Somatic Hypnosis: Beyond the Story

Let’s face it: we are all intimately aware of our stories, especially those rooted in suffering. We have told ourselves and others countless times, and if the very telling of our story were going to make us feel better, it would have happened already.

For this reason, trauma is essentially a time disorder. Old, unprocessed emotions affect our energy field in the present moment, as if that event were happening in the present. This is because we are timeless beings in a time-bound body. Our physical body holds events without understanding that what it is holding already happened. Trauma vibration isn’t attached to time; a wound from 6 years old will just grow deeper each year until thoughts, habits, and actions are dominated by its roots.

Somatic Hypnosis
Somatic hypnosis is a process that gently unravels that stuck trauma energy.

Rather than asking you to relive your past or endlessly analyze your story, Somatic Hypnosis creates a state of focused awareness where the subconscious becomes more accessible. From this place, we begin listening to the language of the body.

Instead of asking, “What happened?” we begin asking different questions: What are you experiencing right now? Where do you notice it in your body? What sensation is asking to be felt? What belief accompanies it? What does this part of you need to feel safe?

As awareness deepens, the body begins revealing the places where unfinished experiences continue to live beneath conscious awareness.

As these patterns become visible, they also become more available for change. Healing can then become something we experience, not simply something we understand.

To navigate this process, I use what I call the Five Channels of Somatic Healing.

The Five Channels of Somatic Healing
The Five Channels are a means of accessing and digesting this unprocessed vibrational energy.

1. The Mind Channel holds our agreements and stories. In the mind channel, we must ask ourselves, “Why do I think this? Is this really true?”
2. The Imagination Channel is the channel we can use to create safety and resources; it allows us to give ourselves what we need to heal the invisible wounds that lie in our subconscious.
3. The Posture Channel connects the mind with the body. By changing how we inhabit our bodies, we begin to send new signals to the nervous system, creating greater regulation, resilience, and presence.
4. The Body Sensation Channel is where healing happens. This channel is the PRESENT MOMENT; the only place where true change can occur. It represents how something “feels” in the physical body.
5. The Emotion Channel is the deepest of the deep. Every habit and pattern is deeply rooted in emotion- either what we want or what we don’t want to happen. We begin to shift and foster new emotional states by using the other channels.

Healing is not about changing the past – it is about changing our relationship to it. Somatic Hypnosis offers a roadmap for reconnecting with the body’s innate wisdom and returning to a place of presence, wholeness, and self-compassion.

Erin Touponse is the founder of Mystic Healing Reiki and owner of The Blackbird House in Old Wethersfield, CT. She is a Certified Hypnotist through the National Guild of Hypnotists, a member of the Astrological Society of CT, the Reiki Membership Association, the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, and The Society for Shamanic Practice. She has studied Pranic Healing with the Institute for Inner Studies and received her Qi Gong Teacher certification through Holden Qi Gong. Interested in learning more? Whether you’re curious about the Five Channels or would like to experience a Somatic Hypnosis session for yourself, she would love to support you on your journey toward greater awareness, healing, and transformation. Visit: mystichealingreiki.com for more information.