3 Somatic Lessons: Pop Culture Edition (TV, Music & the Mind-Body Connection)

 

Even before I started studying art therapy, I enjoyed learning about body awareness and mindfulness. Breathwork and body scanning were some of the first exercises I experimented with as a newbie but when I look back on my journey, the mind-body connection has always fascinated me. Song lyrics as well as quotes from TV shows and movies are a few things that have continuously expressed my interest in these topics. Over the years, I’ve become an intentional word collector, filling notebook after notebook with all of my favorite quotes.

Here are 3 somatic lessons I learned from my word collecting...

 

Lesson #1: The OA S1E4 / "Knowledge is a rumor until it lives in the body"

The OA was sadly cancelled in 2019 (RIP) but season one introduced some of my favorite TV moments.

The mind is a wonderful thing, but this quote from S1E4 highlighted the wisdom the body also holds. In the tarot, the suit of swords corresponds to our intellect and represents the element of air. When knowledge is brought into the body, it becomes more grounded, more solid.

Somatic training taught me how to take my scattered thinking and transform it into embodied wisdom.

Lesson #2: Little Black Sandals by Sia

 

I’ve been a Sia fan for a while now but as soon as I heard the opening track from her fourth studio album Some People Have Real Problems I was hooked.

Little Black Sandals is a take on the classic fairy tale. In the song, the speaker escapes the control of a tyrannical giant. While her rational mind is screaming for her to leave this abusive relationship, she ultimately trusts her body to guide her out of the toxic situation.

This song again points to the inner knowledge the body possesses; after connecting with her body and unlocking the wisdom that it holds, the speaker is able to radically transform her life.

 

Lesson #3: Accidntel Deth by Rilo Kiley

 

The first verse of this song by my favorite band seamlessly communicates disharmony between the mind and the body.

In these lyrics, the listener learns that the stress is being held and expressed through the body. The speaker reports physical discomfort and even trouble breathing. It seems this speaker would benefit from a few somatic practices, such as deep breathing or mindful shaking. (An EKG for good measure might be helpful as well.)

Where the other pop culture examples demonstrated all the ways inner knowing can lead to personal growth and elevated knowledge, this song shows what can happen when the connection with the body breaks down.

In conclusion, I hate conclusions, but as I’ve explored somatic concepts over the years, pop culture has become a major source of inspiration. Whether it’s through sci-fi TV or indie rock, these words have provided strong examples of somatic lessons and truths.

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