“Soma” is a Greek word meaning “the living body.” In somatic work, it refers to the body as a lived, felt experience—not just a biological machine, but an intelligent, sensing, responsive being. The soma includes your sensations, emotions, movements, memories, engagements, and inner perceptions. It’s the way your chest tightens when you feel fear, the warmth in your belly when you laugh, the way your shoulders carry stories even when your mouth is silent.

In this view, the soma is the body as you are, not just the body as you have. It’s not an object to be observed or controlled, but a dynamic, expressive part of your identity and history. Somatic approaches recognize that trauma, oppression, joy, pleasure, and resilience which are all alive within the body—and that healing and liberation begins by listening inward. Reconnecting with the soma is an act of presence, power, and return: to yourself, your truth, and your aliveness.