The body cannot be touched without engaging the mind, and the mind cannot be engaged without affecting the body.

 - Dr Aline La Pierre

 

Body awareness not only anchors you in the present moment, it also strengthens the immune system & body’s ability to heal itself.

- Eckharte Tolle
 

There is a voice that does not use words. Listen. - Rumi

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What is Subtle Listening Bodywork?

Subtle Listening bodywork is a simple form of consent-based, tender and compassionate witnessing touch. This involves light holding and contact using my hands - sometimes just at the feet, sometimes at the heart or other places that are asking to be held. Consent will be a dynamic part of this process and I will check in with what you feel comfortable with as we are working together.

 

Benefits of Subtle Listening Bodywork

This simple bodywork can work on many levels. We all need touch, it can support our physical and mental health, help reduce cortisol and increase oxytocin, generating feelings of love and belonging.

 

When we touch the body, we touch the nervous system. The compassionate witnessing of this touch offers co-regulation for the nervous system - a way to be seen and heard, a form of somatic, non-verbal acceptance. It offers us a space feel what it is to be fully received, with a present witness. 

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The somatic matter of our bodies are the intersection point between our individual consciousness and divine universal consciousness. Touch and awareness of the body connects us to what is much bigger than us. 

 

This can help to build safe connections between the wisdom of the body and the thoughts rolling around in our minds. When the body feels safe enough, something shifts and stuck patterns in the body loosen, sometimes bringing deep emotions to the surface.

 

We don’t often have space in our lives to completely surrender and relax. This touch offers a space to deeply rest and let go of tension in the body. This can be a profoundly grounding and releasing experience.

 

Touch can support integration of what has arisen in the sessions, allowing the process to land into the body.

 

Having a part of the body held this way can also assist with dissociative freeze patterns, supporting us in feeling our own boundaries, reaffirming our edges, reminding us that we exist and have agency in this world.

 

In response to this holding, people have reported that they felt a deep grounding, as they felt their body really drop and let out a big sigh that they hadn’t realise they were holding in. Others have experienced feeling huge emotional shifts followed by spacious peacefulness. Some have found the touch energising and restorative. This varied response reflects the body's own wisdom to heal in whatever way it needs to in the moment.