Somatic Awareness Practice (SOMAP)

Integrating the Body-Mind Connection

The gap between conscious experience and embodiment — the so-called “mind-body problem” — remains one of philosophy’s most enduring and elusive questions. The French philosopher René Descartes is often ridiculed for his dualism, separating the realms of mind and body and locating their interaction within the mysterious pineal gland. Yet the persistence of the “hard problem” of consciousness explaining how and why physical brain processes give rise to subjective, first-person experiences suggests that Descartes’ fundamental intuition should not be dismissed so easily. Several propositions nevertheless seem difficult to deny. Firstly, consciousness is dependent upon the brain. Contemporary neuroscience demonstrates increasingly sophisticated correlations between neural activity and cognitive function. Secondly, consciousness cannot be exhaustively reduced to neural description alone. Subjective experience possesses a first-person quality that remains resistant to purely material explanation. Relatedly, consciousness does not appear to be merely epiphenomenal or illusory, but constitutes an irreducible dimension of human reality.

My own perspective attempts to hold these two seemingly opposing positions simultaneously. At the level of lived human experience, dualism appears unavoidable: we encounter consciousness and embodiment as qualitatively distinct domains. Yet at the level of neurophysiological structure, consciousness remains deeply dependent upon material processes. Famous neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield came to a similar conclusion, stating towards the conclusion of his book, The Mystery of the Mind, “After years of striving to explain the basis of mind on the basis of brain-action alone, I have come to the conclusion that it is simpler…if one adopts the hypothesis that our being does consist of two fundamental elements.” This conclusion suggests not a simple opposition between dualism and materialism, but a more complex relationship in which both contain elements of truth.

My personal experience integrating somatic practices with insights from neurobiology and philosophy points to the inalienable presence of basic distinctions within lived experience. These include for example, those between the voluntary and the involuntary, and the conceptual and the pre-conceptual. In psychology and psychiatry this basic fault line in human experience becomes defined in terms of implicit and explicit memory, concrete emotion and primary emotion, and body image and body schema to name a few important categorical distinctions.  What is interesting for me, however, is not merely the existence of essential distinctions or even dichotomies in lived experience, but the points of contact between these two realms. One of the important purposes of somatic practices in my opinion is to elicit and raise to conscious knowing the implicit pre-conceptual elements of lived experience. Thus, somatic practices do not strive to overcome the “mind-body problem” but to engage with both the material facticity of human embodiment and to enrich individual first-person lived experience. My own approach developed through the SomaticWell platform is distinguished by integrating both top-down cognitive and bottom-up embodied processes. This endeavour is exemplified in my Neuro-Somatic Variations (NSV) teaching, but also in a more simplified approach called Somatic Awareness Practice, which integrates the Feldenkrais Method and Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) for individuals as well as a group context. The Feldenkrais Method is a foundational somatic education practice developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais. Some core concepts relating to the method as detailed by Norman Doidge in his bestselling book, The Brain’s Way of Healing, include:

•    The mind programs the functioning of the brain

•     A brain cannot think without motor function

•     Awareness of movement is the key to improving movement

•    Differentiation – making the smallest possible sensory distinction between movements

•     Differentiation is easiest to make when the stimulus is smallest

•     Slowness of movement is the key to awareness, and awareness is the key to learning

•     Reduce the effort whenever possible

IPNB as developed by psychiatrist Daniel Siegel refers to the interdisciplinary study of how relationships and brain processes interact to shape the mind, emotional regulation, behavior, and human development. There are many elements to the IPNB approach, too many to fully elaborate here. One main objective of IPNB, however, is to provide a conceptual roadmap for achieving higher states of nervous system integration. Through differentiation and then linkage of sensation, the individual achieves higher states of whole brain integration. It is readily apparent that there are many productive connections between the Feldenkrais Method and Interpersonal Neurobiology. For example, this aforementioned process of differentiation and integration is also a key element in Feldenkrais lessons – whether individual Functional Integration or group Awareness Through Movement lessons. Another key concept linking Feldenkrais Method and IPNB is that of awareness and attention. Bringing awareness to movement through different forms of attention has been scientifically demonstrated to enhance neuroplasticity – the brain’s capacity to continue developing throughout the lifespan.  As Dani Siegel states, “where attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connection grows.” IPNB emphasizes integrating areas of brain function, for example, the middle pre-front cortex links the whole cortex, limbic area, brainstem, body proper, and even social systems to one another and is associated with important functions including, body regulation, attuned communication, emotional balance, fear modulation, response flexibility, insight, empathy, morality, and intuition.

Bringing together the Feldenkrais Method with IPNB provides an exciting conceptual and experiential realm for exploration. Indeed, the purpose of SOMAP is intended to mine this relationship for greater embodied insight as well as for salutogenic (focusing on health and wellbeing) purposes. It is important to be clear that SOMAP does not simply demonstrate how IPNB may inform the Feldenkrais Method, but in turn how the Feldenkrais Method may illuminate through embodied action the principles of IPNB. ATM lessons provide a kind of structured choreography of organic movement patterns that are lacking in primarily conceptual approaches, including to some extent IPNB. For example, the core IPNB “Wheel of Awareness” meditation practice includes reference to sensible knowns, including touch, taste, smell as well as to interoceptive felt sensations, in relation to the central knowing hub of awareness. However, this meditation practice is conducted generally in a static posture of lying or sitting, and does not explicitly refer to the sensible knowns of muscle tonus, to the kinesthetic sensation of movement, and to proprioception – the perception of movement in space. It is my experience that the sense of muscle tonus and movement in space are key perceptual faculties that are vital in terms of developing one’s pre-conceptual sense of body schema and subsequent conceptual sense of body image.

In summary, SOMAP approaches mind not as separate from embodiment, nor reducible to physiology alone, but as emerging through the dynamic relationship between neural, bodily, relational, and experiential processes. SOMAP represents an ongoing exploration into the relationship between embodied awareness, movement, and neurobiological integration. SOMAP provides a meaningful integrative approach for bringing pre-conceptual dimensions of lived experience into conscious awareness for greater personal insight and self-healing. Besides working with individual clients, I am planning a weekly SOMAP online series. Do contact me directly if you are interested in learning more about how SOMAP may benefit you or your somatic practice.