Listening to the Body: Why Somatic Therapy Is Different from Talk Therapy

When we first began, we did not begin as words.
Our first expressions were sound, sensation.
The very first voice we ever had was our heartbeat.

That heartbeat announced us into this world.
It was rhythm before language, vibration before meaning.

So when we turn toward the heart and enter what is often called somatic work, we are really returning to this first voice.

I don’t even like to call it somatic therapy or somatic psychotherapy, because what does “therapy” really mean? So often therapy implies pathology—something broken, something wrong, something to be fixed.

But when we listen to the body, we are not listening for pathology or problem.
We are listening for power.
We are listening for wisdom.

The body not only remembers what words cannot,
but it also expresses far more than our stories could ever contain.

How Somatic Work Differs From Talk Therapy

Talk therapy invites us to process through language.
We explore our past, share our stories, and make meaning from patterns. For many, this is supportive and life-changing.

But listening to the body is different.
It is not about fixing or explaining.
It is about following the threads of sensation—
the tightness in the chest, the flutter behind the eyes,
the trembling in the belly—
and allowing them to reveal their truth.

Words can circle the story.
Sensation takes us directly to the source.

Why the Body Matters in Healing

Trauma, stress, and grief are not just ideas.
They live in the nervous system, the breath, the posture of the shoulders.

When we only speak about our experiences, we may understand them,
but the body still holds them.

Somatic work creates space for the body to complete what it never had the chance to finish—
to cry, to shake, to soften, to breathe.

The body does not need convincing.

It needs listening.

A Simple Practice: Returning to the Heartbeat

Take a moment right now:

• Close your eyes.

• Feel for your heartbeat—whether in your chest, your wrist, or the pulsing behind your eyes.

• Let this rhythm remind you: you are here, alive, present.

• Ask gently: Body, what wisdom do you want me to know right now?

You may not hear words.
You may feel warmth, heaviness, or even nothing.
That, too, is communication.

Listening begins here.

An Invitation

Somatic work is not about erasing your story.
It is about remembering the heartbeat beneath it—
the wisdom of the body that has been speaking all along.

If you feel called to listen in this way, I invite you to book a free exploratory call.
Together, we will honor the language of your body and discover what it has been waiting to express.