Virtual Somatic Bodywork
With the rise in telecoaching, teletherapy, and telehealth, more and more people have become used to getting their mental wellness needs met online. There are all sorts of reasons - convenience being perhaps the largest - that someone would prefer to work virtually with their practitioners. Personally, I will likely always believe that there is nothing like the experience of in-person, hands-on somatic bodywork. That said, I have also seen just how powerful virtual bodywork can be. Ultimately, virtual somatic work can be just as effective as a path of transformation.
How Virtual Somatic Bodywork Works
Virtual bodywork entails guiding the client through many of the same bodywork “points” or “moves” that I would be doing myself were we working together in-person. For example, I may guide a client through a series of practices designed to help open up and soften the tissues across their chest. Remember that with somatic work, tightness isn’t just seen as a place of muscular tension, but also as something deeply connected to our historical shaping and our sense of self. How we are in our body is indistinguishable from how we are in our self-narratives and our emotions. When we shift the energy and aliveness we feel in our tissues, we actually increase our ability to enter into a more life-affirming way of being in the world.
In the above example, I may first ask the client to become present to what sensations they feel across their chest: Do they feel tight? Numb? Is there a shape or color that comes to mind when they take their attention there? Next, I may invite them to come into contact with their hands and fingers simply by bringing their attention there and feeling for some energy, tingling, or aliveness at the tips of their fingers. Starting with the tissue just lateral to the sternum, I’ll guide them to make contact with their chest and then slowly move the tissue out, gently moving the muscle away from the sternum. The quality of the touch is meant to suggest to the tissue that it soften and open and expand outward. This is done slowly and may be repeated several times at different points along the sternum, each time making sure the client lifts their hand very slowly from their chest before finding a new area along the connective tissue to make contact. In addition, I will likely ask them to time their breath with their movements and perhaps breathe in a particular way to open up as much aliveness and relaxation as possible. After several moments, I’ll ask them to stop and notice.
Somatic Bodywork vs. Massage
In part, what makes this somatic bodywork (and not massage) is the intention behind the quality of the self-touch. This is not the same as asking a client to “massage out” some tightness. How we make contact with ourselves through this work must be done in such a way that our own touch is communicating to our body: “I’m here. I’m inviting you to soften through my breath and touch. I’m staying present to what sensations, moods, thoughts and images emerge. I am practicing self-care and creating more openness in my body to support myself.” Notice it is less important that the technique is correct and vastly more important that the intention and mood behind our touch is nourishing. Even subtle shifts in how we are touched impact the messages that the touch conveys to our nervous system. I have seen again and again people moved to tears and breakthrough moments of self-discovery simply by taking the time to make contact with their own body in a way that is loving and intentional.
No matter if it’s the hands of a seasoned bodyworker or your own hands, the body responds to the quality of touch. Focused guidance from a virtual practitioner can be just as powerful in accessing the deepest parts of ourselves and practicing holding space for more aliveness and relaxation in our bodies.
If you’re interested in pursuing virtual somatic bodywork, please reach out to learn more or to schedule a consultation.