As a project, SOMMA is dedicated to educating and promoting somatics as a way of living, investigating various fields where somatic movement can merge with other disciplines and serve as a base for further transformation and development.
I'm a somatic movement teacher and artist. I have a Master's degree in Linguistics and Education, am certified as a Somatic Movement and Infant Developmental Movement educator, and now deepen my practice of somatic art by combining various approaches.
I believe that true art has no rules or judgments. It offers us something unique - the freedom to be ourselves, in all our expression, with all our emotions and the parts we love, hate, hide, or show. The bold creative act of taking something from deep within ourselves, from the depths of our feelings, and turning it into a physical reality is both healing and beautiful.
~ Nadia Gativa
STORY
METHOD
What is Somatics and Body-Mind Centering®?
The Somatic approach comes from the study of the living body (soma) in movement and in relationship to the environment (nature and other people). It is a non-violent holistic method that focuses on the conscious living of the self (self-body-consciousness).
The somatic approach relies on the understanding that what we need to restore, develop, and heal is within us and becomes available as we become aware of and learn to follow our inner process.
Unlike the classical branches of psychology, somatics does not work only with the psyche and the nervous system, but with all human systems. Unlike psychosomatics, somatics does not rely on a search for possible causes of ill health or based on one-size-fits-all tables of recommendations.
A somatic session can be thought of as a collaborative exploration and journey. It begins with a question, an actual feeling, a sensation in the body, or a movement of the client.
Body-Mind Centering® is a highly experiential, somatic approach to embodiment, movement, and consciousness. Developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen over the last several decades, BMC promotes the conscious embodiment of anatomical, physiological, psychophysical, embryological, and developmental principles, utilizing guided movement, intentional touch, voice, expressive arts, and a developing awareness of the play of conscious attention, or mind.
As an approach, it has a vast application to many fields and gives a certain perspective or outlook on life that is different from the common Western one, that of individuality and separation, by viewing a physical and mental body as a continuous process of relationship with life, expression of life and transformation.
As an approach to working with others, it gives a wide base of understanding of human life as part of the evolutionary process of species, as a process of learning that doesn’t stop in adulthood, and as a creative act, which the educator/therapist can only accompany and facilitate, witness and be present to, rather than fix or correct to a certain ‘ideal’ state.
Programmes & Courses
School of Body-Mind Centering®
https://www.bodymindcentering.com/
Movimiento Atlas BMC® School in Spain
Certificate in Somatic Movement Education (2020 - 2024)
Certificate in Infant Developmental Movement Education (2020 - 2023)
MY EDUCATION
Somatic Art Practice® with Marina Tsartsara
https://www.somaticwellbeing.info/
Regular classes, courses, and supervision (2021 - 2024);
Somatic Art Practice® Professional Program Level 1, 157 hours (2024)
Carl Gustav Jung Centre in Ireland
https://www.jungcentre.com/
Certificate in Jungian Studies of Depth Psychology (2019 - 2020)
Usui Reiki Master with Roseleen McNally
https://thethirstysoul.com/
Certificate of Reiki Level 1, 2 and 3 Master (2017 - 2019)
Mentors & Supervisors
Walburga Glatz in BMC® & IDME
http://www.walburgaglatz.com/
Registered (by ISMETA) Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator, a Certified Practitioner and Teacher of Body-Mind Centering®, a Somatic Movement Educator (SME) and an Infant Developmental Movement Educator (IDME). Trained in Cranio-Sacral-Therapy and Lymphatic Drainage, New Dance, Action Theatre, Butoh, T’ai Chi, Tango Argentino and Hawaiian Hula.
MY TEACHERS
Marina Tsartsara in BMC® & Somatic Art Practice®
https://www.somaticwellbeing.info/
Somatic Therapist (ISMETA Registered), Body-Mind Centering® Teacher, a Dance & Visual Artist (MSc), a certified Chinese Acupressure Massage Therapist (TCM London), a Yoga Ashtanga Vinyasa & Mindfulness Instructor (Yoga Alliance) and a Holistic Life Coach (Holistic Harmony GR)