Kirsty Taylor

SOMATIC JOURNEYING

Every Wednesday at 11am - 12.30pm - Book here

When we stop asking the mind — and begin listening to the body with Kirsty Taylor, Founder of This Happy Guru

We spend so much of our lives living from the neck up.  Thinking. Analysing. Planning. Worrying. Remembering. Trying to understand why we feel the way we feel — and often trying to think ourselves into feeling better.

But what if the body has something to say too?

Somatic Journeying is an invitation to slow everything down and listen.

Beginning at The Wellington Centre this November, these deeply nurturing sessions weave together gentle yoga asana and intuitive movement, guided Bodyspotting and somatic awareness, followed by grounding meditation and deep rest.

It is not about flexibility.

It is not about performing the perfect yoga pose.

And you don’t need to be experienced in yoga or meditation.

It is about creating enough space and safety for your body to soften, breathe and communicate.

The body remembers

My work as a Psychosomatic Healer, Brainspotting Therapist, yoga and meditation teacher has taught me something profoundly important:

We experience life through our bodies as well as our minds.

Stress can show up as a tight jaw or raised shoulders. Anxiety may be experienced as a racing heart or butterflies in the stomach. Grief can feel like heaviness across the chest. Fear may contract the breath.

Sometimes we don’t even realise how much we’re holding until we become still enough to notice it.

Our bodies continually respond to our experiences and environment through the nervous system. When we’ve spent long periods rushing, coping, caring for others, feeling overwhelmed or simply pushing through life, it can become difficult to recognise what relaxed actually feels like.

Somatic work gently turns our attention back towards the body’s sensations and signals - not to force them away, but to meet them with curiosity.

Because sometimes awareness itself is where change begins.

Why movement first?

I begin our journey with gentle yoga-inspired movement because movement gives us a beautiful doorway back into ourselves.

We stretch. We breathe. We notice.

Rather than asking, “What should my body look like in this posture?” I encourage you to explore a different question:

“What does my body feel like from the inside?”

Where is there ease?

Where is there resistance?

Where am I holding my breath?

Where might I soften?

There is no judgement and nothing to achieve.

As the physical body begins to settle, we move into guided somatic awareness and Bodyspotting, informed by my therapeutic work with Brainspotting.

Instead of needing to analyse or tell the whole story of an emotion, we become curious about where its sensations are experienced within the body.

You may notice tightness, warmth, tingling, heaviness, movement - or perhaps very little at all to begin with.  All of it is welcome.

We simply notice, breathe and allow the body’s own process to unfold at its own pace.

From Activation into Grounding

And then we come home to the safety of our  bodies.  Every Somatic Journey ends with an extended grounding meditation.

This part matters enormously to me.

Healing work shouldn’t simply open things up and then send you back out into the world. I want you to leave feeling present, connected and supported.

So after movement and exploration comes integration.  Stillness.  Breath.  Ground beneath your body.  The opportunity to simply be.

For some people the experience may feel emotional. For others it might simply feel like the deepest exhale they’ve taken all week.

There is no correct experience.

My Ethos: Your body is not the problem

At the heart of all my work is a belief that has shaped my years of studying the relationship between body, mind, emotions, energy and our lived experiences:

Your body isn’t working against you. It is continually trying to communicate with and protect you.

My role isn’t to tell your body what it should feel.  It’s to help create a compassionate environment in which you can begin listening to it yourself.

That means no pushing.

No judgement.

No expectation that you must disclose personal experiences.

No requirement to “release” anything.

And absolutely no need to arrive calm, flexible, spiritual or sorted!

Come with your busy mind.

Come with your stiff hips.

Come tired.

Come stressed.

Come curious.

Come exactly as you are.

Somatic Journeying may be particularly supportive for people experiencing periods of stress or overwhelm, those who find it difficult to switch off, people who feel disconnected from their bodies, or anyone simply craving a deeper relationship with themselves.

This is not about fixing yourself.

It is about meeting yourself.

Perhaps beneath the noise, the responsibilities, the expectations and everything you’ve been carrying, there is a quieter part of you waiting to be heard.

Your body already knows the way.

We simply create the space to listen.

Classes with Kirsty are every Wednesday at 11am - 12.30pm. Price is £12 - Book here