Somatic massage is a type of massage therapy that does more than simply ease tense muscles. By marrying massage therapy with a practice called “somatic therapy” (1), its benefits go beyond those of more traditional types of massage. In theory, this type of massage therapy is designed to use touch to help improve body awareness, release stored emotions, and improve your sense of well-being.
To fully understand the blending of somatic therapy with massage, let’s first define what “somatic” means. The term “soma” comes from the Greek word meaning “body”, so “somatic” means “of or relating to the body” (2).
Now it may seem silly to use the term “somatic massage” as the translation is simply “body massage”, but in the context of this therapeutic process, the term is addressing more than just the body – it’s also referring to what’s stored in the body.
While it may give you relief from things such as tension headaches and improve mobility, somatic massage also focuses on engaging the patient in the process of calming the body’s nervous system through touch and conversation. For people with a history of chronic physical pain and high levels of emotional distress, it allows the body and mind to reconnect more calmly.
In this article, we’ll explain somatic therapy, touch therapy, and how they come together in somatic massage.
Somatic therapy is the practice of tuning into physical sensations to locate where the body is storing stress or past negative emotions (3). Once found, we can start to release stored emotions and relax. It’s often used to target symptoms that stem from a past traumatic experience (4) and works by using mind-body communication to alleviate pain, stress, and distressing emotions.
One of the most highly researched forms of somatic therapy is a specific method called “Somatic Experiencing”(5). Let’s start by exploring what “somatic experiencing” is all about.
It’s likely that you’ve heard the term “fight or flight response”, which is the biological stress response that gears us up to fight off a predator or escape (flight/flee/run away) to safety. When we engage our bodies in this way (fight or escape), this releases the built-up tension and remedies the chemical imbalance that is triggered by the stressful situation.
A less commonly-known aspect of the body’s emergency mobilization is the “freeze” response. This refers to situations where the body is biologically activated to physically react, but we aren’t in a position to fight or run away, so we simply “freeze”.
Studies have shown that when we experience intense emotions in response to a traumatic/threatening event and don’t adequately release the biological activation, we may store the unresolved tension in our bodies. This unreleased buildup can leave us with physical symptoms including chronic pain, which adds to stress, which can cycle back and add to more tension (6).
“Somatic experiencing” is a specific type of therapy that aims to relieve symptoms in the body that are brought on by a psychological “injury” or “wound”. The theory is that this “injury” leads to feelings such as stress, shock, and bodily symptoms that link back to an unreleased stress response at the source. This type of therapy aims to heal by working from the body and moving inward to the nervous system and mind (4).
A trained professional helps the patient locate, experience (7), and learn to tolerate discomfort. This leads to an ability to relieve the distressing physical response that’s stored in the body, without needing to fully explore the original activating event. By acknowledging and re-evaluating the sensations, and our reactions to them, we can start to let go of the mental anguish and symptoms tied to it (4).
So let’s move on to the “touch” aspect that massage therapy relies on.
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As previously mentioned, the physical response to trauma can store itself in our bodies, which we can experience as symptoms including muscle tension, migraines, and even fatigue (8). As touch and gentle pressure have been shown to reduce arousal of the stress response and rebalance the nervous system (9,10), a trained somatic therapist can incorporate careful physical contact to help the body reduce that tension. This type of therapy focuses primarily on the sensations within the body rather than being a type of traditional talk therapy.
Researchers have found that a variety of therapies involving touch for people with diagnoses such as post-traumatic stress disorder have great potential for easing the effects of stored emotions (11). In addition, massage therapy has been demonstrated to lessen chronic pain and emotional distress, (12) so combining massage with somatic therapies is the logical next step.
Somatic massage is a special type of touch-involved therapy that doesn’t just focus exclusively on the tight knots, muscles, or tension in a person’s body. It’s a form of therapy that emphasizes the connection between physical symptoms and emotional responses.
Some somatic touch techniques also incorporate mindfulness and breathing to contribute to deep relaxation (10) and better body awareness.
Think of it as addressing stress by sending signals from the body to the mind (touch, body awareness, breathing) and the mind to the body (re-evaluating our thoughts and emotional response to the sensation plus mindfulness). Basically, somatic massage addresses symptoms using signals through the nervous system going in both directions to lift the stress held in the body and the mind.
Read more: Understanding Somatic Flashbacks: What You Need to Know
Researchers have not yet focused on this specialty, but there are some clues regarding how it can be helpful from studies about how touch therapy (9,10,11,12) and somatic experiencing (13) help calm the body and mind.
Unscientifically, some practitioners have reported that their clients experience a variety of benefits including increased relaxation, improved sleep quality, relief from stress and pain, and improved circulation (14).
While it has many benefits, this type of massage was developed with a few groups of people in mind.
Somatic massage for people with a history of trauma may be effective. This is due to the process of using the body’s communication channel between the mind and body (nervous system) to process and release patterns of stored physical tension that we’re often unaware of (7). As emotions and distress from a past event are brought to the surface, it’s important to find a competent trained provider that can help you work through emotional responses.
People who experience a high level of day-to-day stress can be holding a great deal of tension in their bodies. Somatic massage can help as it gets to the source of the tension in the body. In addition to promoting relaxation in the moment, somatic massage may also help reduce stress and distressing emotions by improving the communication between the mind and body.
For many people, stress-induced physical and emotional signals can get pushed down and go unnoticed in the busyness of life (7). As we’ve previously mentioned, stored suppressed emotions can lead to physical problems and ongoing emotional distress (3).
Somatic massages return your attention to these physical sensations and therefore increase awareness of what’s going on in your body. By being informed and in tune with physical and emotional states, particularly stressful ones such as feeling nervous, uneasy, irritable, or sad, your ability to manage their effects on the spot can improve.
Somatic massage has the potential to help some physical health issues due to its attention to emotions and stress stored in the body. There is a large amount of established research on the link between chronic stress and a number of health conditions such as heart disease and autoimmune diseases (15).
When it’s integrated into a holistic approach to health, including diet, physical activity, and regular stress management, it may be a useful tool for relieving symptoms and helping to manage chronic illness.
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Somatic massages are a type of somatic therapy, so they should be done by a professional. The somatic massage technique is typically done by therapists or massage professionals who can expertly work on your body during this emotional healing process.
One thing to keep in mind during a somatic massage is that with the release of emotions, you may experience sensations such as feeling the need to laugh, cry, shake, or yawn. This is a normal experience that results from the release of emotions and trauma from your body (16).
While you cannot perform a somatic massage on yourself, there are other somatic exercises you can do on your own. For mild emotional and physical symptoms, you may want to check out these articles regarding somatic exercises for women, somatic exercises vs. yoga, and somatic exercises for neck pain, which contain helpful information and instructions for somatic exercises you can do in the comfort of your home.
Read more: Somatic Exercises in Bed: Relax and Reconnect
As this is real therapy that taps into emotions, there’s a chance you may have feelings that surface by surprise. Somatic massages must be performed by either a trained massage professional (with training in this specific form) or a therapist who can help you navigate your response if it’s intense.
Somatic massage adds to somatic experiencing therapy. In contrast to traditional talk therapy, somatic therapists use techniques that help people focus on their mind-body connection. Revealing the underlying physical sensations that are linked to stress can contribute to a greater awareness of feelings, and ultimately people may learn to release pent-up stress and discomfort. It may be a standalone therapy if you’re working with someone specifically trained in this combination of techniques, or it can be a good addition to talk therapy for people with a complicated history and difficult symptoms.
Somatic massage is a therapeutic approach that addresses both physical and emotional well-being using massage techniques with a focus on the mind-body connection. Unlike conventional massage, which simply targets muscle tension, the aim of somatic massage is to release stored emotions and tension that contribute to physical symptoms such as headaches and muscle tension.
By using various somatic therapy techniques including massage, this holistic method can help you build self-regulation skills to keep your nervous system more balanced. It may help relieve muscle pain, reduce stress, and enhance mobility while also addressing emotional issues that stem from high stress or past trauma.
Generally, somatic massage may be a promising type of somatic therapy. When it’s provided by a trained therapist, this type of therapy can potentially improve the mental, physical, and emotional well-being of individuals who habitually hold stress in their bodies.
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