Your Body Remembers
An Introduction to Somatic Experiencing
By Dimple Mehta
You can know you're safe and still not feel safe. Maybe your heart races before a meeting that should be routine. Maybe you feel exhausted after a calm weekend. Maybe a certain tone of voice sends you straight back to being seven years old.
This gap between what we know and what we feel is where Somatic Experiencing does its work.
What is Somatic Experiencing?
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-oriented approach to healing stress and overwhelm. It was developed by Dr. Peter Levine over several decades."Somatic" simply means "of the body." SE works with physical sensations, not just thoughts and
stories, to help the nervous system return to balance.
What wild animals can teach us
Dr. Levine was struck by something he observed in nature. Wild animals face threats constantly,yet they rarely seem to stay stuck in a state of fear.After a close escape, an animal will often shake, tremble or breathe deeply. Then it returns to
grazing as if nothing happened. Its body completes the stress response and lets it go.Humans have the same built-in capacity. But we often override it. We hold it together, pushthrough, or were told as children to stop crying. The energy of the stress response can stay held inthe body.
Overwhelm lives in the nervous system
A central idea in SE is that overwhelm is not only about what happened. It's about how our nervous system responded, and whether it was able to settle afterwards.That's why two people can go through the same event and carry it very differently. It's also why"just think positive" rarely works for long. The body needs its own experience of safety.When we repair, our children learn some of life's most important lessons:
Overwhelm lives in the nervous system
The key ideas in Somatic Experiencing
Felt sense. This is your inner awareness of what's happening in your body — warmth, tension, heaviness, tingling, ease. SE helps you become curious about these sensations instead of avoiding them.
Resources. Before approaching anything difficult, we strengthen what helps you feel steady. That might be a memory, a person, a place, or a spot in your body that feels okay.
Titration. Rather than diving into a painful experience all at once, SE works in small, manageable drops. Little by little, the nervous system learns it can handle more.
Pendulation. We gently move attention between a place of ease and a place of activation. This rhythm teaches the body that discomfort can come and go.
How SE informs my coaching
I am trained in Somatic Experiencing, and I bring its principles into my coaching work. In practice, that means we go slowly. We pause often. We check in with your body as much as with your words.You'll never be pushed to relive a painful memory. The aim is not to dig up the past, but to build your capacity to feel safe in the present.I work as a coach and practitioner, not as a therapist. For trauma that needs clinical care, I'll always encourage you to work with a licensed professional.
- Sit comfortably and feel the support beneath you — the chair, the floor.
- Let your eyes slowly look around the room. Notice something pleasant: a colour, a plant, the light.
- Scan your body gently. Is there one place that feels neutral or okay? Your hands, your feet, your back?
- Rest your attention there for a few breaths.
- Notice any small change — a deeper breath, a sigh, a softening.
That small shift is your nervous system finding its way home.
Begin where you are
If you'd like to explore somatic coaching, write to me at info@ourquest.in or WhatsApp +91 9884200475. Learn more at www.ourquest.in.
— Dimple Mehta, Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner, Our Quest Coaching Services
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