April 23, 2025 • 15 mins
What if freedom isn’t found in being anxiety-free—but in learning to live with more presence, joy, and choice through it? This episode is a powerful invitation to reconnect with yourself through somatic healing, nervous system regulation, and embodiment practices that anchor you in a new way of being.
In this episode, we explore:
🌿 Somatic embodiment – what it is, why it matters, and how it helps you feel more whole, present, and connected
🌿 The difference between managing anxiety and metabolizing it through the body’s wisdom
🌿 How movement, breathwork, sound, and nature regulate your nervous system and expand your capacity to feel joy
🌿 The path from overthinking and anxiety spirals to inner safety and emotional agency
🌿 A guided somatic practice to help you drop in, slow down, and meet yourself with compassion
You’ll also hear why "Coming Home to Yourself" is the essence of the somatic healing journey—especially as you navigate change, transition, and new seasons of life.
This is the final episode in a powerful mini-series that’s included:
🔹 Ep 71: Nervous System Basics
🔹 Ep 72: Tracking Sensation
🔹 Ep 73: Inner Critics & Emotional Repatterning
🔹 Ep 74: Integration and Embodied Living
💌 Sign up for the monthly newsletter to receive somatic tools, practices, and event updates.
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Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast is intended to inspire, educate, and support you on your personal journey. It does not substitute for professional mental health advice. I am not a psychologist or medical professional. If you are experiencing distress, mental health challenges, or medical conditions, please seek help from a qualified professional.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Radiant Life Podcast.
I'm your host, rae the SomaticCoach, and I'm here to support
you in healing your past, livingin the present and creating
your future so that you canbecome the most centered,
embodied and happiest version ofyourself.
Each week, I'll be bringing youepisodes to help you navigate
life's challenges, ease stressand tension and learn more about
(00:24):
holistic healing, spiritualityand wellness.
If you're interested inbecoming the best version of
yourself so that you can livethe life of your dreams, then
you're in the right place.
Subscribe to the podcast andthe monthly newsletter and
follow me on Instagram andTikTok to know when new episodes
are released each week.
I am so happy that you'velanded here.
(00:45):
Let's dive in.
Welcome back to the podcast.
If you are new here, I'm Rae.
I'm a somatic coach andbreathwork facilitator.
And if you aren't new here,welcome back.
I'm so glad that you are tuningin for today's episode.
So two front desk items beforewe dive into today's episode.
(01:08):
The first is that, if you are anew listener, I did recently
change the name of the podcastfrom the Radiant Life to Somatic
Healing for Wellness-FocusedWomen.
So I do plan on changing theintro and the outro eventually,
but it just hasn't been changedyet.
(01:29):
But anyway, if you are a newlistener, welcome.
I'm so glad that you're hereand right now we are doing a.
This is actually the lastepisode of a four part series
called rewriting the story ofanxiety, and so you can check
out episode 71, 72, and 73.
(01:50):
And then this is episode 74.
And this is the last episode ofthat series.
But, yeah, I'm glad you're here, and so if you are looking to
stay connected, a great way tostay connected is to sign up for
the monthly newsletter.
So that is a newsletter thatgoes to your inbox on the 1st
(02:11):
and 15th of every month and itincludes a little toolkit.
It has journaling practices,somatic practices, updates on
events, podcast updates.
So it's a great resource tohave, and you can sign up for
that through the link in theshow notes.
(02:32):
So for today's episode, we'regoing to be talking about
somatic embodiment, what thatmeans.
We're going to be talking aboutnew ways of being making
changes from maybe your pastanxious self and what it looks
like when you start reallymaking some shifts in that area,
(02:54):
and what it feels like when wemove through the ebbs and flows
and seasons of life.
Do you feel safe enough to?
Ebb and flow, is anxiety yourdefault.
So I totally understand thatmany times anxiety can be our
(03:15):
default setting.
That was how I operated for avery long time, which is what
led me to becoming a somaticcoach, becoming a breathwork
facilitator, and it's why I'm sopassionate about somatic
healing.
And somatic healing itself isreally about remembering who you
(03:35):
are.
So it's about really feelingunderstood in your body and
understanding the wisdom thatyour body holds.
Anxiety can feel limiting attimes.
It can look a lot of differentways social anxiety, worries,
thought spirals, what if?
(03:56):
And, worst case scenario,thinking.
So anxiety can show up a lot inthe mind and it can show up a
lot in the body, and so withsomatic healing, it's really
about regulating your nervoussystem.
So that's one aspect of it andthat's what we covered in the
first episode of this series,episode 71.
(04:17):
It's about getting familiar withthe sensations in your body and
also building the capacity andthe safety to feel those
sensations.
This can feel very foreign andunfamiliar at first, and that's
what we dove into in episode 72,which was the second episode of
the series.
And somatic healing can alsolook like getting familiar with
(04:42):
the different parts that arise.
Look like getting familiar withthe different parts that arise
the inner child, the anxiousparts and learning how to
understand and meet the needs ofthese different parts that
sometimes can show up in ouradult life and they're not
always serving us.
And so that was the thirdepisode of the series, which was
(05:03):
last week's episode, episode 73.
And now here we are, episode 74.
And this is, yeah, all aboutintegration and how does safety
and play and self-expressionarise for you and is it
accessible for you when you'reexperiencing anxiety?
So all of this is a lot of thework that I do with my
(05:27):
one-on-one clients and mysignature program Rooted in
Radiant, and it's something thatyou can build on, it's
something that you get todiscover about yourself.
It's a very gentle process butit does include a lot of deep
processing and you're reallylearning to sit with
(05:51):
uncomfortable feelings,uncomfortable sensations, and
you're learning to metabolizethem and you're learning how
your personal nervous system andyour body and your breath do
just that.
So a word that comes up often isthe world of somatic healing,
is somatic embodiment and theword embodiment and I think that
word is becoming more popularit might just be the spaces that
(06:14):
I'm in.
I'm not.
I never know if that's the case, because it's like I'm so in
that world.
It's like is it just myalgorithm?
Or is everybody seeing thisword embodiment?
I never know, but somaticembodiment really means using
the intelligence of your body asa source of wisdom, as a source
of understanding, and as asource of understanding and as a
(06:38):
source of learning.
So with somatics, it's reallyfocused on working with the body
and it's this idea that yourbody remembers and your body is
loaded with information for youto receive and you to learn from
.
So with somatic embodiment, itmeans understanding, reading and
(07:04):
engaging with those sensationsto develop awareness of the
present moment, to feel moreconnected, to feel more whole,
to feel more aware.
It helps to also becompassionate and kind to
ourselves and also to others,because it brings in a deeper
(07:25):
layer of understanding and it'salso something that you can
access.
So somatic embodiment of thatexperience of being in your body
and listening to your body youcan access that through your
breath, you can access thatthrough movement, you can access
that through sound.
(07:46):
So those are the three thingsthat I always suggest.
You can always go into one ofthose areas if you're looking to
feel more connected to yourbody.
It's also a place that you canuse as an anchor in how you
choose to relate to a new way ofbeing.
So a lot of times, when you'reon this path of healing or
(08:09):
changing your relationship toanxiety or learning more about
what anxiety means for you andhow it shows up for you, on the
other side of that, it can feelreally unsettling, because if
you are not allowing anxiety todrive and run the show, then
what's the alternative thingThen?
Like what's happening?
(08:29):
So it can feel reallyunfamiliar at first, it can feel
really unpredictable even andso it's.
When you're working with thebody and you're working with
somatic embodiment and somatichealing, it's a great way to,
it's a great place to land infor how you can relate to this
(08:51):
new way of being.
And something that I always liketo return back to is that,
although somatic healing can bea slower process because you're
working at the pace of the bodyand it's not something that can
really be rushed, becauseeveryone has, you know, a unique
nervous system, a unique livedexperience, but over time, as
(09:16):
you begin to make these littleshifts and these little
understandings and these littlechanges, and you eventually
expand your window of toleranceand you become more regulated.
And I always like to say thateven if you were to do like
three to five minutes of breathwork every day, even if you did
(09:36):
that for a month, like three tofive minutes of breath work
every day, even if you did thatfor a month, like three to five
minutes of breath work every dayfor a month, after that month
you would feel different.
So, cognitively, we like tounderstand you know all the
different parts and all thedifferent layers, and I think
that's, of course, veryimportant too.
And also, if you were to put ina little bit of time every day,
(10:00):
you would change your nervoussystem response from your
default setting of being anxious.
So it's something that you putin a little bit, a little bit at
a time, a little bit at a timeand over time things really
begin to shift.
And I mentioned breath work,but it could also be movement,
(10:22):
it could also be walking innature, it could be sound, sound
healing, music, binaural beats.
So there's a lot of differentexperiences that contribute to
the somatic experience, tosomatic healing, to somatic
embodiment.
So really getting curious aroundhow your body receives and
responds to certain practicesand when you start making those
(10:47):
shifts and you start makingthose changes, from managing
anxiety and anxiety really beingat the forefront, you're able
to begin to feel safe, andyou're able to feel safe to be
present.
Maybe you begin to live withmore freedom, more joy, more
(11:07):
personal agency and choice, andthat's really beautiful.
It's a really amazing thing.
That's kind of like what's onthe other side of when anxiety
stops running the show, um, andalso you don't have to be
completely anxiety free to befree, like I don't really think
(11:28):
that's the goal.
I think the goal is really tobe able to understand your body,
understand your nervous system,understand your anxiety, listen
to it when it arises it hasvery important wisdom and
information for you and, when itdoes arise, be able to sit with
it and metabolize it and learnfrom it.
(11:49):
And that in itself is apractice, and it takes some time
to feel safe to be able to dothat, because anxiety can be
very uncomfortable.
So a little embodiment practicethat I would love to share with
you is it's a few questions andyou can kind of just answer them
or pause the audio and thenanswer them.
(12:09):
But the first is what are younoticing in your body right now?
What kind of sensations mightbe present, what kinds of
thoughts or beliefs might arise?
How do you feel emotionallyright now?
Maybe begin to notice thequality of the energy in your
(12:40):
body, the quality of the energyin your mind.
Are you feeling fatigued,energized, guarded, uh,
contracted?
And how is your breathing?
Is it shallow, is it?
Is it held?
Is it in the chest, is it inthe belly?
And if there is a sensationpresent, see how it feels for
(13:07):
you if you were to place yourhand over the sensation and
breathe into that feeling.
And as you sit with the feeling, would you like to explore any
movement in response to it?
Does it feel like you need tostretch?
(13:29):
Does it feel like you need toshake?
Is there a movement associatedwith the sensation?
And what might this feeling orsensation need from you right
now?
So that's a little bit of ataste of a embodiment practice.
(13:56):
It's a bunch of questions andyou can move through that slower
, but the idea is that thesequestions are allowing you to
get really connected to yourbody.
So they're body-based questions.
They're going to allow you todrop in a little bit deeper from
your current experience and seewhat is there for you, with
curiosity and all right.
(14:17):
So that's what we have fortoday's episode.
I hope that you enjoyed thisfour-part series rewriting the
story of anxiety and, if youwant to stay connected,
definitely sign up for thenewsletter in the show notes.
So so I hope that you have anincredible rest of your day, an
incredible rest of your week,and I will talk to you soon.
(14:39):
Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode.
If you were moved or inspired,please share with me by leaving
a rating and review on ApplePodcasts.
It means the world to me and Iam so appreciative for your
support in helping my podcastgrow.
If we aren't already connectedon social media, head over to
Instagram and TikTok and followme at RayTheSemanticCoach.
(15:02):
Make sure you check out theshow notes of today's episode
for links to freebies,opportunities to work with me
and ways we can stay connectedoutside of the podcast.
I am so happy that you're hereand I cannot wait to talk with
you on our next episode of theRadiant Life Podcast.
Welcome to the Radiant Life Podcast.
I'm your host, rae the SomaticCoach, and I'm here to support
you in healing your past, livingin the present and creating
your future so that you canbecome the most centered,
embodied and happiest version ofyourself.
Each week, I'll be bringing youepisodes to help you navigate
life's challenges, ease stressand tension and learn more about
(00:24):
holistic healing, spiritualityand wellness.
If you're interested inbecoming the best version of
yourself so that you can livethe life of your dreams, then
you're in the right place.
Subscribe to the podcast andthe monthly newsletter and
follow me on Instagram andTikTok to know when new episodes
are released each week.
I am so happy that you'velanded here.
(00:45):
Let's dive in.
Welcome back to the podcast.
If you are new here, I'm Rae.
I'm a somatic coach andbreathwork facilitator.
And if you aren't new here,welcome back.
I'm so glad that you are tuningin for today's episode.
So two front desk items beforewe dive into today's episode.
(01:08):
The first is that, if you are anew listener, I did recently
change the name of the podcastfrom the Radiant Life to Somatic
Healing for Wellness-FocusedWomen.
So I do plan on changing theintro and the outro eventually,
but it just hasn't been changedyet.
(01:29):
But anyway, if you are a newlistener, welcome.
I'm so glad that you're hereand right now we are doing a.
This is actually the lastepisode of a four part series
called rewriting the story ofanxiety, and so you can check
out episode 71, 72, and 73.
(01:50):
And then this is episode 74.
And this is the last episode ofthat series.
But, yeah, I'm glad you're here, and so if you are looking to
stay connected, a great way tostay connected is to sign up for
the monthly newsletter.
So that is a newsletter thatgoes to your inbox on the 1st
(02:11):
and 15th of every month and itincludes a little toolkit.
It has journaling practices,somatic practices, updates on
events, podcast updates.
So it's a great resource tohave, and you can sign up for
that through the link in theshow notes.
(02:32):
So for today's episode, we'regoing to be talking about
somatic embodiment, what thatmeans.
We're going to be talking aboutnew ways of being making
changes from maybe your pastanxious self and what it looks
like when you start reallymaking some shifts in that area,
(02:54):
and what it feels like when wemove through the ebbs and flows
and seasons of life.
Do you feel safe enough to?
Ebb and flow, is anxiety yourdefault.
So I totally understand thatmany times anxiety can be our
(03:15):
default setting.
That was how I operated for avery long time, which is what
led me to becoming a somaticcoach, becoming a breathwork
facilitator, and it's why I'm sopassionate about somatic
healing.
And somatic healing itself isreally about remembering who you
(03:35):
are.
So it's about really feelingunderstood in your body and
understanding the wisdom thatyour body holds.
Anxiety can feel limiting attimes.
It can look a lot of differentways social anxiety, worries,
thought spirals, what if?
(03:56):
And, worst case scenario,thinking.
So anxiety can show up a lot inthe mind and it can show up a
lot in the body, and so withsomatic healing, it's really
about regulating your nervoussystem.
So that's one aspect of it andthat's what we covered in the
first episode of this series,episode 71.
(04:17):
It's about getting familiar withthe sensations in your body and
also building the capacity andthe safety to feel those
sensations.
This can feel very foreign andunfamiliar at first, and that's
what we dove into in episode 72,which was the second episode of
the series.
And somatic healing can alsolook like getting familiar with
(04:42):
the different parts that arise.
Look like getting familiar withthe different parts that arise
the inner child, the anxiousparts and learning how to
understand and meet the needs ofthese different parts that
sometimes can show up in ouradult life and they're not
always serving us.
And so that was the thirdepisode of the series, which was
(05:03):
last week's episode, episode 73.
And now here we are, episode 74.
And this is, yeah, all aboutintegration and how does safety
and play and self-expressionarise for you and is it
accessible for you when you'reexperiencing anxiety?
So all of this is a lot of thework that I do with my
(05:27):
one-on-one clients and mysignature program Rooted in
Radiant, and it's something thatyou can build on, it's
something that you get todiscover about yourself.
It's a very gentle process butit does include a lot of deep
processing and you're reallylearning to sit with
(05:51):
uncomfortable feelings,uncomfortable sensations, and
you're learning to metabolizethem and you're learning how
your personal nervous system andyour body and your breath do
just that.
So a word that comes up often isthe world of somatic healing,
is somatic embodiment and theword embodiment and I think that
word is becoming more popularit might just be the spaces that
(06:14):
I'm in.
I'm not.
I never know if that's the case, because it's like I'm so in
that world.
It's like is it just myalgorithm?
Or is everybody seeing thisword embodiment?
I never know, but somaticembodiment really means using
the intelligence of your body asa source of wisdom, as a source
of understanding, and as asource of understanding and as a
(06:38):
source of learning.
So with somatics, it's reallyfocused on working with the body
and it's this idea that yourbody remembers and your body is
loaded with information for youto receive and you to learn from
.
So with somatic embodiment, itmeans understanding, reading and
(07:04):
engaging with those sensationsto develop awareness of the
present moment, to feel moreconnected, to feel more whole,
to feel more aware.
It helps to also becompassionate and kind to
ourselves and also to others,because it brings in a deeper
(07:25):
layer of understanding and it'salso something that you can
access.
So somatic embodiment of thatexperience of being in your body
and listening to your body youcan access that through your
breath, you can access thatthrough movement, you can access
that through sound.
(07:46):
So those are the three thingsthat I always suggest.
You can always go into one ofthose areas if you're looking to
feel more connected to yourbody.
It's also a place that you canuse as an anchor in how you
choose to relate to a new way ofbeing.
So a lot of times, when you'reon this path of healing or
(08:09):
changing your relationship toanxiety or learning more about
what anxiety means for you andhow it shows up for you, on the
other side of that, it can feelreally unsettling, because if
you are not allowing anxiety todrive and run the show, then
what's the alternative thingThen?
Like what's happening?
(08:29):
So it can feel reallyunfamiliar at first, it can feel
really unpredictable even andso it's.
When you're working with thebody and you're working with
somatic embodiment and somatichealing, it's a great way to,
it's a great place to land infor how you can relate to this
(08:51):
new way of being.
And something that I always liketo return back to is that,
although somatic healing can bea slower process because you're
working at the pace of the bodyand it's not something that can
really be rushed, becauseeveryone has, you know, a unique
nervous system, a unique livedexperience, but over time, as
(09:16):
you begin to make these littleshifts and these little
understandings and these littlechanges, and you eventually
expand your window of toleranceand you become more regulated.
And I always like to say thateven if you were to do like
three to five minutes of breathwork every day, even if you did
(09:36):
that for a month, like three tofive minutes of breath work
every day, even if you did thatfor a month, like three to five
minutes of breath work every dayfor a month, after that month
you would feel different.
So, cognitively, we like tounderstand you know all the
different parts and all thedifferent layers, and I think
that's, of course, veryimportant too.
And also, if you were to put ina little bit of time every day,
(10:00):
you would change your nervoussystem response from your
default setting of being anxious.
So it's something that you putin a little bit, a little bit at
a time, a little bit at a timeand over time things really
begin to shift.
And I mentioned breath work,but it could also be movement,
(10:22):
it could also be walking innature, it could be sound, sound
healing, music, binaural beats.
So there's a lot of differentexperiences that contribute to
the somatic experience, tosomatic healing, to somatic
embodiment.
So really getting curious aroundhow your body receives and
responds to certain practicesand when you start making those
(10:47):
shifts and you start makingthose changes, from managing
anxiety and anxiety really beingat the forefront, you're able
to begin to feel safe, andyou're able to feel safe to be
present.
Maybe you begin to live withmore freedom, more joy, more
(11:07):
personal agency and choice, andthat's really beautiful.
It's a really amazing thing.
That's kind of like what's onthe other side of when anxiety
stops running the show, um, andalso you don't have to be
completely anxiety free to befree, like I don't really think
(11:28):
that's the goal.
I think the goal is really tobe able to understand your body,
understand your nervous system,understand your anxiety, listen
to it when it arises it hasvery important wisdom and
information for you and, when itdoes arise, be able to sit with
it and metabolize it and learnfrom it.
(11:49):
And that in itself is apractice, and it takes some time
to feel safe to be able to dothat, because anxiety can be
very uncomfortable.
So a little embodiment practicethat I would love to share with
you is it's a few questions andyou can kind of just answer them
or pause the audio and thenanswer them.
(12:09):
But the first is what are younoticing in your body right now?
What kind of sensations mightbe present, what kinds of
thoughts or beliefs might arise?
How do you feel emotionallyright now?
Maybe begin to notice thequality of the energy in your
(12:40):
body, the quality of the energyin your mind.
Are you feeling fatigued,energized, guarded, uh,
contracted?
And how is your breathing?
Is it shallow, is it?
Is it held?
Is it in the chest, is it inthe belly?
And if there is a sensationpresent, see how it feels for
(13:07):
you if you were to place yourhand over the sensation and
breathe into that feeling.
And as you sit with the feeling, would you like to explore any
movement in response to it?
Does it feel like you need tostretch?
(13:29):
Does it feel like you need toshake?
Is there a movement associatedwith the sensation?
And what might this feeling orsensation need from you right
now?
So that's a little bit of ataste of a embodiment practice.
(13:56):
It's a bunch of questions andyou can move through that slower
, but the idea is that thesequestions are allowing you to
get really connected to yourbody.
So they're body-based questions.
They're going to allow you todrop in a little bit deeper from
your current experience and seewhat is there for you, with
curiosity and all right.
(14:17):
So that's what we have fortoday's episode.
I hope that you enjoyed thisfour-part series rewriting the
story of anxiety and, if youwant to stay connected,
definitely sign up for thenewsletter in the show notes.
So so I hope that you have anincredible rest of your day, an
incredible rest of your week,and I will talk to you soon.
(14:39):
Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode.
If you were moved or inspired,please share with me by leaving
a rating and review on ApplePodcasts.
It means the world to me and Iam so appreciative for your
support in helping my podcastgrow.
If we aren't already connectedon social media, head over to
Instagram and TikTok and followme at RayTheSemanticCoach.
(15:02):
Make sure you check out theshow notes of today's episode
for links to freebies,opportunities to work with me
and ways we can stay connectedoutside of the podcast.
I am so happy that you're hereand I cannot wait to talk with
you on our next episode of theRadiant Life Podcast.
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