Somatics, a Gentle Invitation to Slow Down in a World That Moves So Fast

There are days when you finally sit down and realise some part of you is still hurrying. Your feet are on the floor, but you’re already thinking about the email you need to send, what to make for dinner and whether there’s time to put the washing on. Even the few minutes you’ve set aside to rest feel like something to get through before you can get on.

It can take a while to find another pace, especially when the world around you rewards a quick reply, a full diary and the ability to keep going. Somatics offers a gentle place to begin. You might start by noticing the weight of your feet on the floor or the way you’re holding your hands. For a moment, you have somewhere to put your attention besides the next thing that needs you.

What changes when we move more slowly?

In somatic movement, we pay attention to how movement feels from within. Take a gesture as ordinary as turning to look out of a window. At your usual pace, you might simply turn and take in the view. Try it more slowly and you may notice your eyes leading the way, a small movement through your ribs, or the change in pressure where your feet meet the floor. There’s a surprising amount to feel in a gesture you’ve made thousands of times.

So much of our movement culture has a yang quality. We’re encouraged to strengthen, persevere and go a little further. There’s joy in a brisk walk that warms you from the inside, or in feeling strong enough to carry something that once felt heavy. Somatics makes room for a more receptive quality of attention. You can move a little and feel what happens. You can pause partway through and see whether you want to continue. The pace can change according to what you discover.

When slowing down feels unfamiliar

A quiet moment can be lovely. It can also be fidgety, especially if you’ve spent the day answering questions and switching between tasks. You might sit down to practise and immediately remember something you’ve forgotten. You might feel the urge to check the time. Sometimes a gentle movement, such as letting your weight shift from one foot to the other, feels more inviting than sitting still.

There’s room for this variety at Glow Somatics. Some days, turning your attention inward feels welcome. On other days, you might prefer to notice the light on the wall or look out at a tree moving in the wind. You can move between what you sense in your body and what you notice around you. It can be as simple as feeling the chair beneath you, looking across the room, then seeing where your attention naturally settles.

A pause while the kettle boils

The next time you put the kettle on, you might use some of that waiting time to feel how you’re standing. Is your weight mostly on one foot? Do your knees feel soft or held? If you like, rest a hand on the worktop and see whether the contact changes anything. You could shift your weight slightly and then return, taking enough time to notice the difference between the two positions.

You might find a way of standing that feels more comfortable. You might want to keep moving, or simply turn your attention to the sound of the water. When the kettle clicks off, carry on making your tea.

I like the ordinary scale of this. A pause can fit into a day that’s already full. It might happen between putting the shopping down and unpacking it, or in the few seconds after closing the front door. You can let the small gap be there and see how it feels to arrive.

Finding a pace you can live in

Some days genuinely ask us to move quickly. There’s a train to catch, someone to look after, work that needs finishing. Even on those days, there may be a moment when you notice how tightly you’re gripping your bag and let your fingers ease a little. Or you hear yourself about to answer a question and take a breath first, giving yourself enough time to hear what you want to say.

These moments can be easy to overlook because they’re so ordinary. Yet there’s something quietly generous about giving yourself time to feel the difference between one way of doing something and another. That’s part of what draws me to somatics. The practice can begin wherever you find yourself, with a movement you already know and a little room to experience it differently.

Perhaps tonight, when you sit down, you’ll feel the chair take some of your weight. You might let your hands rest wherever they fall. And for the length of a breath or two, you can be here, in this small piece of your day, before you go on.