Try Somatic Tracking
Feeling hopeless that there is nothing proactive to do about your pain? Fed up of popping painkillers and physical exercises that create more pain? Enter somatic tracking.
What is somatic tracking?
This process was developed by psychotherapist Alan Gordon. The basic premise is that you ‘watch’ or ‘notice’ your pain with curiosity and lightness instead of fear and panic.
This technique means that the more you train your brain to see your symptoms a protective mechanism, the more your symptoms will decrease. Sounds positive, right?
How do I do somatic tracking?
Like meditation, you can do this anywhere and anytime. The idea is to just notice your pain and what it feels like: without judgement.
Somatic tracking meditation
- Sit or lie quietly and breath calmly for a few minutes
- Slowly bring your attention to the area of your body where your pain is
- Just notice it. Acknowledge the feelings that are there. Notice the sensations without judging them. Act as if you are curious about it.
- Bring your attention back to your gentle breathing
Somatic tracking anywhere
This can also be done anywhere and for any length of time. Even if you are out walking, at work or driving, you can notice your pain without judgement.
One thing I would say to remember is not to focus too much! If you think too intensely about the pain and desperately want it to go away, it will have the opposite effect. Try to just ‘notice’ it.
Being proactive
The bit I like best about somatic tracking is that you need to feel some pain to do it, so it feels like you are doing something useful when you have pain. You are retraining your brain to understand that the pain is not something to fear. It is just your body trying to protect you.
It has even been proven in a scientific study to reduce pain as new neural pathways are created. Brain scans from the study show actual physical changes in the areas of the brain related to pain, proving experiences of pain can change too.
Why not try somatic tracking right now? Just 10 seconds is a start.
Read about the scientific study using somatic tracking in The Boulder Back Pain Study
