observation
Thank you for your encouraging response to my last newsletter. I’m excited to continue this series, following along with the weeks of my new in-person holosomatic body therapy course, More Alive in 2025, which commences January 21st.
Week 2 - OBSERVE
What does it mean to observe?
The Cambridge dictionary tells us it means to “watch carefully the way something happens or the way someone does something, especially in order to learn more about it”, whereas the Oxbridge dictionary describes it as “noticing or perceiving (something) and registering it as significant.”
What does it feel like when we drop in and observe our bodies - how we hold ourselves, the noise beneath the surface, the cellular chatter? When we begin to listen, our bodies have a story to tell. Our bodies are always eager to respond to attention and have a deep knowledge of our capacity to hold at any given moment.
Our inner landscapes share common ground - a 2013 study by Nummenmaa et al. discovered that similar emotional states were experienced cross-culturally. In their study, participants were exposed to different situations (through stories, movies or by being shown facial expressions) and asked to colour the area on a diagram of the body that was activated by what they experienced. This helped the scientists to discover that emotions were having a clear physical effect.
Bodily topography of basic (Upper) and nonbasic (Lower) emotions associated with words. The body maps show regions whose activation increased (warm colours) or decreased (cool colours) when feeling each emotion. (P < 0.05 FDR corrected; t > 1.94). The colour bar indicates the t-statistic range. Nummenmaa et al., 2013
Examples of emotions as physical sensations are headaches or muscle tension when we’re angry or stressed, a lump in our throat when we’re sad, nausea or “knots” in our stomach when we’re anxious. Understanding how our emotions manifest physically can help us gain insight into our unique metaphysical changes and the impact that our emotions have on our overall well-being. Giving yourself the space to observe the emotions present in your body is radical self-care. Allowing emotions their full expression can often feel like being carried by a wave - a gathering of energy, surging forward, being carried along and then dissolving and being released/returning to shore. Often, it is easier to ignore the difficult emotions - shame, fear, anger, etc - but doing so will bring about physical symptoms in the long term. We might not even be aware of the emotions we’re carrying in our bodies until we are prompted to observe them. Emotions, especially those associated with a particularly traumatic event or stressful time, can manifest physically in the body as muscle tension, altered posture or disrupted energy flow.
In a Holosomatic Body Therapy session, I hold space for the emotions that arise in my clients and then help them release those emotions through breathwork, movement and bodywork. Physical touch can ease the tension associated with emotional stress; breathwork can bring awareness and balance, and somatic experiencing can help them notice the sensations that arise when remembering traumatic or stressful experiences. By working through these sensations at their own pace whilst in a safe and controlled therapeutic environment, they can reduce the physiological impact of their trauma. This process can reestablish a sense of equilibrium and safety within the body and pave the way for deeper healing. Emotional release and somatic experiencing address the root cause of distress, not just the symptoms. This approach encourages a more profound healing experience as the physical and emotional healing are integrated.
The results of this work, although often physically exhausting, create immediate spaciousness and transformation in the body, bringing renewed energy and vitality. I hope you will consider joining us and experiencing the effects of Holosomatic Body Therapy in your own body.
As always, if you have any questions, I am happy to facilitate a free 15-minute intro call, or you can press the button below to connect to my website, where there is a breakdown of each week of the course and booking.
Learn more and book your space here.
Thank you for reading. I’ll be back soon with Week 3 - unfurl, and in the meantime, I’ll leave you with this wonderfully relevant piece by Yumi Sakugawa.
© 2025 Yumi Sakugawa
May we all moult into the most powerful version of ourselves we’ve ever known in 2025!
Lorna x