Livia Shapiro - The Somatic Therapy Workbook: Stress-Relieving Exercises for Strengthening the Mind-Body Connection and Sparking Emotional and Physical Healing

Text copyright 2020 Livia Shapiro. Design and concept copyright 2020 Ulysses Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication in whole or in part or dissemination of this edition by any means (including but not limited to photocopying, electronic devices, digital versions, and the internet) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Published in the United States by:

Ulysses Press

P.O. Box 3440

Berkeley, CA 94703

www.ulyssespress.com

ISBN: 978-1-64604-095-7

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-64604-096-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020936174

Acquisitions editor: Ashten Evans

Managing editor: Claire Chun

Editor: Pat Harris

Proofreader: Renee Rutledge

Front cover design: Rebecca Lown

Interior design and layout: what!design @ whatweb.com

IMPORTANT NOTE TO READERS: This book has been written and published for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as medical advice or to be any form of medical treatment. You should always consult with your physician before altering or changing any aspect of your medical treatment. Do not stop or change any prescription medications without the guidance and advice of your physician. Any use of the information in this book is made on the readers good judgment and is the readers sole responsibility. This book is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition and is not a substitute for a physician. This book is independently authored and published and no sponsorship or endorsement of this book by, and no affiliation with, any trademarked brands or other products mentioned within is claimed or suggested. All trademarks that appear in this book belong to their respective owners and are used here for informational purposes only. The author and publisher encourage readers to patronize the quality brands mentioned in this book.

To all of my teachers:your knowledge and embodied wisdom are the backbone of this book.

~

To that place within each of us that knows the way home.

I welcome you and all of your being to The Somatic Therapy Workbook. This book is a labor of devotion to our individual and collective embodiment. To our capacity to inhabit our bodies and our relationships with every awakened and enlivened cell of our beings. To our capacity to repair patterns of trauma that separate us from the safety of our bodies. This book comes from a desire to help people arrive home in their bodies as their inherent birthright and intended landing pad for lifes experiences. It comes from my deep belief in our capacity to heala belief that our individual bodies and our collective body know how to find and orient toward innate pathways for healing. Although this may not always look pretty or feel fantastic, it is possible to lean into the currents of health and aliveness that carry our bodies and psyches toward greater ease and well-being when we stop fighting the rapids of emotional and sensory experience and instead make way for what is happening in each moment.

Somatic practices ground us in our bodies as they are, not as they could or should be or as we wish them to be. It is from this platform of feeling into right now that we build a bridge between our mind, our body, and our heart. Engaging in somatic work is about becoming an integrated human organism: an organism that is inclusive of all parts of itself; an organism with healthy and coherent boundaries; an organism that has the capacity to reorient time and time again toward health and ease; an organism that can recover from overload and traumanot just one that copes, holds on, and maintains hyperalertness for safety and survival. In this way, somatic practices are inherently healing and stress relieving and guide us toward well-being. Similarly, somatic practices, when applied therapeutically, are pivotal in the gritty work of trauma healing and repair.

This workbook is for all who are interested in exploring and developing their body-mind-heart relationship. It provides somatic and embodiment concepts and practices to nurture your whole being. You may find this work healing, supportive, inspiring, evocative, curious, integrating, and much more. This workbook is intended as a stand-alone guide to the principles of somatic psychology and somatic therapy and as a guide through your own somatic fabric to foster your healing and well-being. It is also intended as a companion guide for those engaged in any therapeutic work who may be looking for body-centered approaches; for movement practitioners seeking guidance in the emotional and psychological components of embodied movement practice; and for teachers and therapists seeking inspiration and, perhaps, a complementary journal-like tool to offer those whom they serve.

For those of you who are new to the world of somatic psychology and somatic therapies, may you discover more of yourself in these pages. For those of you already deeply invested in the work of somatics and somatic therapy, may you be reinspired and supported here. For those who are here to learn for yourselves, enjoy these inquires with great curiosity. For those passing these concepts and exercises along, thank you, and may this book serve the work you already do. For all of us, may this workbook and the practices within it be a light in our process of embodiment and sovereign health.

Broken into three parts, this book offers a mix of conceptual and experiential theory, stories from my life and practice, experiential somatic and creative practices for your healing and well-being, and places for reflection on your ongoing process. Part 1 presents important terms and concepts in the world of somatics and background on the various streams of somatic therapies. Part 2 offers a look at the core principles shared across modalities of somatic psychology and somatic therapy. The presentation of each principle includes theory, story, and several practices to engage that theory. In Part 3, you will dive into practices to ignite your embodiment, enhance your mind-body-heart connection, and support your own growth and self-healing.

These three parts build on each other, offering you context, giving you the opportunity for lived experience, and providing you pathways to continually drop into the work, refine, deepen, reflect, and integrate. Although I recommend, at least initially, working through the book in the order it is offered, it is also useful to select the themes youd most like to explore and skip around in the chapters, trusting your instincts for engagement.

This workbook is by no means an exhaustive review of the fields of somatics, somatic psychology, or somatic therapy. It is intended to be digestible in its scope and content. Think of it as a dip into the vast sea. You will explore experientially, for your own self-healing and well-being, the most universal principles shared across somatic therapy modalities.

All of the exercises and prompts are, of course, invitations, not definitive and singular ways to engage with the principles presented. You can certainly come up with your own creative ways to explore the various theories. Please use this as a springboard for your continued learning, and keep developing and improvising! If something just feels off to you, or is met with massive amounts of resistance, set it aside for the time being and come back later.