Somatic Story®
“The purpose of a myth is to locate human experience in the largest possible community, the community of life in relation to the Divine.”
-Marion Woodman
Somatic Story® is an immersive process in which images, metaphors, archetypes and symbols from myths and stories are given expression as a pathway to insight, healing and restoration. Disconnecting from our bodies and felt sense in favour of rational intellect only can leave us feeling distanced from ourselves, from others and from the pulse of life. The Somatic Story® experience follows a specific map which includes conscious movement, expressive arts and systemic techniques such as family constellations; all held by story. Experiences are designed to soak us in story’s mythical juice and strengthen our psyches and bodies in ways that restore innate capacities for creativity, joy and healing.
We are wired for story as many cultures have known for millenia. Myth and story are rooted in the human psyche and our instinctual bodies. Stories help us navigate our life experiences. They mediate how we relate to the world through the rich symbolism and guidance they contain, they help us make meaning of our challenges and choices, and they illuminate the range of possibilities available to us. Stories are mediators of psychological change and, importantly, they are also mediators of physiological change.
Our physiology responds to, and is changed by, story
“The body is merely the visibility of the soul, the psyche; and the soul is the psychological experience of the body. So it is really one and the same thing.”
– G. Jung
- Empathy is stimulated when we resonate with a character in a story. This produces oxytocin, the hormone that fosters connection, bonding and trust.
- When we feel empathy, we are more likely to make choices and take action.
- One of the most painful consequences of trauma is that ongoing overwhelm of the nervous system can affect the hypothalamus and limit our ability to maintain coherent mental narratives about our life situations and experiences. Stories can be a source of meaningful, healing coherence.
- When we resonate emotionally with a story, our brains produce dopamine which is connected with memory, learning and reward.
- Endorphins can ease pain, lower stress levels and improve our sense of satisfaction and well-being. Our bodies produce endorphins when we experience pleasure, like we do when a story delights or excites us.
As we drop stories into our body, we engage with the sensations, images, movements and emotions that arise in us. Then we can feel what we must feel. Then we can play with rich inner landscapes that revitalise us and that reconnect us with our instinctual selves and deeper meaning.
Here, in this embodied, liminal land of Somatic Story© we encounter and come to love all of our parts and we find the treasures to create, heal and know our wholeness.