Somatic Therapy and Yoga: A Holistic Approach to Healing Trauma and Stress
Somatic therapy, as defined by Harvard Health, focuses on how the body expresses deeply painful experiences and uses mind-body healing to aid in trauma recovery. In The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk explains how trauma manifests in the body, often leading to long-term effects such as chronic tension, elevated blood pressure, autoimmune diseases like fibromyalgia, and digestive issues. I’ve personally experienced how chronic stress and trauma impacted my own health, leading to autoimmune dysfunction, and I’ve explored various holistic healing methods, including therapy and yoga.
In today’s fast-paced world, stressors are everywhere—from work demands and family obligations to social pressures and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. On top of that, personal challenges like grief, loss, burnout, fatigue, and health issues can accumulate, causing imbalances in both the mind and body.
Yoga is a powerful tool for helping the body release accumulated stress and reconnect with the present moment. Many people have preconceived notions about yoga, imagining it as an intense practice full of contortionist-like poses in hot, humid rooms. For many years, I believed that if I wasn’t sweating or performing complex poses, I wasn’t practicing yoga correctly. However, I soon realized that my healing journey required a different approach.
In the West, yoga is often marketed as a fitness-focused activity with an emphasis on expensive gear and intense poses, which deviates from its traditional roots. Ancient texts like the Rig Veda describe yoga as the union of body and mind, creating harmony. Trauma, stress, and chronic fatigue are the opposite of harmony, yet research shows that somatic therapies like yoga can restore balance and provide a safe space for processing trauma. Much of this research focuses on slowing down and fostering interoceptive awareness—simply tuning into and noticing sensations in the body. Through practices like breathwork and gentle movement, yoga helps individuals become more aware of how the body stores chronic stress and trauma, allowing for healthier processing.
Drawing from both research and personal experience, I am deeply committed to offering yoga as a core part of my healing services. Yoga, in its traditional form, aligns with my own journey and provides a powerful path toward healing, balance, and mind-body connection.
