TAO OF TRAUMA SOMATIC PRACTICE
WHAT IS TAO OF TRAUMA SOMATIC PRACTICE?
This is a gentle, body-based approach to nervous system overwhelm and trauma.
It moves at the pace of body.
Through light, intentional touch and guided sensing, we invite the body—not the brain—to guide the way toward regulation. We’re not forcing anything to change. We’re offering the body a chance to remember its own rhythms. To come home.
Rather than “fixing” symptoms, we support the completion of innate protective responses—those frozen or thwarted patterns that can linger in the tissues long after the threat is gone.
What informs this work?
This work is rooted in the Tao of Trauma lineage, weaving together Chinese Medicine and Western neurobiology to support the nervous system in completing the self-protective response and restoring regulation.
I completed the Tao of Trauma certificate program in 2021, and have since served as a teaching assistant in the virtual program for four years.
The Tao of Trauma approach is grounded in the teachings of Alaine Duncan (LAc, SEP), and shaped by the work of Peter Levine (PhD), Somatic Experiencing®, and the neurobiology of trauma, including Polyvagal Theory.
Beneath all of this is a deep respect for what the body already knows—and a commitment to moving slowly enough to hear it speak.
This work is for people who:
Feel stuck in patterns of anxiety, overwhelm, or emotional numbness
Struggle with chronic tension, pain, fatigue, or digestive issues
Have trouble sleeping, resting, or feeling safe in their body
Often feel “on alert,” scattered, shut down, or disconnected from themselves
Are recovering from physical injuries, including concussions or car accidents
Have a history of surgery or medical trauma
Have experienced abuse, neglect, or difficult relational dynamics
Are navigating the effects of systemic oppression or identity-based stress
Have been exposed to environmental toxins or poisoning
Are healing from grief, burnout, or the long-term impact of stress
Don’t know what’s “wrong,” but something feels off in their system—and they’re looking for a way back into connection
This work is open to those with or without a clear “event” or diagnosis. Sometimes the body is holding something we haven’t fully named yet—and that’s okay.
What to Expect?
Every session is tailored to you. We begin with a check-in to sense where your system is and what feels alive. The pace is set by your body and is aimed to be slow, respectful, attuned.
Depending on your needs and the form of the session, we may:
Use visualization, breathwork, and grounding practices to support your system in arriving more fully in ways that are connected to feeling supported.
Guided by the 5 Elements, we connect with the tissues that are holding the vibration of overwhelm, attuning to what the body is ready to release through guided inquiry of interoception (i.e. what we perceive in our own body.
Offer space for any thwarted self-protective responses to express themselves, metabolize, and re-integrate.
For in-person sessions, I offer light, respectful touch to areas like the low back, arms, or ankles, while guiding you through internal tracking of sensation—warmth, coolness, contraction, movement, stillness.
For virtual sessions, instead of physical touch, we work with guided somatic tracking, nervous system education, and relational presence.
Though it may seem surprising, many people find virtual sessions just as impactful as in-person work. In Chinese Medicine, it is said:
where awareness goes, qi flows.
Whether we are together in the same room or connected across distance, the field we co-create through attention and presence becomes the container for healing. Qi—the subtle vitality that animates life—responds to intention. Qi offers warmth, movement, transformation, protection, holding, and transport.
The work is no less potent when guided through the screen. The body knows how to orient to presence, whether it’s felt through hands or through shared attention.
What People Often Notice After Sessions:
Feeling more grounded, present, and connected to themselves
An increased ability to feel sensations without being overtaken by them
A sense of being more whole, more complete—as if something scattered has returned home
Because when a body is holding onto an experience from the past, it can stay stuck in that time. Once the vibration is witnessed, welcomed, and given space to move, the present moment becomes more accessible.
This isn’t a quick fix. It’s a re-weaving.
A deepening of your capacity to stay with what’s alive—without collapsing, fleeing, fawning, or freezing.