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by Renee Lindstrom, founder of the Inside Awareness Center for Integrative Somatic Learning

L_{isten to audio in author’s voice}

_*cognitive 

• _{adjective: thinking, reasoning, remembering, imagining, learning words, and using language}
• _{synonyms: mental, intellectual, psychological, rational, and thinking}

Last night I made a statement to my son. It was the first time I voiced it out loud with such intensity. As I did, I felt the strength come into my legs. I had just finished two functional movement classes that focused on the somatic movement of the skeleton and joints. This meant I felt the joints and bones I was articulating in the lesson. These were the hip, knee and ankle joints. Basically, I am writing that my somatic awareness of them was strong due to this movement focus.

What I told my son was that I felt solid. Super solid, I think was the term. This was after sharing how the template I was creating for the Inside Awareness Center for Integrative Somatic Learning was weaving together with clarity and the potential for cultivating awareness for people to become clear in their own behavioural choices, starting inside first before taking unconscious outside actions.

It was after posting on the Awareness through Eating Facebook page that the incentive to write an article on social conditioning was ignited. The focus was integration of personal career experiences from the past to the present. I have discovered these careers that seemed disconnected are in fact connected, and each one gives relevance to the current viewpoints, or perspective I share on these topics. At the stage of weaving them together demonstrates a pattern. A pattern of their evolution that is compatible and demonstrates a model of organic learning integration based upon inquiry versus strategy. In hindsight, I can recognize that there is flow in how they connect that mimics the model I have been designing as a template of learning at the Inside Awareness Center for Integrative Somatic Learning. It became solid for this somatic empath. It was achieved through what I could only describe as an apprenticeship.

The apprenticeship I am referring to is learning that is open and increases insight and the power of observation through the five senses. They are not models based upon closed patterns of thinking. No two people are alike, so no textbook definition would define each person in the same way. This means honing somatic skills to increase perception without letting the thinking function control the information in and out.

I am a tracker of information through the five senses. I track people, places and things for information in my surroundings. It’s always been a part of my nature and is an ability each of us is born with. For example, I have never used a GPS. This is a skill I would never interfere with, as it interferes with natural instincts. I have never had this so clearly defined as when in a training that was deliberately made uncomfortable on a level that stimulated instinctual survival responses. The experience was as follows.

I was sitting in the main learning area waiting for the trainer to enter. He came into the room like a predatory animal would enter the room. It wasn’t overly obvious. It was more through subtle clues in his elusive behaviour and not the obvious. I would define this as a true somatic experience, which for me is when the functional system pre-thought kicks into heightened states of instinctual tracking and the senses become more alert. This trainer entered with a purpose other than to sit at the top of the room and engage as a facilitator. He began by walking in that direction, yet instinctively, there were indicators that this wasn’t his intent. He began to walk with a deliberate and cautious walk that circled the room. It could only be described as picking someone out for a specific purpose. There was tension in his body that was unusual and a different energetic expression. It was one of a hunter (power over) versus open and engaging. I sensed a change in the environment prior to him entering the room and felt myself expand my somatic senses consciously. By this statement, I mean that my thoughts became quiet and my senses expanded into heightened alertness. I wasn’t aware cognitively when he was about to enter the room. I sensed it somatically. With intent and deliberateness, he came and stood in front of me while I was in a sitting position and put his hand on my head to do a demonstration for the group. Once the demonstration was finished, he moved to the lesson. It took time for the quality of the energy to shift back into a calmer and more peaceful state of being, where the senses are calmer. It heightened the alertness of the senses and increased subtle awareness in the guided movement lesson. Afterwards, I was able to recognize that he used intention. For me, that is when the mind catches up through processing the information. Before coming into the room, I picked up that I was the target of something, yet cognitively, I didn’t know that he was about to take these actions. Somatically, I did.  

Recognition of this somatic experience is the quality of apprenticeship I am defining. A cognitive thought process would have gone into a more superficial level in processing of the information. Of course, the senses would have taken in that the trainer was entering and walking around the room, yet the mind would be interpreting it through inner stories. The responses would have been distracted mind stories defined by how one is filtering information cognitively. Such as, What is he going? Is he going to pick me? I want to be picked. Why did he pick her? and so on. The trainer’s intent and subtle and deliberate predatory movement would have been missed. If this happened in the wild and it was a predatory animal, think of the carnage!  

The group in the room sharing the learning environment was mostly adversarial in nature. This suggests that they displayed the phenomenon that begins in early childhood in families with two or more siblings, or in larger groups. The need for attention and to be seen as higher achieving dominated both the males and females in the four-year training. It never waned.. Keep in mind this training was based upon early learning patterns, so this naturally emphasized these behaviours as it would in early childhood.  

This was a powerful lesson on intention and it’ elusiveness. Exposing this in my conscious experience so obviously became an inquiry to explore with more conscious focus of attention.  

This perspective is from actual experiences and filtered through the practical application of study, practice, teaching and mentoring since 2007. The components that are written here have been observable in later experiences within myself and others as they navigate the guided patterns I have facilitated. The learning techniques are open learning for expanding flexibility in functioning experiences, mentally, emotionally and physically.  

The conclusion I have come up with to date is that the term somatic is often defined cognitively. Some of the trending ways of describing it are offensive and disturbing to an actual somatic empath. For example, feel the feelings of others as a way of describing it. This is an invasion and is teaching society a form of power over. Instead, one could say, observe the tells in the person’s expression that are nonverbal and guess what the feeling may be. Start off with I think you may be feeling….. and ask, Is that right? or ask, Are you feeling…..?

Never say to an empath that I feel your feelings if you want a connection. Words of advice only. Know that if you do say I feel your feelings they are going to perceive you as a fake and just plain stupid. depending on their age. There’s no other way to say it except bluntly. This also extends to those using cognitive strategies to define it as though they are authorities on it. The only authorities on being somatic are somatic interpreters. If you’re a cognitive processer, share that and stay in your lane, or start by saying I think, instead of continuing to say I know. Someone who is somatic will know you don’t know. They are aware you are not speaking their language.   

An example I would like to end with is a position of authority based upon both cognitive authoritarianism and somatic apprenticeship-type experiences. Someone who is a cognitive authoritarian will say, Have you read ?’s book in response to what they are hearing you say. They will quote other workshops they have taken, or reference authors, or others they know in the community. Someone who is somatic is like an apprentice to life. They won’t quote anyone or reference anyone’s book or workshops. They will instead go into the practical applications from real-life experiences of learning, practice and development of skill sets. One is recalling long and short-term memories, while the other is woven into the physical, mental and emotional functioning body. They are two separate operating systems.

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For transparency I have begun posting a link to my paypal for those inspired by my posts that have been for learning purposes. I am not sponsored other than by myself at this time. My focus has been on the development of an interconnected and integrated system that is apparent in all my efforts shared. The focus of this body of work is on somatic connections that is completely misunderstood by most. The mainstream focus talks at it with strategies in mind while my focus is on the practical aspects of living it. It matters in understanding how to support somatic empathic children from early childhood and shifting a social conditioning that could benefit from more from this focus of learning and understanding. This focus is on a well functioning body, improved relationships and communication, and connections to food, nature and environment to support healthier social and cultural conditioning. If you would like to buy me a coffee or support this effort for further development please go to paypal.me/reenelindstrom – you will notice Renee is spelled Reene on this link – that is me, it is not a mistake. You will see this link on my Youtube Channel and educational web materials, fyi.