One of the most powerful truths I’ve discovered through somatic grief healing is this: emotions are not just “thoughts we feel.” They are physical experiences. When we learn to feel grief in the body—in our heart, chest, throat, belly—we begin to move energy and truly heal. This reference list shows how science supports what so many of us intuitively know: healing happens through the body.
Taylor, J. B. (2006). My stroke of insight: A brain scientist's personal journey. Viking.
Taylor, J. B. (2008, March). My stroke of insight [Video]. TEDx Bloomington. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.
Levine, P. (2021). The emotional body: A somatic guide to the mind-body connection. Sounds True.
Barrett, L. F. (2017). How emotions are made: The secret life of the brain. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Tolle, E. (1997). The power of now: A guide to spiritual enlightenment. New World Library.
Maté, G. (2011). When the body says no: The cost of hidden stress. Wiley.
Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2006). Trauma and the body: A sensorimotor approach to psychotherapy. W. W. Norton & Company.