A personal journey through somatic healing and the body-mind connection
A long time ago, I began to feel sensations in my body that I could not describe. On the surface, my health seemed fine, yet something within me was not. There was a knot near my heart, a subtle pressure in my stomach. For years, I had neglected my spiritual wellness, so I assumed it was something physical — anxiety, exhaustion, or stress. But over time, I discovered that these sensations were part of somatic healing, the body’s way of communicating what the mind cannot articulate. These feelings were not random; they were messages, whispers from within, asking to be acknowledged and felt. There are places inside us that words cannot reach, hidden spaces where grief, love, or fear reside, and no matter how much we try to describe them, language falls short. As Khalil Gibran wrote, “Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.” This reminds us that our body-mind connection often senses truths that our conscious mind cannot yet recognize.
When the heart carries what the eyes never cried
When my father passed away, I did not cry as much as I needed. I swallowed the grief, believing that time would heal quietly. I thought I was strong because I did not fall apart. But strength without feeling is only another form of escape. I trained harder. I ran longer. I filled my days with activity, thinking movement could silence what was trying to rise inside me. Yet my chest began to ache without reason. Some mornings I woke up with a dull, inexplicable pain behind my ribs — as if something inside was pressing to be released. Only later did I understand that the body remembers what the mind denies. I realized that the tension, the heaviness, and the discomfort were not enemies but guides, calling me toward emotional trauma release. They urged me to reconnect with my feelings and allow the parts of myself I had neglected to surface.
What “somatic” really means
The word somatic comes from the Greek soma, meaning body. In modern medicine, it describes the physical manifestation of emotional or psychological states. When emotions remain unexpressed or trauma goes unresolved, the body becomes their messenger — through tension, discomfort, or even chronic pain. According to a 2023 study from Harvard Medical School, suppressed emotions can chronically activate the sympathetic nervous system, the body’s fight-or-flight response, leading to muscle pain, chest pressure, fatigue, or digestive imbalances. Similarly, research from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) shows that unprocessed trauma disrupts the communication between the brain and body, creating persistent somatic symptoms years after the original emotional event. These studies remind us that somatic healing is an essential part of understanding the body-mind connection. Visiting a doctor is always important to rule out any physical problem. In my case, no abnormality was detected, yet the sensations persisted. Medicine is not opposed to spiritual wellness or science; it is a friend and companion on this journey, supporting us as we explore both the visible and invisible aspects of our being.
The body keeps the score
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, in his book The Body Keeps the Score, writes: “The body keeps the score — it records everything the mind tries to forget.” I have felt this deeply in the quiet ache of my chest, in the weight no scan could detect. The body holds memory not in words but in sensations. It whispers what we refuse to face until we finally listen. Acknowledging these sensations is not a sign of weakness, but an act of courage and presence. Each tension carries a story, each discomfort a hidden emotion waiting for understanding, honoring, and release. Many of these truths are inaccessible to words; they live in the body, in the breath, in the heartbeat, and only by learning how to listen to your body can we enter these silent spaces.
Learning to listen and heal
Healing begins when we reconnect with our body. Pain does not always demand medication; sometimes it asks for understanding. The heart does not always ache from illness, but from unprocessed grief. The body never lies. It warns, protects, and speaks through feeling. When we finally listen, we realize that every sensation, every breath, is not an obstacle but a message of love waiting to be heard. The journey of somatic healing is not about erasing discomfort but about creating space for it, allowing it to teach, guide, and transform. In these unspoken places, we discover the deepest truths of our consciousness and the soul, just as Khalil Gibran so elegantly reminds us.