Navigating Emotional Waves: An Empath's Journey through Somatics

Have you ever felt like you're an emotional sponge absorbing the feelings of everyone around you? 

You're not alone, dear friend. As empaths, we often feel emotions deeply, which can be overwhelming. But what if I told you there's a way to understand and manage these powerful emotions? 

Welcome to a transformative journey through somatics, a practice providing an emotional roadmap for empaths like us. In this episode, we will explore the dance between body and mind, helping us to understand our feelings and why we react the way we do. 

To illustrate, we share the story of Maya, a fellow empath who found her emotional equilibrium through somatic practices.

This journey doesn't end there. In our quest for emotional balance, we discuss practical somatic techniques to manage stress and stay connected to our bodies. 

We've covered you, from visualizing roots connecting us to the earth and practicing mindful walking to a relaxing inner ear massage. Let me assure you, this isn't some new-age mumbo-jumbo. 

These somatic practices are grounded in science and have been time-tested to help individuals foster a deeper connection with their bodies and emotions. So, put on your headphones and get ready for an enlightening journey. 

Remember, approach this with curiosity, non-judgment, respect, and love. Let's embark on this journey together. 

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

You're listening to the Realized Empath Podcast, where we get real about loving and stumbling through our sensitive lives with your host and holistic counselor, Kristin Schwartz, who helps redefine what's possible for an empath who embraces a path of self-healing.

Speaker 2: 0:22

Hey there, beautiful souls, welcome back to another episode of the Realized Empath Podcast. I'm your host, kristin Schwartz, and today we're going to dive into something intriguing and oh so empowering somatics. Now if you're scratching your head and wondering what the heck that is, don't worry, I've got you covered. So grab your comfiest seat and let's get cozy as we unravel the magic of somatics and why it's like a warm hug for us empaths. Alrighty, let's start with the basics.

Speaker 2: 1:00

Somatics is like the secret dance between your body and mind. It's all about tuning in feeling, the rhythm of your breath, the sensations in your body, and using that info to improve your overall well-being. It's like your body whispering hey, pay attention, I've got some wisdom to share. So why is this a game changer for us? Why is somatic so important for an empath or a highly sensitive person to understand? Well, imagine if you will tapping into your body's built-in GPS for emotions. Somatic practices help us connect with our feelings, to understand why we react the way we do. It's like having an emotional roadmap that guides us through the twists and turns of our empathic journey. Through somatic practices, empaths can untangle the web of absorbed emotions, helping us reclaim an inner balance. By tuning into our body's whispers, we can gain a deeper understanding of our feelings versus those that we've taken on from others, which allows us to gracefully navigate our empathic journey. So somatics also provide impasse with a toolkit of self-care gyms. There's like amazing tools and tricks and practices like body scans and grounding exercises, helping us relieve our emotional barriers. So we're going to be able to do that, which allows us to infart the emotional boundary Slowing and grounding exercises, helping us release accumulated tension and resetting our emotional compass. What this does for us is it gives us this new-found sense of embodiment and empowers us to establish boundaries, which prevents emotional connections. So by us embracing somatics, we find a harmony and an opportunity to nurture our needs, enhance our empathic abilities and embark on self discovery and healing. So let's talk about embodiment. Embodiment is referencing the relationship between our physical being and our energy, so it includes the interaction between our body, our thoughts and our actions. It's really about being fully present, about Everything that's impacting or communicating our energy. Picture this you're not just a floating head. You're a whole vibrant being with feelings that pulse through every inch of you, and somatics is all about embodying those feelings and letting them flow freely, and for empaths, that's gold.

Speaker 2: 4:35

We often pick up on others' emotions like a radio tune to everyone's station. Somatic practices ground us, helping us distinguish between our feelings and others. It's like putting on a superhero cape and powering us to say, hey, this emotion isn't mine, I'm just tuning in to someone else's frequency. So how do we balance our empathic scales? Ah, the delicate art of balance. As impasse we can give until we run on emotional fumes. So somatics can be our trusty sidekick, teaching us to set boundaries without guilt. With somatic practices we learn to listen to our body signals, like that gentle tug of tension in our shoulders, and we recognize when we're stretching ourselves thin and we give ourselves permission to recharge. It's like, hey, I matter too, I deserve a little TLC. So story time.

Speaker 2: 5:47

Once upon a time in a bustling city lived a woman named Maya. Maya was a compassionate soul, always quick to lend an ear and a shoulder to cry on. Her empathic nature made her a magnet for other seeking solace, and she gladly embraced her role as a source of comfort. As time went on, maya found herself feeling drained and emotionally scattered, and I'm guessing Maya felt some resentment as well. She felt like a sponge soaking up the emotions of everyone around her. Her energy was like a roller coaster, spiraling up with joy when her friends were happy and plummeting with sadness when they were upset. Maya realized she needed a change. She longed to balance her emotions and recharge her energy.

Speaker 2: 6:45

One day, as Maya was browsing through a local bookstore, she stumbled upon a book on somatics. Intrigued by the promise of a deeper connection to her body and emotions, she gave it a shot. With an open heart, she embarked on her somatic journey. Maya started with simple practices. Every morning, she would find a quiet corner of her apartment, close her eyes and take a few deep breaths. She'd scan her body from head to toe, noticing any areas of tension or discomfort. As she did this, she imagined a warm, golden light washing over her, soothing away the stress and negativity she had absorbed from others.

Speaker 2: 7:32

One evening, after a particularly intense day at work, maya felt a heavy weight on her chest. The demands and frustrations of her colleagues seemed to cling to her like a shroud. Remembering her somatic practices, she decided to try a technique that she had read about shaking it out. Maya stood in her living room, closed her eyes and gently shook her body from her fingertips to her toes. With each shake, she visualized the negative energy dissipating, leaving a sense of lightness. To her surprise, maya felt an immediate shift as she shook off the day's burdens. She felt her chest loosen and a sigh of relief escaped her lips. She continued shaking, her movements becoming more fluid and free. It was if she was shedding layers of emotional baggage, leaving a renewed sense of clarity and calm.

Speaker 2: 8:32

Over time, maya's somatic practices became an integral part of her daily routine. She found that by tuning into her body and releasing stored tension, she could better differentiate her emotions from those of others. She set boundaries without guilt, gently reminding herself that her well-being was as important as anyone else's. With each passing day, maya's energy became more balanced. She still offered her empathic support to those around her, but now she did so from a place of strength and stability. Maya's somatic journey had transformed her into a beacon of radiant energy, shining brightly as she navigated the world with newfound equilibrium.

Speaker 2: 9:19

So what do you think? Are you ready to dive in and dip your toes in somatics? I know that I was curious about somatics for a couple years before I was actually ready. Connecting back to my physical body was like my last part of my journey. It was the thing that I was resisting. So there's not any right answer here. The right answer is what's right for you and what feels good.

Speaker 2: 9:49

I will say to start small so you can try something like a body scan meditation, and we can do this really quick. Why don't you, if you're not driving and you're in a safe space, go ahead and close your eyes and I want you to start breathing really deeply. If you can kind of focus on your belly and try to get the breath in your belly, notice that your belly is going in and out with each breath, try to move that breath from the lungs to the belly. And I want you to check in with each part of your body. You can start at the top of your head and slowly scan down, and I want you to notice any tightness or tension or tingling. Trust me with this. It's a mini adventure and you may not know it, but it's like a spa day for your soul, when we can be present to our entire experience and when we can connect back to our body and really notice what's going on and what needs our attention.

Speaker 2: 10:56

I know that without having to do a meditation and just kind of like going to my body, I can feel tension in my upper, back and my neck. Now there are two things going on here. Number one I'm kind of slouched over at my desk, making sure that my mouth is pretty close to my microphone. So that's the first thing. And also I'm aware that my upper, back and neck are where I store stress and that anytime I go for a massage or to a chiropractor, that is one place that other people will notice and comment about the tightness and the tension that's in that part of my body. Now another I know we talked about this in Maya's story, but how about shaking it out?

Speaker 2: 11:44

And I did this actually before I sat down to record this podcast for you guys I actually went into the bathroom that connects to my office and I shook it out. I was feeling a bit of anxious energy and tension from probably from having a dirty chai this morning, which I usually don't have caffeine, but this morning I had to wake up early and I went to bed late last night, and so it was feeling like I needed a little bit of caffeine. Not the best self-care example there, but that's just what happened this morning, and so I was already feeling this kind of anxious energy in my body and I wanted to make sure that I was more grounded before I sat down and recorded, because you can tell in people's voices where they're at energetically. So shaking it off is literally what it sounds like. You shake off the energy you've absorbed from others, or energy that you're storing from your life, and you're shaking it off like a dog would shake off water after swimming. It's fun, it's liberating, and you could even do it to your favorite song or to music, and my goal is to eventually get to a point of confidence in my somatic practice that I'm able to do this with people around and not caring if I look silly.

Speaker 2: 13:12

Okay, so we talked about body scans, we talked about shaking it off, we kind of covered deep breathing. So with the deep breathing, you want to just sit down, close your eyes, take a deep breath through your nose, like I said, expanding your belly as you fill your lungs, and it's helpful to hold the breath for a few seconds and then exhale slowly through your mouth and you want to repeat that process for a few minutes, focusing on the sensation of your breath and the rise and fall of your belly. Another helpful exercise that assists you in grounding your energy is you can stand or sit with your feet flat on the ground and you can take a moment to feel the connection between your feet and the surface beneath you, and then you can imagine roots extending from the soles of your feet into the earth. Now my office is on a second floor and I imagine the roots that go through the floor and I see them go down through the first floor, exit the foundation of the building and get into the earth. So it doesn't really matter where you're at you can be in a high rise building or you can be outside on the grass, visualizing however you need to to get those roots in the ground. So you want to visualize drawing energy up from the earth through your roots and then filling your body with a sense of stability and grounding, and you can stay in this visualization until you notice some type of shift in your body. And speaking of a shift in your body, I will.

Speaker 2: 15:07

Another tip that I will give you is an inner ear massage. So I have nails on right now, so it kind of makes it more difficult, but when I don't have nails on, this is one that I turn to a lot. If I'm feeling dysregulated or my energy is kind of feeling scattered or chaotic. You take your pointer finger and you just take the tip of your finger and you insert your fingertip into your ear too far where you're feeling pressure, but just kind of like set it in there loosely and you want to start massaging that inner part of your ear on all the different sides. So kind of like go around in a circle and get them each side and the bottoms and the top of your inner ear and you wanna do that until you notice some shift in energy. What I do is I wait, I continue to do it and I wait until I get a yawn. So when I get a yawn then I take that as a clue that I have shifted energy and I will do it both sides for both sides of my ear and then once I yawn I noticeably can tell a difference in how I feel and my nervous system.

Speaker 2: 16:22

Another exercise is progressive muscle relaxation.

Speaker 2: 16:28

So again, you can try this now why I go through the steps?

Speaker 2: 16:32

But if you're driving you can just save this episode and revisit when you get home.

Speaker 2: 16:37

But you wanna find a quiet place to sit or lie down and make sure you're comfortable and you start with a specific muscle group.

Speaker 2: 16:46

So you can start with your hands, you can start with your thighs, you can start with your shoulders and you tense up the muscles, like I'm doing it right now when I'm talking to you that's why my voice sounded strained so you tense up the muscles as tightly as you can for a few seconds and then you release the tension suddenly and pay attention to the sensation of relaxation as the muscles unwind.

Speaker 2: 17:12

So you wanna pay more attention to the relaxation of the process instead of the actual tense part of the process. And you wanna move on to different muscle groups. You can work your way through the body, you can work at the top down, but you wanna go like from your arms and maybe your shoulders and your neck and your face and so on, and you just keep doing that until you notice a shift. Another helpful somatic practice is mindful walking. So find a peaceful outdoor area to walk and begin walking at just a natural pace and you wanna focus your attention on the sensation of each step. So basically, you're paying attention to the movement of your legs and you're feeling your feet lifting and landing and then you're noticing the shifting of your body weight.

Speaker 2: 18:05

And what I found helpful is, if your mind starts to wander, just gently bring your focus back to the physical sensations of walking, stretching and any type of gentle movement is gonna be really helpful. And so you can stand or sit in a comfortable position and you can start with gentle stretches, such as reaching your arms overhead or twisting your torso or bending forward to touch your toes. You wanna move your body in ways that feel natural and comfortable, allowing your muscles to gently lengthen and release tension, and you wanna focus again on the sensations of your muscles stretching and moving. It's all about awareness and focus Because, remember, somatic practices are about cultivating awareness of your body and it's sensations. The practices can be adapted and modified to suit you.

Speaker 2: 19:03

It's not like you have to do it exactly the way that everyone else does it. This is really about your body and all of our bodies are different. So it's important to approach this with a sense of like, curiosity, non-judgment and respect and love for yourself. You're trying to figure out what works for you. It's like you're reintroducing yourself to the body, your friend that you really haven't been paying much attention to for a really long time. So just stay curious and allow yourself to just fully experience the present moment with your body. So there you have it, the beautiful world of somatics.

Speaker 2: 19:43

I know this episode is a little bit shorter than last week's episode, but I feel like it was just the perfect amount of information and tips and tricks, without being overwhelming. And remember that somatics is like a cozy blanket for our empathic hearts. It's there to help us navigate the twists and turns of our feelings with grace and understanding, and we are worth it. There's nothing wrong with feeling deeply, but sometimes we just need a little bit more attention given to our body and our bodies need a little bit of assistance in letting go and processing. So, my lovely empaths, embrace this magical dance between your mind and body. Until next time, stay curious and kind and welcome your essence. Peace out, everybody. See you next week.

Speaker 1: 20:44

Thanks for listening to the Realized Empath podcast.