The Sublime Power of Somatic Work: Journeying into States of Deep Consciousness

Laura: Awakening the Goddess
Oct 15, 2024
6 min read

Updated: Feb 21

Somatic work, the practice of deeply connecting with the sensations and wisdom within our bodies, offers a profoundly transformative path into states of consciousness often only associated with psychedelic experiences and plant medicines.

But here's the beautiful truth: the medicine we seek is already within our own bodies. Through somatic practices, we can access the deepest realms of being—exploring bliss, oneness, interconnectedness and sublime spiritual awareness by cultivating presence and feeling into the subtleties of our physical form. This body-centered practice and meditation can unlock layers of self-awareness that go beyond the mind and straight to the core of our embodied existence.

The Body as a Portal to Expanded Consciousness

Somatic work teaches us to listen to and feel the body’s sensations, allowing these experiences to evolve into subtle energies. As we cultivate awareness of bodily sensations, something remarkable happens: our felt sense begins to shift from the physical body to the subtle body, and beyond that, to the collective consciousness. This journey mirrors the expansive states often accessed through psychedelic medicine journeys, but instead of external substances, we use the body itself as the gateway.

Why Somatic Practices Are an Easier Path to Meditation

In traditional meditation practices, the mind can often be our greatest barrier. We struggle with thoughts, restlessness, and the constant chatter of the "monkey mind." Somatic work, by contrast, offers a more accessible path to meditation. Rather than trying to quiet the mind directly, somatic practices invite us to focus on what’s happening in the body—our breath, sensations, tension, or flow of energy. By attuning to our physical experience, we naturally slip out of the mind and into a state of presence. This method is often far easier for people who find traditional meditation challenging.

Fleet Maull, a renowned meditation teacher and prison activist, highlights the power of somatic awareness in this journey. He speaks of the body as “the vehicle for awakening,” explaining that when we fully inhabit our physical form, we access states of mindfulness and embodied presence that go beyond what the mind alone can achieve.

How Pain Becomes a Portal

One of the most powerful aspects of somatic work is its potential to transform pain into a portal for deeper healing and consciousness. Physical or emotional pain, often suppressed or ignored, carries within it untapped energy. When we lean into pain through somatic awareness—rather than resist it—we unlock the deeper messages and energy it holds. Pain can become a gateway to profound insight, release, liberation and even ecstasy.

The first time i experienced this was by complete accident. I was feeling so much pain and grief in my heart after a breakup that i felt my heart would implode in on itself, i followed this feeling in and in and in, until suddenly instead i began to expand ~ Into wave after wave after wave, of what felt like an "orgasm of the heart". I had no idea how to recreate or re-access that magical experience, but through the deep somatic tools i use - i can now access those states almost whenever i feel to.

Rather than running from discomfort, somatic practices encourage us to sit with and feel the pain, allowing it to unravel and reveal its underlying energy. This approach is particularly resonant with trauma-informed somatic therapy, where stored pain from past traumas is slowly released, facilitating not just healing but access to expanded states of awareness.

Renowned psychotherapist Peter Levine, who developed Somatic Experiencing, emphasizes this concept, stating that by accessing and releasing the energy trapped in the body through trauma, we open ourselves to renewed vitality and connection with life. This release often brings profound clarity, emotional release, and even spiritual awakening.

The Journey from Sensation to Subtle Energy

Somatic work begins with simple awareness—of the breath, the texture of sensations in our tissues, the heartbeat, or even areas of tension. Over time, this awareness refines itself, moving beyond the gross sensations of the physical body into the realm of subtle energy.

Our body is alive with hundreds of sensations, often it is only about re-sensetising ourselves to be able to feel them, through practice, and training our presence and awareness. We have to often go against the grain of societies culture & re-connect with our body to hear her hidden languages.

In traditions such as yoga and Taoism, this subtle energy is referred to as prana or chi, the life force that animates and sustains us. As we deepen our somatic awareness, we begin to feel this energy move through us, much like the currents of a river. These subtle sensations guide us into profound states of unity, where the boundary between the self and the universe begins to dissolve.

Oneness and Bliss: Reaching States of Deep Consciousness

Somatic awareness, as we build it over time, can lead to sublime experiences of oneness. As our attention shifts from the physical to the embodied energetic body, we start to experience ourselves not as separate individuals but as part of a vast, interconnected whole. These experiences of unity—where the self merges with the surrounding energy, with life itself—are what many refer to as non-dual awareness or states of bliss or awareness of - GODDESS

Interestingly, these states mirror the effects of psychedelic journeys, where boundaries dissolve, and one feels deeply connected to the universe. However, somatic practices offer a natural, safe, and deeply sustainable way to access these states, without the need for external substances. As Fleet Maull says, somatic awareness is:

“The most direct path to embodied liberation.”

Or i would say "Ecststic Liberation" :)

Practical Somatic Practices to Reach These States

There are some incredible tools in the somatic world, but these are a few of the simpler ones to get you started, if you are curious:

Body Scanning: Begin by lying down and scanning the body from head to toe. Focus on areas of tension, tightness, or discomfort. Bring your awareness fully to these areas without trying to change or fix them. Just feel them deeply.
Breath Awareness: Shift your attention to your breath. Notice its natural rhythm, depth, and quality. Feel the breath moving through your body, becoming a point of connection between your inner and outer worlds.
Sensation Awareness: Begin to notice the subtle sensations in the body. How do your feet feel against the ground? Can you feel your heartbeat? Tune into the sensations without judgment, and allow them to expand.
Somatic Movement: Gentle, flowing movements like yoga, tai chi, or embodied dance help bring you into deeper awareness of how energy moves through your body. Pay attention to how subtle shifts in movement alter your energetic state.
Pain as a Portal: If pain arises, rather than resisting it, turn toward it with curiosity. Feel into the pain, allowing it to be a teacher. What emotions or energies are tied to this sensation? As you hold space for the pain, it will often shift, releasing deeper layers of tension or trauma.

Just like with any practice, it helps to travel the terrain from someone who knows it well. An experienced facilitator effectively helps to loan you their cultivated presence and guide you into deeper sub-space or surrendered embodiment. If you would like to book a session and experience this for yourself ( sessions are available online & in-person ):

Contact Me

The Somatic Awakening: A New Paradigm of Healing

In a world that often seeks external remedies for inner problems, somatic work offers a revolutionary path of healing and transformation. The body holds wisdom far beyond the mind’s grasp, and through somatic practices, we can access states of inner healing that are as deep and expansive as any psychedelic journey.

By attuning to the body’s subtle signals, we can unlock profound states of peace, oneness, and bliss. We can transform pain into a portal for liberation and use the body’s natural intelligence to awaken us to our true nature.

A Final Thought: Your Body is the Medicine

In somatic work, we learn that we are the medicine. Our bodies hold the keys to healing, transformation, and spiritual awakening. By deepening our awareness of sensations, developing a practice of presence, and moving with intention, we can access the sublime and reach states of consciousness that connect us to the very essence of life.

Somatic work isn’t just about healing—it’s about awakening to the ecstatic potential of the body, opening the doorway to experiences of wholeness, unity, and infinite bliss.

If you are ready to explore these sublime states of being, know that it’s all within you—waiting to be discovered. ✨

FIND OUT MORE:

Your can access the Awakening the Goddess - An Initiatory Journey program <-- here, a full, in-depth somatic healing and awakening journey through the different evolutionary levels of your being - your chakras.

For introductory sessions or short packages of Somatic sessions online or in-person you can find out info here Somatic Inner-Alchemy Coaching Sessions

Or simply contact me :-)

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