~

The word somatic refers to the element of experience that has to do with the physical body. Often, the use of this term is also correlated with the notion of the body’s innate capacity to hold and process emotion, to harbor a certain kind of knowledge about its own needs and potentials for healing, and from that knowledge to offer us wisdom beyond that which our conscious thoughts are often able to generate.

Not only does our physiology possess the ability to impact us by delivering its own wisdom and feedback (when we listen carefully), but we also possess the ability to impact our bodies based on how we process and experience our thoughts and emotions. Often, of course, this processing and experiencing is largely unconscious and therefore beyond our immediate control, yet when we seek out, learn, and practice implementing tools for facilitating our own self-growth and self-awareness in this realm, we can then make more conscious choices about how to process and experience our emotions in a way that is not only psychologically and emotionally beneficial to us, but is also better for our physical bodies.

As highlighted in the quote above by Dr. Candace Pert, who was renowned for her work in the field of understanding how our emotions impact our bodies, all emotions release different chemical signals that impact every single one of our cells. With repeated release of the same chemical signals, and their correlative emotions, those chemical imprints on our cells become further and further engrained, making it easier for us to experience those same emotions in the future. Furthermore, when we do not allow ourselves to fully process our emotions, our bodies also experience a chemical impact that can result in a negative effect on our physical health.

Emotion Lives in the Body
In the Guiding Principles About Feelings section of Chapter 1, we learned that when we block ourselves from experiencing our emotions, the vibrations, biological chemicals, and neurological pathways created by those blocked emotions begin to deeply impact not only our minds, but also our physical bodies. Blocked emotions can cause muscle tension, dysfunctional movement patterns, and reduced neuroplasticity (the brain’s natural ability to change its neuronal connections for the purpose of healing and regeneration)–all of which are essential to our physical health and longevity, our mental stability, and our happiness. The effects of not allowing ourselves to fully feel our emotions as they pertain to our physical bodies, is their somatic impact.

This is a concept that is now quite well-known in the fields of neurobiology and the behavioral sciences, and has also begun to be acknowledged and integrated in the field of psychology as well. However, for those outside these fields of research, the concept of the somatic impact of emotions may sometimes seem less intuitive. That is because, as we have explored, most of us tend to erroneously identify the stories behind our feelings, with the feelings themselves. As we have seen, however, it is important to learn to distinguish between the story (which often arises from something that happened the past) and the actual vibration, or chemical flow, of the emotion that is occurring in the moment we feel it. Another reason it is important to make this distinction between our stories and our emotions, has to do with understanding the process behind somatic impact.

That is, in order to move beyond our personal limitations, and achieve greater health and well-being, we must recognize that our stories always live in the mind, while our emotions live in the body. In order to reduce negative impact on our bodies, therefore, we need to renegotiate a relationship with our emotions in which we allow ourselves to fully feel them, and therefore to allow them to process through our bodies in the freest way possible.

A natural question to ask in order to understand how to change our relationship to emotions, is: why do we ever block our emotions to begin with? Of course, this is most often a completely unconscious decision, yet if it is so distressing to both the mind and the body, why would we even be unconsciously programmed to make such a choice?

The answer may vary slightly from person to person, but in general, the tendency to block our emotions comes from the early-life habit of protectively blocking experiences when certain things (or perhaps even many things, for some people) were too overwhelming for our nervous systems to fully experience. In humans, as with most other species, there is a natural tendency to brace against pain, which is an important survival mechanism. However, it also prevents us from experiencing the emotions associated with the painful or traumatic event, and while many other animal species naturally and immediately dispel the remaining vibrations of trauma from their bodies (for example, most animals allow their bodies to tremble following an overload of fear in the nervous system, even after the source of the threat has already gone away), humans have the tendency instead to remain to some degree in that state of braced protection, never fully allowing the vibrations to move through them.

When this prolonged state of bracing occurs, these vibrations then take long-term root in the body. Once they do so, their chemical imprints can create actual physiological changes at the cellular level.

Another important thing to understand about the somatic impact of suppressed emotions, is that it also affects something called fascia, which is a complex network of soft tissue that is completely interconnected in one system throughout the body. So even if we experience pain in one part of the body, it can often be the result of a problem somewhere else, as energy moves somewhat like water throughout the network of the fascia. We all possess these water-like properties in the way that energy moves through our bodies; therefore, we can easily block the flow of this energy in unhealthy ways–such as when we ignore or avoid feeling our feelings–and yet, we also have the redeeming capacity to return to buoyancy and flow, especially when we fully allow our emotions to reach their natural level of vibration in the moment we experience them, instead of suppressing or blocking their movement. This is much healthier for every part of us–emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, and physically.

Wisdom Lives in the Body
Just like emotions live in our bodies, so does some of our deepest unconscious wisdom. Our bodies are extremely intelligent mechanisms that are always trying to restore balance to their own ecosystems, and therefore, every single symptom we experience carries an important message with it. Our bodies can therefore be our most powerful teachers, as long as we learn to listen to and understand their language.

The language of the body, when it is in need of restoration or a return to homeostasis (balance), is communicated through its symptomology. One of the most renowned fathers of modern psychology, Carl Jung, asserted that physical symptoms carry to us from our subconscious minds important wisdom about our need for emotional restoration, stating that “there is seldom a bodily ailment that does not show psychic complications, even if it is not psychically caused.” Usually, once we resolve whatever emotional or psychological challenge lies at the root of a symptom, we may find that the symptom either dissipates, or may even disappear altogether.
As we just explored in the previous section, suppressed emotion is so often the root cause of physical imbalance and “dis-ease.” Therefore, very often, whenever we experience any physical symptom, at least part of its message tends to be that we must allow ourselves to more fully feel a particular emotion, or set of emotions. The opportunity this offers us for potential growth, learning, and healing, is a new lens through which we can now view our relationship with our emotions. It is the deep recognition and integration that instead of being something to avoid or block at all costs, fully feeling our feelings is necessary for our own true healing at every level of being human–the emotional, the psychological, the spiritual, and the physical.