Changing Shape

In the field of somatics*, there is the metaphor of changing shape.

What this means is that we all have a shape. Our existing shape is the product of our culture, experiences, and genetics. Thanks to cool body stuff like neuroplasticity, we can change experience-based and culturally learned shapes that do not align with our values or with our present-day reality.

For example, let’s say something scary happened suddenly, like a car accident. Our body, who once felt confident driving, may now move into a fear shape when we have to drive a car. The good news is that we can work somatically with our body to re-claim our core shape of confidence and calm when driving.

For developmental trauma, we may not recall the shape we are working to re-claim. This core self-shape may have been covered over at a very young age with the shape of shame or anxiety or doubt. The good news here is that the body remembers. As we work to re-shape the states on top (like anxiety), we find more expression of self, and this leads us back.

One main way we do this is through somatic resourcing.

* generative somatics lineage