Somatic & Body-Based Therapy in Aurora
Somatic therapy in Aurora works with the body directly — the sensations, movements, and nervous-system responses that talk alone can’t always reach.
Somatic means “relating to the body.” When talk therapy has helped you understand your story but something still feels stuck, body-based somatic therapy meets you where that experience actually lives. At Aurora Village, this gentle, hands-on work is offered by Jodie Cara Lindley, RMT, SEP (Advanced).
It’s all about the body
Somatic therapy is a therapeutic process that involves experiencing the body directly, and its responses in the moment. These responses are the language of the body — the five senses, the movements of the body, and emotions.
Somatic therapy is experienced. We feel, notice, stay with, and allow what arises in the body — which gives us key information about our responses to certain topics, positions, and memories. All our experiences live in the body. Our body takes an imprint, a kind of photograph, of different moments in time. In somatic therapy, we touch upon these imprints and allow the body to finally process what occurred.
“Many clients come to me saying they’ve been in talk therapy for years and understand everything that has happened to them — but they still feel something is ‘stuck’ in the body. The body hasn’t caught up to the mind.”
— Jodie Cara Lindley, RMT, SEP (Advanced)The nervous system
You can think of the nervous system as a state you’re in at any given moment. It shifts and fluctuates with your environment, who’s around you, and what’s happening — and it can change on a dime. With some people you feel at ease and connected; with others, shut down and disconnected. That’s your nervous system in all its brilliance, keeping you safe moment to moment.
Many of us carry a template of safety set in place long ago — a gauge that tells us when we can relax and when we need to be on guard. When the body feels out of control, or responses to people and places feel bigger than the moment calls for, that’s the nervous system responding from an old template. Somatic therapy gently helps update it.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
— Carl JungSlow, gentle, bottom-up
We live in an age of speed and instant gratification — but healing the nervous system is the opposite of fast. We are complex beings, and our systems are complex too. This is why somatic therapy needs to be slow. It’s called “bottom-up” therapy for a reason: we’re exploring the literal foundation of a person’s history and neurological development. That takes time and care.
Trauma is often described as something too much too fast (like a car accident), or too little too late (like neglect). Gabor Maté adds that it happens when we feel alone in something and lose connection to our true self. Because every person’s nervous system is different, the work is delicate and titrated — bit by bit, and always witnessed.
Somatic therapy is, and should be, any and all of the following: gentle, slow, titrated, held, witnessed, allowed, honoured, welcomed, safe, curious, and in the moment. If you feel the call from your body toward this work, follow it — your body is wise, and it knows.
Is somatic therapy for you?
If any of these feel familiar, body-based somatic therapy may be worth exploring.
- You’ve done talk therapy, but something still feels “stuck”
- Your body hasn’t caught up to what your mind understands
- Your reactions feel bigger than the moment calls for
- You rarely feel safe or settled in your body
- You carry tension, trauma, or stress that talk alone hasn’t eased
- You feel drawn to work with the body, not just the story
Meet your somatic therapist
Somatic and body-based therapy at Aurora Village is offered by Jodie Cara Lindley. Click to read her full profile.
Jodie Cara Lindley
A Registered Massage Therapist for over 25 years, Jodie offers gentle, hands-on, body-based somatic therapy — deeply attuned to the nervous system. Co-founder of Aurora Village and founder of Soma Essence Healing.
View Jodie’s Profile →What to expect
A gentle first conversation
Jodie takes time to understand your history, your body, and what you’re hoping to explore — no rushing.
Body-based sessions
Hands-on, titrated work that follows your body’s pace and nervous system, moment to moment.
Healing over time
Slow, witnessed, and safe — the work unfolds as your body is ready, honouring what each session brings.
Somatic therapy in Aurora: FAQ
Somatic means 'relating to the body.' Somatic therapy is a body-based process where you feel, notice, and stay with what arises in the body — sensations, movements, and emotions — so it can be processed and released, rather than only talked about.
Not quite. Jodie is a Registered Massage Therapist, and her somatic work is hands-on bodywork — but it goes beyond relaxation massage. The focus is on the nervous system and the body's stored responses, working gently to help what feels 'stuck' begin to move.
Yes — this is one of the most common reasons people come to somatic work. When you understand your history but your body 'hasn't caught up,' body-based therapy meets that experience where it actually lives: in the body and nervous system.
As a Registered Massage Therapist, Jodie's sessions may be claimable under your massage therapy benefits. Coverage varies by plan, so it's worth checking your extended health details.
Somatic healing is slow by nature — it's 'bottom-up' work that moves bit by bit, at a pace your body can trust. There's no set number; the work unfolds gently over time, honouring what each person needs.
Your body knows.
If you feel the call toward body-based work, follow it. Book a gentle first session with Jodie.
Prefer to call? (289) 272-0200