Reflections of a Pantarei Approach Practitioner
This is where I reflect on the intersections between Pantarei Approach practice and daily life living in Berlin. You'll find thoughts on what it means to listen through touch, observations from my practice doing somatic bodywork, and other reflections on life. These writings move between the professional and personal, much like the somatic work itself.
Inattentive ADHD and the Impact of Somatic Work
The sky has gone dark, and headlights are dancing on the window panes. A web browser is pulled up on my computer screen open to my favorite artificial intelligence, and in the submission box I’ve asked, “Can ADHD make you feel exhausted?” On the left-hand side of the browser you can see my past searches: “struggling with ADHD when alone”, “ADHD paralysis”, “ADHD and isolation fatigue.”
Why Use Touch in Somatic Sessions?
My Pantarei Approach teacher said something that always stuck with me. She said, when you touch someone, you help them to feel themselves more fully. When you touch someone’s hand or shoulder, your attention is immediately pulled into this part of their body. I’d like to extend this to say that when you touch yourself, place a hand on your heart, your knee, your arm, it also helps you to direct your awareness towards that part of yourself and to feel it more fully.
The Importance of Cultivating Interoceptive Awareness
Yesterday, the moment I placed my hands on my client’s chest, I felt a wave of grief move through my own body—not my grief, but hers. I sometimes shy away from talking about my sensitivity or what it’s like when I’m working with a client as a somatic practitioner because I fear someone will think I’m crazy, or even worse, that it is true and I am crazy.
Money Stories and Creative Worth
When I think of the ocean while sitting in my apartment on the corner of one of the busiest streets in my neighborhood in Berlin, tears come to my eyes. I'm filled with longing and recognize the hole that remains in my heart, the emptiness and separation that are soothed by the rocking of the waves and the feeling of the sun's heat on my skin. Is it just nature I long for, with its aliveness and nurturance? Or something deeper?