Why Somatics Matter More Than You Think on the Healing Journey

Healing didn’t really begin for me when I understood the why.
It began when I felt something shift in my body.
The first time I took a breath and didn’t brace for impact.
The first time stillness felt safe.

That’s what somatics gave me:
A felt sense of safety I didn’t even know I needed.

But first, I had to learn the language of my body…
to understand what it was trying to tell me.
Because until I could listen, I couldn’t truly respond.
And healing… real healing… begins in the response.
Not just from the mind, but from the body that once learned to brace, hide, push, or perform to feel safe.

For me, that language began with one simple signal:
Tightness in my chest.

I didn’t think much of it…I just chalked it up to stress.
I’d take deep breaths, drink more water, try to power through.

But when I discovered somatic healing, I saw that tightness with new eyes.
It wasn’t random.
It wasn’t just “being stressed.”
It was my body trying to say:

“I’m not okay. I’m carrying too much. I need space.”

And then I remembered:
I’d felt that same tightness years earlier, back in my corporate career.
Right before my body gave out.
Right before I landed in health crises I couldn’t ignore.
Back when my nervous system was screaming for change…
and I wasn’t listening.

Because my personality pattern - as a Type Two on the Enneagram - had taught me that being helpful, needed, and selfless was what made me safe, valuable, and loved.

I didn’t yet know that my body was wiser than my mind.

What Somatic Healing Actually Means

Somatics is the practice of tuning into your internal felt experience.
It’s not just about understanding why you do what you do… it’s about feeling how your patterns live in your body.

Because they do.

Your coping isn’t just a mindset.
It’s a posture.
It’s a breath pattern.
It’s a clenched jaw or a constant ache or the way your shoulders inch up every time you say “yes” when you really mean “no.”

Somatic work brings the body back into the conversation.
Because that’s where your patterns began…
And that’s where they begin to shift.

We’ve been taught to treat symptoms, not listen to signals.
To override discomfort instead of explore what it’s trying to tell us.
To solve anxiety instead of sit beside it.

But your body carries more wisdom than your mind.

Your mind is efficient. It searches for what it already believes.
If your Enneagram type learned that being productive, agreeable, or in control kept you safe... your brain will keep looking for ways to reenact that belief, even when it no longer serves you.

But your body?
Your body knows when something’s off or when it is right, even when your brain can’t explain it.
That’s the beginning of self-trust.

Your Nervous System Isn’t Sabotaging You

Your nervous system is always trying to protect you.
But protection and connection aren’t the same.

And sometimes what kept you safe before (fawning, freezing, pleasing, perfecting) now keeps you stuck in loops that don’t actually feel like you.

The tight chest.
The constant overthinking.
The inability to rest even when you’re tired.
They’re not flaws. They’re not failures.

They’re messages.

Somatic healing isn’t about erasing those responses.
It’s about getting close enough to understand them.
To soften the grip of urgency and ask, gently:

“What’s out of alignment here?”

The Body Is a Messenger… Not a Problem

When I finally understood what my chest tightness was saying…
I could meet it with care, not control.
I could respond instead of override.
I could move with my body, not against it.

That’s the difference somatics makes.

Because healing isn’t just about processing the past.
It’s about feeling safe enough in your body to stay present with yourself now.
Not to fix… but to feel.

To notice the signals before they turn into symptoms.
To trust the subtle shifts before they become breaking points.

Somatic healing is the practice of remembering:
Your body is not the problem.
It’s the messenger.
And when you listen…
Everything starts to shift.

P.S. If you missed the first part of this series, Why Understanding the Enneagram Is an Important Step on Your Healing Journey - I invite you to start there.
It lays the foundation for this deeper body-based work and how your Enneagram type shaped your earliest sense of safety.

And in the next part of the series, we’ll explore how the Enneagram and somatics work together...and why integrating both is at the heart of healing inside The Space Between.