Finding Your Supple Centre: Somatic Movement and Healing
You know those instructions we’ve all heard?
“Sit still. Stand up straight. Suck in your tummy.”
Maybe you heard them growing up, or maybe they’re still running through your head right now.
As a Clinical Somatic Educator and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, I cringe when I hear these phrases. And trust me, I hear them, and see them, all the time from clients – in their words, their self-expectations, and in their posture and movements.
Why is this worth blogging about? Well, it’s because these messages aren’t just annoying, or creating unhelpful expectations. They’re actually getting in the way of your body doing what it naturally wants to do, and stopping it from functioning well.
What’s Really Happening When You “Suck In” Your Tummy & Hold Your Shoulders Back
When you’re constantly pulling in your belly, holding your shoulders back to keep your chest up, forcing yourself into rigid posture, or wearing clothes that restrict movement, you’re essentially telling your soma: “Don’t move. Don’t breathe fully. Don’t be comfortable.”
And your soma listens.
The area around your belly, lower back, and waist? That’s what I call your Somatic centre. It’s meant to be a responsive, supple part of you. It’s absolutely not meant to be locked down tight.
I can’t tell you how many clients come to me – with back pain, stiffness, or discomfort in everyday activities like gardening or even just doing dishes – and think it’s because they’re “getting old” or “weak” or “out of shape.”
But guess what? It’s all-too-often about having a centre that’s been taught to stay tight and restricted.
Your Somatic Centre Affects Everything
When your centre can move without restriction, everything changes:
Back pain often diminishes or disappears
Everyday movements become easier and more natural
You can breathe fully (which has enormous benefits for anxiety and stress, and… well, everything, really!)
Your digestion often improves
You have the basis in place to bend, twist, run, walk, sit, and reach without wincing
I had a client last week who’d been dealing with lower back pain for years. They’d tried everything – physical therapy, chiropractic, massage, yoga, static stretching, you name it. But when we started working on releasing their chronically tight muscles to help their centre move more freely, they experienced relief within days.
(Were they surprised? You bet they were! Especially having put hours in, over years, to work on their “core muscle strength”…)
Stress, Trauma, and a Tight “Core”
Here’s where it gets really interesting – and why I’m so passionate about this work.
Your centre isn’t just about physical movement. It’s absolutely essential to deal effectively with everyday stresses and strains, and to recovering from stuck stress and stored trauma.
When your centre is tight and restricted, your body is constantly sending signals to your brain that you’re under threat. It’s like having an alarm system that never turns off.
According to Polyvagal Theory (which has revolutionized how we understand trauma, and supports Thomas Hanna’s teachings about the importance of a fluid centre), most of the messages about safety in our environment actually move from your somatic centre (specifically, your gut) to the brain – not the other way around.
So if your belly is always tight, your nervous system reads that as “danger,” and your brain responds accordingly. It becomes nearly impossible to ever feel truly safe or at rest.
This is huge for trauma recovery, as well as dealing with stress and the chronic physical and emotional pain it so often causes.
You can do all the cognitive work in the world, but if your somatic centre is still locked in patterns of tension and restriction? Complete healing remains elusive.
Finding Your Centre Again
The good news? Your centre wants to move. It’s designed to be supple and responsive.
When clients start reconnecting with this natural movement in their centre, they often describe feeling more like themselves again, more able to breathe fully, and more connected to their bodies.
None of this is surprising: breathing is movement, and living is movement. This is why freeing up a stuck somatic centre can feel like magic (even though it definitely isn’t!). A supple centre is how we humans evolved to be – it’s precisely what enables us to live, and to move, most fully.
And this isn’t just about physical comfort (though that’s pretty key, especially for those of us who’ve struggled with chronic discomfort and pain!).
A supple, responsive centre helps you:
Respond more effectively to stress (without getting overwhelmed)
Feel more ease and confdence in your movements
Experience more joy and aliveness (including opening up your capacity to be around others: this is big nervous system stuff we’re dealing with)
Small Steps Toward a Supple Centre
If you’re reading this and thinking, “That’s me! I’ve been holding my tummy tight for years,” know that change is possible.
Your body knows how to move freely – it just needs some gentle guidance, and an understanding of what’s involved in freeing it up, to enjoy the movement that’s possible not just in your centre, but throughout your whole soma.
You don’t need to throw out all your ideas about posture or suddenly start wearing only loose clothing. But you might start noticing: When do I hold my breath? When do I tighten my belly unnecessarily? What would it feel like to let my centre be soft and responsive?
Because the truth is, your centre isn’t meant to be held tight. It’s meant to move, to breathe, to respond to life with suppleness and ease.
And when it does? That’s when healing – from pain, from stress, from trauma – becomes not just possible, but genuinely accessible.
To learn more about how to access your supple centre, check out my free 4-day course, 3 Somatic Keys to Freedom from Stuck Stress, or my 28-day course to release embodied stress and trauma: Nurturing Freedom from Stress, Stiffness, Discomfort & Pain.