this emotion as something that can flow out of your body. Maybe it flows out through your breath, through your hands, or through your feet into the earth. See it leaving your system completely.

The Transformation: Imagine this stuck energy transforming into something else — light, warmth, or a feeling of spaciousness. See it changing from something heavy into something that serves you.

The Integration: Visualize this emotion finding its right place in your system — not stuck or overwhelming, but flowing naturally as part of your emotional landscape.

Trust your intuition about which approach feels right. Some emotions need to be released completely. Others need to be integrated differently. Your body knows which is which.

Step 6: The Integration - Sealing the Work

Take several more deep breaths, noticing how your body feels now. What's different? What's the same?

Place both hands on your heart and take a moment to appreciate your body's wisdom and your willingness to listen to it.

Give yourself a moment to notice:

• How does that area of your body feel now?

• Has the sensation changed in any way?

• Do you feel more space, flow, or ease?

• Is there anything your body wants you to remember from this experience?

Sometimes the shifts are dramatic. Sometimes they're subtle. Both are perfect. Your nervous system knows exactly how much change it can integrate at once.

After the Journey: Integration and Care

This kind of somatic work can continue processing for hours or even days after you do it. Be gentle with yourself. Drink water. Move your body gently. Rest if you need to.

Don't be surprised if emotions continue to surface over the next few days. You've opened a door that may have been closed for a long time. This is your system completing the healing process.

Some things that support integration:

• Gentle movement like walking or stretching

• Time in nature

• Creative expression

• Talking to someone you trust about your experience

• Journaling about what came up

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When to Seek Professional Support

While this somatic journey is safe for most people, sometimes stuck emotions are connected to significant trauma that needs professional support. If you find yourself overwhelmed, unable to come back to your body, or feeling unsafe at any point, please reach out to a qualified somatic therapist or trauma-informed counselor.

There's no shame in needing support. Some healing journeys are meant to be witnessed and guided.

The Ongoing Conversation

Your body is always communicating with you. The more you practice this kind of listening, the more fluent you become in your body's language.

This isn't a one-time fix — it's an ongoing relationship. Regular somatic check-ins can prevent emotions from getting stuck in the first place and help you stay connected to your body's wisdom.

Consider making this a weekly practice:

• Set aside 15-20 minutes for a body scan

• Ask your body what it needs

• Listen without trying to fix or change anything

• Breathe space around whatever you find

• Thank your body for its constant communication

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The Ripple Effect

When you release stuck emotions somatically, something powerful happens. You don't just feel better — you become more present, more authentic, more available for genuine connection.

People can feel the difference when you're carrying less emotional baggage. Your energy field becomes clearer. Your presence becomes more grounded. You show up more fully in your relationships and work.

In intimate spaces especially, this kind of somatic clearing creates capacity for deeper connection. When you're not managing stuck emotions, you can be truly present with another person.

Your body holds incredible wisdom. It's been keeping track of everything — the joys, the sorrows, the stresses, the celebrations. When you learn to listen to it and work with it directly, you unlock healing that goes far beyond what words can reach.