Somatics with Sara

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Peterborough, ON
Somatics with Sara

Feldenkrais® practitioner teaching you how to unwind tension & regulate your nervous system 🧠👣

11/03/2025

Take a walk under the maple canopies with me 🍁🍂✨️

09/28/2025

What a rich learning experience the Accurate Touch retreat was in Vermont!

A theme of the Accurare Touch retreat was clarifying the axes we work from: sensing, feeling, thinking, and acting.

Moshe Feldenkrais believed that a unified self-image encompasses sensing, feeling, thinking, and acting as an interconnected whole, where changes in one area influence the others.

A person's self-image is built from these four interconnected elements, and a limited self-image can lead to habitual and less effective actions. This applies to how we show up as practitioners too!

We spent our days exchanging Functional Integration lessons, playing learning games, challenging our habits, enjoying deep conversations, and dining al fresco. It was nourishing on so many levels!

Thank you to my teachers .moves, , and for creating this space for deep learning 💚

09/07/2025

Learned pain occurs when the brain, often due to fear, anxiety, or past experiences, creates or amplifies pain signals even after the initial injury or illness has healed.

Through a process of "negative neuroplasticity," neurons become more excitable, synaptic connections become more efficient, and more emotional resources are redirected to pain. The body's natural pain-dampening mechanisms also become less effective, allowing more pain signals to reach the brain.

This can lead to a vicious cycle where the brain generates more pain as a protective response, which in turn reinforces the fear and attention to the sensation.

The good news is that learned pain is reversible through techniques that help retrain the brain, by restoring internal safety and altering how the brain perceives and responds to pain signals.

The Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education is one of the techniques that can help you unlearn pain. If you're ready to find freedom from chronic pain, reach out to learn more!

08/05/2025

The "flight, fight, freeze" label often increases fear, worry, and self-judgment, especially if there's a lack of self-compassion.

This categorization of human behavior can lead to a sense of pathology and stuckness, rather than an exploration of what's possible.

Upon learning the polyvagal terminology years ago, I became quite skilled at tracking when my nervous system would dip into flight or freeze states. But the act of noticing and labeling would also bring a wave of judgment and shame. I didn't feel empowered, I felt stuck.

When doing Feldenkrais somatic movement, I would often be distracted by anxiety or chronic pain sensations. As explained in my previous posts on central sensitization, these chronic pain sensations are simply pain messages generated by a brain that feels unsafe and overwhelmed.

In the Feldenkrais Method, creating internal safety is paramount to somatic learning. We simply can't learn if we are stressed or fearful. For most students, safety can be found through support from the ground, moving at your own pace, and resting as often as you need.

However, for students who experience high levels of chronic pain or anxiety, these conditions might not be enough to convince the brain that it's safe.

So I began weaving in elements of Pain Reprocessing Therapy and Parts Work into my Feldenkrais practice. Relating to the part of me that was feeling overwhelmed and worried about my pain in an explicit and compassionate way has made all the difference!

🤗🧠

To give you a sense of how I with these patterns with my Feldenkrais students...

✨️ 1. I invite you to get curious about your habits of thinking and movement in order to understand what is actually happening with greater specificity.

In a moment where you might notice "freeze energy" or the desire to flee, what movements or contraction are taking place? This includes micro-movements that correspond to worrying, overthinking, and anticipating.

✨️ 2. Once you have awareness of what you are actually doing, you can explore strategies for being with the discomfort and pain, which might include:

👣 Sensing and scanning (aka somatic tracking), while offering attention and care to the parts that hurt

💗 Self-compassion and reassuring self-talk - "You are so brave. You are doing the movements so good. Yes, these sensations are uncomfortable but I can be with them."

👁 Conscious compartmentalization - say to your sensations, "I hear you, I care about you, but can you step aside so that I can focus on this lesson or enjoy this experience?"

If this post resonates and you're curious about the integration of Feldenkrais and PRT, send me a DM and check out my offerings.

07/28/2025

Welcome to my new somatic movement studio in Buckhorn!

In this beautiful space, I offer 1:1 somatic touch work on a table, as well as small group classes.

In 1:1 sessions (known as Functional Integration), I offer light touch that works on a neurological level to help your body and mind find a new integrated way of working together.

In group classes, I verbally guide you through slow, gentle movements on the floor that unwind tension and calm the nervous system.

If you're not local to the Kawarthas, I offer online 1:1 sessions and group classes as well.

Check out the links in my bio or send me a DM to begin your somatic learning journey today! 🧠👣✨️

07/27/2025

I'm delighted to share that I moved into a 100 year old farmhouse in the Buckhorn area this summer!

My somatic movement studio is officially open and I'm excited to welcome clients to this farmhouse sanctuary.

It's a quick 20 minute drive from Peterborough through rolling countryside.

I've always dreamed of teaching somatics in the country, so that my clients have the opportunity to integrate in nature before returning to their daily lives.

From garden strolls to wild forest walks, this rustic farm has it all! Follow the link in my bio to book a 1:1 session and experience this sanctuary for yourself 💐

Address

Buckhorn Road
Peterborough, ON
K0L2H0

Website

https://www.somaticswithsara.com/

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My Somatic Story

Hey there, welcome to Somatics with Sara! Through somatic movement education, I help you discover how to navigate life with a sense of inner composure, spaciousness, and ease.

Somatics with Sara is inspired by the Feldenkrais Method®, which is a learning modality based on our innate capacity to move easily and gracefully. Somatic movement lessons engage the body and the brain to:

Reduce stress and overwhelm

Regulate and calm your nervous system

Alleviate chronic pain and tension

Increase your freedom of choice

Bring more of yourself into your relationships, career, and life’s challenges

Restore a sense of wholeness and integration of your body and mind

I’ll begin by sharing the story of how I discovered this way of being the world.

My desire for more human connection, learning, and transformation in the work that I do led me to enroll in a training program in 2018. Through this immersive, experiential program, I am learning the art and the practice of teaching Awareness Through Movement® (group classes) and Functional Integration® (a type of body work that helps the body and the mind find a new integrated way of functioning together).

On a personal level, I’ve struggled to find healing modalities that are effective in healing chronic health conditions stemming from accumulated stress and trauma. Over the past decade, I have dedicated myself to experimenting with naturopathy, psychotherapy, yoga, meditation, and energy healing, with limited success and inconsistent results.

I’ve come to realize that all of these methods impose an external system onto an internal system that is dysregulated, and therefore, do not work in synergy with the organic intelligence of the body.

In 2018, I took a course on healing trauma and rewiring the nervous system that changed the course of my life. Through this course, I experienced the effectiveness of nervous system based modalities such as Somatic Experiencing, Somatic Practice, and the Feldenkrais Method. I discovered practices that allow me to work with my own biology to prevent anxiety, overwhelm, and chronic stress from accumulating and creating chronic health issues.

Through my ongoing somatic movement practice, I am shifting the internal terrain that allowed many of the chronic health issues and self-limiting patterns to emerge in the first place. Somatic movement has allowed me to access an inner resourcefulness and resilience that I didn’t know was possible.

Beyond somatic movement, I’m passionate about ancestral nutrition, evolutionary biology, holistic ranching, and rewilding. I love connecting with the natural world through meditative movement, hiking, and ceremony. Deep connection, sensual dance, watching the sunset, and riding horses are my favourite things ever. Welcome to my world!