Trying any new therapy or healing modality can feel daunting. If you’ve never experienced somatic healing before, you might be wondering what actually happens in a session.

Will I have to talk about my past?
What if I don’t feel anything in my body?
And how does somatic work actually help regulate the nervous system?

In this article, I’ll walk you through exactly what happens in your first Somatic Healing Session so you can arrive feeling relaxed, safe, and prepared.

My approach to somatic healing is gentle, collaborative, and always guided by your pace. You are never pushed to go deeper than feels comfortable, and the session is always focused on creating a sense of safety and regulation within your body.

Initial Conversation

When you first join the session, we’ll begin with a relaxed conversation about what you would like support with and what your ultimate aim is when exploring somatic work.

Unlike traditional talk therapy, the aim is not to dive too deeply into long histories or past stories. Instead, we focus more on understanding what has been keeping you stuck in the present, and most importantly what you would like to move towards.

This might include things such as:

Developing a calmer and more regulated nervous system
Learning somatic techniques you can practise independently
Working through difficult or stuck emotions together
Improving your life, relationships, or work goals through a mind–body approach

This part of the session also allows me to ensure that somatic healing is the most appropriate modality to support you with what you’re experiencing.

The Drop-In Process

From here, I will guide a gentle 5-minute grounding meditation.

The purpose of this is simply to bring more awareness to the body and any sensations you may be feeling, while placing less emphasis on the mind and any lingering thoughts.

We will aim to increase your sensitivity to your body by focusing on breathing into areas such as the heart, hips, or belly.

Generally, this drop-in process helps bring your focus away from the outside world and your thoughts, and more into what’s happening internally in your body.

In-Depth Enquiry

Following this, we will move into a more in-depth conversation about the feelings or challenges you’ve been experiencing and the actions you may have been taking as a result.

More importantly, we will work together to understand how you would actually like to feel and act going forward. From here we begin to build a deeper understanding of what success in somatic work might look like for you.

The Somatic Healing Process

This is the core part of the session and usually lasts around 30–45 minutes.

You will be invited to close your eyes and sit or lie down comfortably while we bring our awareness back into the body.

I will ask a series of gentle questions to help you notice what you are sensing in your body when thinking about the original challenge.

We will focus on where in the body you are feeling physical sensations, emotions, or energy, rather than analysing the situation mentally.

At first, the aim is simply to notice and sit with what is present in the body. As much as possible, we try to drop resistance and instead welcome whatever sensations are there.

Often this alone can be very effective in calming the nervous system, as allowing sensations to exist without resistance naturally creates a greater sense of ease and regulation.

Once we have welcomed what is present, we may then move into a gentle release process. This may include tools such as:

Breathing into the area
Gentle body movement
Sound expression
Deeper somatic enquiry

If successful, you may find that the sensation dissolves completely and experience a strong sense of release, calm, or completion.

More commonly, the sensation may shift and move to another part of the body. When this happens, we simply repeat the process two or three times until the body begins to move into a more balanced and aligned state.

At times, we may also incorporate other somatic tools such as:

Heart coherence exercises
Boundary exercises
Mindfulness techniques
Gentle physical grounding practices

Once you reach a deeper state of calm and alignment, we may return to the original aim from the beginning of the session.

From this more regulated space, we explore what actions or insights naturally arise to help you move forward. Many people find that solutions and clarity appear much more easily once the body and nervous system feel settled.

If you’re curious to experience this process for yourself, you can book a Somatic Healing Taster Session where we gently explore these techniques together in a safe and supportive space.

Wrapping Up the Session

Towards the end of the session, we gently bring things to a close and reflect on any key insights, shifts, or realisations that may have arisen.

We may discuss:

What changed in the body during the session
Any emotional releases or insights that appeared
Practical next steps for your healing journey

If you would like to continue working together, we can also discuss a plan for moving forward and the potential frequency of future sessions.

I will also provide simple somatic exercises that you can practise at home to help support your nervous system between sessions.

A Skill You Can Learn for Life

Somatic healing is truly a skill anyone can learn. It simply takes knowledge, practice, and patience.

Over time, this work can help you:

Regulate your nervous system
Release stuck emotions
Feel more connected to your body
Develop greater emotional resilience and calm

Ready to Experience Somatic Healing?

If you’re looking to reconnect with your body, release stuck emotions, and learn how to regulate your nervous system, I would love to support you.

You can book a Somatic Healing Session or Taster Session and begin learning these powerful somatic skills for yourself.

Your body already holds the wisdom for healing — sometimes it simply needs the right space and guidance to access it.

About Me

Christina Shakelian is a Somatic Healing Practitioner passionate about helping people reconnect with their bodies, regulate their nervous systems, and release stuck emotional patterns.

My work focuses on guiding clients beyond purely mental approaches to healing and instead accessing the deeper wisdom of the mind–body connection. Through gentle somatic techniques, breathwork, and nervous system regulation practices, I support clients in developing the skills needed to feel calmer, more grounded, and more aligned in their lives.

If you’re curious about exploring somatic healing for yourself, you can book a Somatic Healing Session or Taster Session and begin learning these powerful tools for lasting emotional wellbeing.