s o m a t i c
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Moment to moment we oscillate through cycles of expansion, contraction, and pauses. Through bodymind states such as trust, joy, curiosity, and forgiveness, we expand into life. We return to neutral when we slow down, pause, and exhale. Alternating expansion and contraction is how the muscles move the body, the body moves nutrients from one part to another, the eyes adjust to light, the heart circulates blood. Through mindful movement we can start to loosen the mind’s white-knuckled grip for a sense of security and increase the feeling of being physically grounded.
Certain conditions are necessary for optimal movement. To expand without stability can be ungrounding or chaotic. To contract without trust can be to recoil in fear, to harden in judgment or freeze in self-consciousness. For the optimal oscillation of expansion and contraction, the felt experiences of support, alignment, flexibility and balance must be present. These conditions contribute to an experience of a stable internal ground that you can rest into and be supported by, in order to let go with confidence into the unknowns of being alive.
Adverse core beliefs about yourself and about life contribute to enduring patterns of internal tension. These deeply ingrained feedback loops can be extremely challenging to change on your own. It is with those situations, beliefs, thought patterns, and relationships that you don't know how to evolve on your own that we attend to in somatic psychotherapy.
Marenka Cerny, MFT