3 Somatic Therapy Body + Awareness Tips for New Parents

TIP : 3 Somatic Therapy + Body Awareness Tips for New Parents
by Delilah Raybee, AMFT

Congrats on welcoming a new baby into your family! I’m here to offer you three simple, practical tips from the somatic therapy perspective to help you become more present and aware during a time of tremendous change for you (and your body), and your family.

As a yoga practitioner, you may already have a great level of body awareness. If you want to carry that awareness “off the mat” and into your daily life, here are some somatic therapy practices that can help:

1. Feeling Your Feet: Since you are on your feet a lot in the midst of one of the many repetitive tasks required with a new baby such as changing diapers, washing out bottles, folding laundry etc. take a moment to feel your feet on the ground. Let out a deep exhale into the earth.

2. Back Body Awareness: Much of the time with a new baby is spent focused on the front body like holding baby, and doing all the tasks. Take a moment, when you are sitting, to bring awareness to your back body. Feel the chair holding you up. Do you notice anything shift emotionally as you sense your body?

3. Slowing down: Try to tune out external pressures and stay focused on what you truly need or want by practicing body awareness. If you didn’t already have a mindfulness practice established before baby joined the family, starting one now can seem daunting. But at its core, meditation is simply building awareness of the moment. When holding or walking with baby in a carrier or stroller, bring awareness to your body moving in space by slowing down and focusing on your exhale breath.

Finally, if you are feeling overwhelmed with the changes in your life and it’s just feeling harder than you expected or maybe it’s posing new challenges with your partner, consider the support that a somatic therapist can offer you as you adjust to your new world.

Delilah has a life-long interest in health, wellness, and creating a more connected, sustainable world in which people can find balance between self, family, community, and work. She graduated from the Berkeley Institute of Homeopathy, and completed her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology, Concentration in Somatic Psychology program at California Institute of Integral Studies. Both telehealth and in-person sessions available. Delilah incorporates multiple somatic modalities and approaches, including EMDR. Learn more at delilahraybee.com.