Peeling The Onion: Clinical Somatics & Bach Flowers, Geddes, Nairn (2025)

23/11/2025

Hello! Mostly I'm on LinkedIn and my email list (and blog) - but I try to post in here sometimes too :)

In January I'm starting up my work with SE Practitioners and other somatic therapists in a small-group programme: I've run this previously in cohort groups, and it's always been great... but it's been hard to find start dates that work for everyone (and sometimes for me, too!) - so I'm making this shift to enable people to start any month, and still get all the content, including live sessions 🥰

What do you learn? Well...
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚n SEP, a 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 #𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭 who integrates work with the 'body', together we explore what really is and can do for you & your clients, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 #𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 AND 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈.

This does NOT mean changing your entire model & approach. Nor is it simply a set of tools or skills you can ‘add on’ to your current practice.

It’s 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 in your client work, 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 to facilitate change at a genuinely full-person level. (This is something that ‘just’ somatic sensing & tracking won’t do, even though self-sensing is a crucial step.)

So: 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 (𝐞𝐬𝐩 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲-𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫)?

🌟𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔:

• 𝐓𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐚 (esp during long days of client sessions & admin, and esp if you experience chronic pain).

• 𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 ‘𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲’ 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜, by incorporating even tiny movements that actively work with the nervous system via the neuromuscular system, & 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 & 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑚𝑎.

• 𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 ‘𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬’ – 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 – 𝐛𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝 & 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 that may have come from beneficial sensing, tracking & insight, but which don’t last when neuromuscular patterns are left unresolved...

Learn more at somaticsamantha.com

08/10/2025

I don't post on here much (perhaps I should?! But I'm on LinkedIn, sometimes IG, and my website is great! ;) somaticsamantha.com ) BUT someome liked a comment of mine from 2018, where I was 'reviewing' Essential Somatics, and I wanted to share my 2018 words here.

What I wrote then is still true today - Clinical Somatic Education radically improved my life (I've not had chronic pain since resolving it in 2016 or thereabouts, thanks to Essential Somatics) and I have spent the last decade helping others through Somatics :)

"Barely 18 months after I first discovered Essential Somatics, it was completely life-changing for not just me but my 85yo mother (after her debilitating trip to hospital last year)... After 10+ years of hip, shoulder and neck pain, and longer being told I had hip dysplasia & other 'structural' issues (and despite 25 years' practising gentle yoga), I'd tried and committed to a few approaches to try to address my hip & neck pain, & also the increasing lack of proprioception in my entire right arm & hand, and 'clawing' of my hand, too... Some of these helped (e.g. Bowen, Rolfing, and an excellent, thoughtful chiropractor, over time), but they only ever provided temporary and partial relief: it's only Essential Somatic Movement that *eradicated* my hip pain, leg length discrepancy & related so-called 'structural' issues, started to bring back feeling in my right arm and side, and - crucially - entirely banished my neck pain. It also makes me move more easily, and breathe more fully. It has done SO MUCH in a comparatively short time, yet is no 'miracle cure': it's an *educative* process, & requires commitment - even though it's comparatively easy to commit to something with such amazing results (which can work with as little as 5 mins per day)! I am now - a huge change for me (an erstwhile academic, lawyer, writer & editor!) - training as a Clinical Somatic Educator with Martha and her fantastic teaching team, to bring this incredible work and awareness to others. I started with her online videos, then read her book, got a download, and then attended a life-changing Fundamentals Immersion course - any and all of which I'd thoroughly recommend for anyone in pain, or wishing to improve their relationship with how they move through this world!"

18/08/2025

🌸 A Supple Centre:
Why Polyvagal Theory Supports what Clinical Somatics Always Knew 🌸

One of the key insights of Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory is crucially important for anyone stuck in pain, anxiety, or discomfort:

💥The messages your body sends to your brain (especially from your gut) matter more to your emotional state, and your levels of stress and tension, than the thoughts sent from your brain to your body.

Why? Only 15–20% of messages about your environment, and how safe it is, are controlled by your brain, while 80–85% come from your gut and all the sensors in your body that inform your gut about your environment.

🔥 Why does this matter so very much, from the perspective of Clinical Somatics?

Well, it explains a lot!

It's why you can know you're safe (and tell yourself you're safe, repeatedly), but your nervous system keeps you stuck in survival mode – anxious and on edge, even long after any real threat has passed.

🔥 This supports a fundamental insight of Clincial Somatics – that muscular patterns of contraction don't just cause pain; they actively signal danger to your brain.

In particular, as Thomas Hanna (who developed Clinical Somatic Education) emphasised: ⚡when the muscles in your centre (your ‘core’) are tight and braced, your brain interprets this as threat. ⚡

⚡Your nervous system does not know the difference between your muscles being clenched tight into a stress pattern out of habit, and them clenching tight into a stress pattern because a sabre-toothed tiger just walked out in front of you!

😮 All it knows is that those clenched muscles mean you’re under threat.

This is why humans can't simply ‘let go’ of anxiety, trauma, fear, or chronic pain through willpower alone, nor through talk therapy or somatic sensing alone.

🥰That's why my work focuses on creating a soft, flexible, supple somatic centre.

👉Read full blog post at somaticsamantha.com - here: https://somaticsamantha.com/somaticsamantha-blogs/2025/8/16/a-supple-centre-why-polyvagal-theory-supports-what-clinical-somatics-always-knew

01/08/2025

You’ve taken the right trainings. Your somatic work as a therapist is probably on point. Your clients are ‘doing the work’.
𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 ‘𝘀𝘆𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗺𝘀’ (𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻)?..
You’re doing the somatic sensing and bodily awareness work well. Your clients are responsive and engaged.

Other trainings, your supervisor, your colleagues… They might advise you to lean into what you’re already doing, to find a therapeutic model that complements it more fully, or perhaps to make radical changes.

✋ That’s not what you need.

𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀: however many more strategies you learn to get your clients sensing more deeply, becoming more aware of their bodies, and feeling their activation release through their frickin’ fingertips..? However many therapeutic approaches you test out alongside your somatic skills, to ‘complement’ them?

👉 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘴 ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦’ 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘬𝘦𝘺𝘴.

They ARE crucial, and they do work.

But 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 – in your client’s muscles – 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲.

Full-body patterns of muscle tightness are created by the brain – by 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺. And that system? 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢.

𝗧𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽, 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱-𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀! 𝗘𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼’𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮.

🌸 Deal with the 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 person - integrate Clinical Somatics into your work.

Better empower your clients to get, and 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺, unstuck.

Get in touch or see my website for more info.

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Address

Geddes
Nairn
IV125SB

Telephone

+447546666135

Website

https://www.SomaticSamantha.com/, https://www.peelingtheonion.co.uk/

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