Welcome beautiful soul! I’m so sorry for the pain and trauma you’ve experienced in your life that brought you here, but so happy you’re taking the steps to get healed. Darkness, trials, and trauma are parts of life we can’t escape, but YOU are in control of how you navigate them, and more importantly, who you become on the other side of them.

What is Faith-Based Somatic Healing?

Faith-based somatic healing is centered around belief in the God of the Bible as our intelligent Creator and faith in His amazing healing power that’s wired into every part of you. It operates on the knowledge that God designed the body to hold valuable wisdom through its remarkable ability to store and process experiences, memories, and emotions.

Check out this post, 5 Elements of Faith-Based Somatic Healing, if you’d like a deeper dive into faith-based somatic healing!

Through faith-based somatic practices, you can learn to trust God and the amazing body He’s given you while regulating your nervous system and experiencing your body’s God-wired healing power through faith in Him.

The Essential Faith-Based Somatic Healing Practice to Support Nervous System Health

This essential practice is one that God has hard-wired the need for into your body. It’s included in His instructions for living your best life and something He even practiced himself! This practice is essential to supporting the health of your nervous system and maintaining a healthy baseline of regulation, yet it’s probably one of the most neglected.

Jesus gives you a clue in Matthew 11:28-30 where He says, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

That’s right! The essential faith-based somatic healing practice is REST! But not just getting a decent night’s sleep sort of rest. Nope. True faith-based rest is something much deeper—it’s body, soul, and spirit rest.

The soul is your mind, will, and emotions—so how exactly do you rest your minds and emotions? Jesus gives us the key in that scripture. “Come to me”, he says. Jesus is your rest. You can lay your cares at His feet, and He will give you the peace your soul longs for.

Rest is restorative. Rest is healing. Rest is essential to living your best life. The Creator of all things found rest so important that after six days of creating He set aside the seventh day to rest, thus creating a weekly rhythm for humans to follow for optimal holistic (body, soul, spirit) health and wellness.

Genesis 2:2-3 says, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

Exodus 20:8-10 instructs, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work.”

Rest is such a necessary and essential practice for your body, soul, and spirit that God set apart an entire day out of the week to devote to it! Like with all things, God searches your heart, so there’s no need to get caught up in theology or legalism. No matter what day you set aside, the point is that you choose to trust His wisdom and design, obeying His instruction to work six days and dedicate one day to rest in Him.

Rest is not passive. It’s the most active posture you can take. Not the kind of rest that’s simply physical, but the kind that involves your whole being—your body, soul, and spirit. This kind of rest requires self-discipline to embody, experience, and enjoy.

A hurried mentality deceives you into believing that rest is a reward, but the truth is, it’s a command. God designed rest for our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual protection. It’s the soul posture needed to discern what falls between the boundary lines of His instructions, which is why we often must fight to enter a place of rest.

When we’re constantly striving, doing, and going, the mind and emotions can run wild, leaving the soul feeling restless until you realize you’ve been misplacing your purpose—attaching it to your performance instead of placing it in Jesus. Finding your purpose in the person of Jesus is where you will find true rest, and you must fight to get there.

In surrendering to Jesus and putting your faith and trust in the One who can do all things without your help, you’ll find your worth is not linked to doing or being more. When He says, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest,” He’s inviting you into a safe space to cultivate rhythms of rest!

Cultivating Faith-Based Holistic Rhythms of Rest

Cultivating rhythms, or patterns, of rest into your days and weeks can be achieved most simply by slowing down. Intentional rest helps regulate your nervous system and create a healthy baseline of inner safety.

Slow living is a lifestyle that invites you to live more intentionally and meaningfully by slowing down and appreciating what you have and the world around you. It’s achieved by finding joy in life’s simple pleasures, prioritizing what's truly important, and adopting a more leisurely pace.

1. Somatic Rest. Slowing down your body includes both sensory and physical rest. Stretch. Silent nature walks. Soak up the sun. Watch the sunset. Star gaze. Relaxing massages. Warm bubble baths. Cozy socks. Comfy clothes. Needed naps. Sleep in. Soothing scents. Calming music. Sugar detox. Nourishing whole foods.

2. Soulful Rest. Slowing down your soul includes both mental and emotional rest. Mindfulness. Journaling. Creative outlets. Pleasure reading. Social media detox. Watching something funny or inspiring. Doing puzzles. Playing board games. Forgiving yourself. Practicing gratitude.

3. Spiritual Rest. Your spirit finds rest in intimacy and relationship with Jesus. Meditation on His word. Prayer and communication with Him. Soaking in His presence. Praise and worship.

I hope this list helps you cultivate rhythms of rest that support your nervous system in your healing and transformation journey.

Check out these posts, 3 Phases of Faith-Based Holistic Trauma Healing & 3 Life-Changing Tips for Faith-Based Holistic Trauma Healing, to learn more about healing trauma through a faith-based approach.

Click the butterfly to learn more about the Dark Sky Flutterby 3-Phase Faith-Based Holistic Healing & Transformation Journey!

"The breath of the Almighty gives me life!" Job 33:4

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