The Nervous System Isn’t “Woo-Woo”: The Science Behind Somatic Healing
Let’s get one thing straight:
Somatic healing isn’t a trend. It’s not “just breathwork.” And it’s definitely not “woo-woo”.
It’s biology.
It’s neuroscience.
It’s what your body’s been trying to do all along… if only the world let it.
Let’s Start With a Wild Animal (stay with me haha)
Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing®, noticed something fascinating while watching animals in the wild:
When a zebra escapes a lion, it doesn’t just run for its life and go back to grazing like nothing happened.
It shakes… literally. Its body trembles to release the leftover survival energy. Then, it moves on.
That shake?
That’s the body completing its stress response cycle.
Now, what do humans do after something stressful or traumatic?
We clench our jaw, hold our breath, power through, maybe scroll Instagram, maybe snap at our partner.
But we don’t complete the cycle.
We shut it down.
We override it with our thinking brain.
And that unprocessed energy?
We carry it in our muscles, our gut, our immune system, our emotional reactivity.
We say things like “I don’t know why I’m so triggered by this,” or “I’m just so sensitive,” or “I’m tired but I can’t rest.”
Sound familiar?
Nervous System 101: The Science Behind What You're Feeling
Your autonomic nervous system is responsible for everything from your heartbeat and digestion to your emotional responses and survival instincts. It has two primary “gears”:
Sympathetic (fight/flight): Activates you to respond to threat or stress
Parasympathetic (rest/digest/freeze): Calms you back down or slows you into immobility when overwhelm hits
Your body reacts to the world before your brain has time to analyze it. And when stress gets trapped in your system without a way out (think: a breakup, a car accident, childhood emotional neglect, daily microstress), it starts to live there.
It doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you, it’s just that the cycle never got to finish.
So… What Is Somatic Healing, Then?
Somatic means of the body.
Somatic healing helps you reconnect with your felt sense — your inner experience of sensation, emotion, movement, and energy — so your body can finally complete those stress responses and come back to balance.
Unlike traditional therapy, where you can feel like you’re just re-telling the same traumatic story over and over. Somatic healing focuses on noticing:
What sensations are present in your body right now?
Where do you feel pressure, tension, heat, numbness?
Can we give that part some movement, space, or breath without trying to fix it?
Somatic work isn’t about forcing anything to happen.
It’s about creating the right environment for your body to do what it’s designed to do: release, regulate, and return to safety.
🧬 Ever heard of the term “neuroplasticity”? Yeah, this is that in action!
Every time you complete a stress response instead of shutting it down, you rewire your brain to feel safer in your body. You expand your capacity for discomfort. For joy. For presence.
Why This Matters in a World That Profits From Disconnection
Our society benefits from you being disconnected from your body.
If you can’t feel your hunger, you’ll buy more diet products.
If you can’t feel your limits, you’ll keep overworking.
If you can’t feel your truth, you’ll outsource your decisions and your worth.
Somatic healing is a reclamation.
It’s you saying: “I’m not numbing this anymore. I’m listening now.”
And that’s radical.
If you’ve ever thought:
“Why can’t I just calm down?”
“Why do I keep shutting down in conflict?”
“Why am I so exhausted but still can’t rest?”
The answer is not more willpower or discipline…it’s inner safety!
That’s what this work offers.
Want to Explore This for Yourself?
🧪 Start with the nervous system quiz to find your current stress state
💬 Book a free intro call to explore 1:1 somatic coaching
📚 Or check out my blog on functional freeze if you’re always “on” but weirdly numb