🌿 Somatic Experiencing: What It Is & Why It Helped Me

For most of my life, I lived from the neck up. I could analyze and reflect, but I didn’t know how to feel safe in my own body.

Somatic Experiencing (SE) changed that — slowly, quietly, and powerfully.

Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, SE is a body-based approach to trauma healing. Rather than re-telling your story over and over, SE invites you to listen to your body’s story — to the way your nervous system learned to survive.

SE helped me understand that my “overwhelm” wasn’t weakness — it was biology. It was my system doing its best to protect me.

Through micro-moments of safety, sensation, and awareness, I began to re-inhabit my body. Not all at once. Not perfectly. But consistently.

SE doesn’t erase trauma. It helps you build capacity. It offers a way to gently renegotiate the stuck places without re-traumatization.

For anyone navigating the effects of stress or trauma, Somatic Experiencing offers a gentle invitation back to the body. Back to yourself.