If you’re new to the term “Somatic Therapy” or you’ve heard of it and got intrigued but have never experienced it before: Welcome. Because I am so committed to the belief that we are embodied, whole beings—holographic even—I am a huge advocate of any wellness journey incorporating the “soma” or body. Amongst the different “somatic” wellness approaches, you’ll find a deep intrinsic question: to heal, do we move toward pain, or pleasure?

As a helper and guide in the healing process, this is a question I have grappled with very intimately. What is the value of moving in an experiential way toward pain? Do we need to move toward our painful memories and emotions to find freedom?

Conversely, what is the value of moving toward pleasurable experiences, such as emotions of joy, peace, inner harmony, gratitude or visualizations of ourselves experiencing these states?

Is Pain required to move toward Pleasure?

It is grappling with this question that has inspired me to rebrand my counseling private practice from INHABIT Bodymind Therapy to Luminous Heart Wellness. It is this question that has inspired much experimentation in my own healing process as an individual and has guided me to now offering different options in my practice: somatic psychotherapy, breathwork journeys, guided experientials, and healing circles. My hope is that you may find a path that begins and expands in such a direction that feels attuned to where you’re at. Though each of these offerings certainly can incorporate moving toward pain (grief, anger, fear, rejection, abandonment, memories), some are really designed to do that deep dive toward the past. Somatic Psychotherapy, for instance and the guided Hakomi experientials, are oriented to support making sense of yourself and your life. This may incorporate building the capacity to sit with pleasure and goodness in your experience, and it will certainly involve being with any repressed pain in your body that may need to be released.

Breathwork journeys are very different than therapy and Hakomi in that they’re 2 hour experiences that involve a very intentional stimulation of the vagus nerve, creating a parasympathetic state in the body: an open, being state capable of feeling states such as bliss and ecstasy. Breathwork may bring forward deep pain as well, but breathers often have spiritual or bliss experiences that feel very vulnerable and expansive. The guided experiential Heart Spa is also an example of an intentional ritual session that is really designed to support expansion and pleasure. Being that we are holographic beings, every time we move toward the body and trust its unfolding it leads us in directions we cannot always anticipate, but this is a brief explanation of my process around this query and desire to support both continuums of the healing journey. Someone who is just starting their healing journey would very much benefit from an ongoing therapy relationship and deep dives toward the story in their body. Someone that has been consciously engaged in their own healing for some time may benefit from single offerings like a guided experiential, a breathwork session, or to participate in a healing circle.