Chibundo Egwuatu

Somatic Accompaniment: Coming Home to Your Body

 

What is Somatic Accompaniment?

Somatic accompaniment is the practice of being with someone as they get back in their body. It's about having a compassionate witness as you navigate the journey back into your physical being, whether that's for the first time or after life has pulled you away from feeling at home in your skin.

Sometimes life experiences can create distance between you and this embodied knowing. Your body holds wisdom, memory, and intelligence. Somatic accompaniment offers gentle, individualized support as you rebuild that relationship with yourself.

 

Who This Is For

You might benefit from somatic accompaniment if:

• You feel disconnected from your body or like you're "living in your head"
• Your body has changed and you're learning to inhabit it anew (pregnancy, aging, gender transition, acute or chronic illness, injury and/or disability, etc.)
• You've experienced trauma that has left you feeling not at home in your body
• Life transitions have shifted how you move through the world (new job, divorce, loss, parenthood, etc.)
• You want to deepen your embodied awareness and presence
• You're curious about what it means to truly feel at home in your body

This work is for people of all ages. Bodies and embodiment matter whether you're 8 or 80. Everyone can feel connected to their physical self.

 

How It Works

Individual Sessions

In one-on-one sessions, we create a safe space where you can explore your relationship with your body without judgment. This might include:

• Sensory consciousness and attunement work
• Gentle movement and body awareness practices
• Breathing exercises and nervous system regulation
• Extemporaneous and authentic movement
• Learning to trust your body's signals and wisdom
• Processing experiences that have created disconnection

 

Group Sessions

Small groups offer the powerful experience of witnessing and being witnessed as you reconnect with embodiment. Groups might include:

• Family members supporting each other's embodied journeys
• Friends exploring body connection together
• Parent-child pairs (including adult children) strengthening their embodied bond
• Community members building collective body wisdom

 

The Philosophy Behind This Work

Our bodies are our first lens. Before we learn to think our way through the world, we sense, feel, and know through our physical being. This embodied intelligence never leaves us; it's always available as a source of wisdom, creativity, and connection.

 

Somatic accompaniment recognizes that healing and growth is achieved through relationship. Having someone present with you as you explore your embodied self can make the difference between staying stuck in disconnection and finding your way back to wholeness.

This work honors that your body belongs to you, that your pace matters, and that you are the expert on your own experience. My role is to accompany you, not to fix or change you.

 

What Makes This Different

Unlike traditional therapy or bodywork, somatic accompaniment focuses specifically on the relationship between you and your body, with emphasis on:

• Presence over technique - Being with you in the exploration rather than doing something to you or having you didactically learn rote techniques
• Your wisdom leading - Following your body's intelligence rather than imposing external solutions
• Relationship-centered - Recognizing that embodiment happens in connection with others
• Trauma-informed - Understanding how life experiences can create disconnection and working with that reality
• Culturally responsive - Honoring how different communities and identities experience embodiment

 

Getting Started

The first step is always a conversation. We'll talk about what brings you to this work, what you're hoping for, and how somatic accompaniment might support your journey. From there, we'll create an approach that feels right for your unique situation and goals.

Every body has its own timeline. Every person has their own way of reconnecting with embodied life. This work honors that diversity while providing steady, compassionate support for your particular path home to yourself.

 

Pricing & Logistics

Individual Sessions

90-minute sessions: $165

Initial consultation (60 minutes): $80

Package options available for ongoing work

 

Group Sessions

2-hour sessions for 2-4 people: $400 total

Family/relationship sessions: $200 for 90 minutes

Custom group rates for larger gatherings

 

Accessibility

• Sliding scale available based on income and circumstances
• Payment plans can be arranged
• No one turned away for lack of funds—let's talk about what works

 

Location & Format

• Virtual sessions available via secure video platform
• Outdoor sessions in safe, private natural settings (weather permitting)
• Home visits possible within reasonable distance

 

Session Structure

• Sessions are typically 60-90 minutes and might include:
• Check-in and intention setting
• Gentle movement exploration
• Breathing and grounding practices
• Time for integration and reflection
• Resources for continuing the work between sessions

 

Scheduling & Policies

• Flexible scheduling including evenings and weekends
• 24-hour cancellation policy with exceptions for emergencies
• Initial consultation required for all new clients to ensure good fit
• Confidentiality maintained according to professional standards
• Trauma-informed approach with emphasis on your comfort and consent

What to Expect

• Wear comfortable clothing you can move in
• No previous experience with body work required
• Come bathed and in clean clothes to in-person sessions
• You control the pace and depth of exploration
• Homework or practices may be suggested but are always optional

 

Citations

For further reading, thinking, and practice on how I came to somatic accompaniment:

 

• Lauren Berlant, A PROPERLY POLITICAL CONCEPT OF LOVE: Three Approaches in Ten Pages. My interest here may be best summarized with the quote “a properly transformational political concept would release courage and creativity about how to make resources for living available to all objects in their thatness.” Somatic accompaniment is a practice of staying-with you in your “thatness”
• Martin Heidegger, “being-with” or “mitsein”, which discusses the relational aspect of existence; especially in his 1962 text, Being and Time; somatic accompaniment is the work of “staying-with”, building from this concept
• Audre Lorde, Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power, 1978, especially her analogy of coloring margarine as a useful analogy to the work of somatic accompaniment (I will accompany you in needing that kernel within yourself)
• Gil Scott-Heron, in his song I’m New Here off the album of the same name. If somatic accompaniment had a theme song, it may be this. “Turn around, turn around, turn around/And you may come full circle/And be new here again”
• Nina Simone, in an interview where she responds to the question “What does ‘freedom’ mean to you?” Her answer: “It’s just a feeling…I’ll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear…a new way of seeing.”

 

Ready to explore what it means to feel fully at home in your body? Let's start the conversation.