Finding Freedom through Somatic Work: An Interview with Rachel Axmacher

Rachel Axmacher is interviewed today. She shares delightful insights into her journey to become a somatic practitioner and her quest to help people heal.

Introduction

So some of you may be asking, what is somatic work? That’s a good question. I had never heard of it a few years ago. But now it’s a part of my daily life. Somatic work is a way to release tension stored in our bodies, which can help us feel more relaxed, calm, and at peace with gentle touch and simple practices. By working with our bodies in a gentle and non-invasive way, we can start to let go of stress, anxiety, and trauma, and feel more connected to ourselves and others. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Imagine being able to release years of stored tension and trauma from your body, and finding a sense of calm and freedom in its place. That can be the result of a simple somatic routine.

As someone who has struggled with overcoming chronic illness, I know firsthand the impact that somatic work can have on our overall well-being. When I first started incorporating somatic practices into my daily routine, I noticed a significant shift in my nervous system regulation and pain levels. Sometimes after 5 to 15 minutes of somatic work, my pain would drop from an eight to a five. And sometimes it would disappear altogether. Somatic work has been another fantastic health tool in my tool belt that brought me another step closer to healing. I especially love using it with my LifeWave patches. I'm excited to share more about this powerful tool with you and introduce you to my dear friend, Rachel Axmacher, who has been kind enough to share her expertise and story with us. 

Family Life

Rachel’s sweet family on a SEAL tour in San Diego.

A Little about Rachel Axmacher:

Rachel lives with her husband, Jeremy, and two children in Stephenson, Virginia. She is a devoted mother to her extremely bright girls who clearly inherited lots of their mother’s smarts. She is a beach and lake life lover and regularly inspires me with her ability to share some new health and wellness knowledge. She is physical therapist who has recently trained to become a somatic practitioner after being on her own health journey and seeing the wonderful difference somatic work made for her and for her physical therapy clients. Having recently finished her training, she has lots of fresh ideas and proven tips to share with the world.

About Rachel's Background and Career

1 Question: Hi Rachel! Would you tell us a bit about your background as a physical therapist and how you became interested in somatic work?

A: I've been a licensed physical therapist with a clinical doctorate in physical therapy since 2008. I've worked with adults and children mostly in the outpatient setting, and have been working primarily in pediatrics for the past 10 years. I really became interested in somatic work on a personal level first. I found it to be so helpful in regulating my nervous system and understanding the patterns of my own nervous system.

2 Question: What inspired you to pursue additional training in somatic work?

A: I knew I wanted to further my training in a more holistic manner, but I wasn’t sure which training to pursue. I had been going to a local somatic experiencing practitioner, and he suggested that I train with Somatic Experiencing International. By this point, I had a pretty deep understanding of somatic experiencing, and I had also been using somatic work with patients for months and seeing good results. It seemed like a natural next step.

Somatic Work and Its Benefits

3 Question: How has somatic work helped you in your own recovery from chronic illness, and what benefits have you seen in your clients?

A: Somatic work has really provided a deepening in my understanding of the way that my body reacts to everyday stressors. Now I am very aware of what potential triggers are and how my body and autonomic nervous system react to those. It really helps because I can move through a fight or flight response without getting stuck there and landing in a freeze state. Nervous system regulation is so important for healing from chronic illness, because our bodies get confused when we are always switching between a fight/flight response and a freeze response without spending enough time in the calm parasympathetic state. 

For clients, it’s really the same thing. It’s a game changer when they can befriend their nervous system and appreciate that the stress and trauma responses are survival responses that are there to protect us. The number one thing the autonomic nervous system is designed to do is to keep us alive. And it does a great job at that. But the nervous system might not know that it is safe now and there is no real threat, so that’s where somatic work comes in to help “update” neural pathways.

When all is safe and we have nothing to fear, we can let fo of tension and make space for calm and ease.

4 Question: What are your goals for helping others through somatic work, and what kind of issues do you typically work with clients on?

A: My goal is to help clients learn how their reactions to current day situations are often linked to nervous system patterns from their past, many times from childhood. As a somatic experiencing practitioner, I will guide them through nervous system experiences that will allow them to gently touch into old patterns or traumas without them becoming overwhelmed by them. We do this from a place of feeling resourced and safe. When the body is able to have a new experience and touch into something challenging gently, and then come out of it, a new pattern is experienced by the client. 

I can work on many types of issues with clients. It’s really anything that feels challenging or overwhelming in their lives. This can be a situation, a person or relationship, or really anything that they are struggling with in their lives.

Personal Experience with Chronic Illness

5 Question: Can you share a bit about your own experience with chronic illness, specifically mold exposure and histamine intolerance? How did it affect your daily life, and what were some of the biggest challenges you faced?

A. I’ve had some degree of chronic illness for 19 years. It started off as aches and pains, fibromyalgia type symptoms. I learned how to manage my symptoms with lifestyle factors like eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and exercise. What I didn’t know then was that there was an underlying autoimmune component to my condition. Pregnancy and childbirth really flipped the autoimmune switch for me, and after I had my children, my health declined pretty rapidly. I developed hypothyroidism, reactive hypoglycemia, and eventually MCAS. It affected my daily life because I started reacting to many foods and things in my environment. I would have dizzy spells after eating foods high in histamine.

High histamine foods like seafood, citrus fruits, chocolate, and probiotic foods can be problematic for those suffering with MCAS and histamine intolerance.

I began to learn a lot about nutrition and went on an elimination diet. The first thing I cut out was sugar, which helped a ton. Next came gluten and dairy. And then finally, I went on a low histamine, grain-free paleo diet. I found that eating high protein was key for regulating my blood sugar. So dietary restrictions have been the biggest challenge I’ve faced. On the one hand, my symptoms improved so much through the dietary measures I had taken. On the other hand, eating out and traveling became a lot more difficult. I’m in a place in my healing now that I am able to re-introduce foods, travel with my family, and eat out at restaurants.

As far as the mold exposure goes, I had a pretty significant mold exposure in graduate school a few months before I became sick. After that, I became sensitive to lower levels of mold. We had our home tested a few years ago, and while it came back as having “normal” levels of mold due to water damage, we chose to do a whole home remediation and remodel at that time to help restore my health. People with MCAS often have underlying mold illness, so I wanted to make sure to optimize indoor air quality.

Favorite Somatic Exercises

6 Question: Can you share two of your favorite somatic exercises that you like to use with clients, and how they can be beneficial?

A. Orienting and grounding come to mind. Both help you to have a felt sense of safety in your body. Orienting is using your senses to help get you into the here and now. You can do this by looking around your space, letting your eyes go where they want to go. You can also orient with your sense of hearing, smell, or taste. This helps you to get into the here and now, the present moment.

You can practice grounding by sitting in a chair and pressing your feet into the floor. You can also ground through your hips, by feeling your sit bones in your chair. Play with shifting your hips forward and backward until you find that “just right” spot where your nervous system relaxes. Some clues that your body gives you when you’ve shifted into the calm parasympathetic state include yawning, sighing, taking a deep spontaneous breath, or your eyes becoming watery.

7 Question: Based on your own experience with chronic illness, what has helped you the most in your recovery, and how do you think others can apply those lessons to their own lives?

I’m currently focused on detoxification and that is such a crucial part of healing. As part of my detox program I am addressing molds, chemicals, heavy metals, infections, and nervous system dysfunction. Nervous system or somatic work helps to prep at our body for detoxification. What I wasn’t expecting was the emotional detox that goes along with the physical detox. 

Detoxification is the process of letting go. Letting go of what is no longer serving us, whether that’s something in our body, mind, or spirit. So I would ask—what is it that you need to let go of in order to heal at a deeper level?

Easier said or spelled than done sometimes, but great strides can be made by working with the right practitioner.

Additional Questions

8 Question: How do you see somatic work fitting into the broader landscape of healthcare and wellness, and what potential do you think it has for helping people?

A. I believe that more people are seeking holistic approaches to healing, and somatic work is a great way to address stored trauma in the body. It has the potential to help people let go of trauma and stress from the past that is stored in their bodies. When someone is able to do that, they can live more in the present moment and be more present with those around them.

9 Question: What's one thing you wish people knew about somatic work or chronic illness that you think would be really helpful for them to understand?

A. That healing is a gradual and gentle process. Take small steps forward whenever you can and trust the process. 

Somatic work can help regulate your nervous system in a gentle and manageable way and allow you to reconnect with your body. Many times with chronic illness, we can feel disconnected from our bodies. Our bodies had to get louder and louder with symptoms for us to pay attention to them. Healing with somatic work especially, is a reconnection with your body. It’s tuning in, listening, and developing compassion for yourself.

Every step of your healing journey counts. I found that most of the time it was more of a dance than a straight line. Remember to stay patient with your self and give yourself breaks.

Advice and Insights

10 Question: What advice would you give to people suffering with chronic illnesses and pain who are looking for alternative approaches like somatic work?

A. I would say that if you’ve tried everything else, it’s probably time to address your nervous system. 

A holistic approach to healing is so helpful, and it allows us to work on both our biology and our nervous system patterns. For so long, I only took supplements and tried protocols suggested by various functional medicine and naturopathic doctors. This alone was not moving the dial for me. It wasn’t until I started doing somatic work that noticed some real shifts.

I would encourage anyone who is interested in somatic work to look for a somatic coach or somatic experiencing practitioner in your area who can guide you. Many practitioners also provide these services online if you are unable to locate a provider near you or attend in-person sessions.

11 Question: If one of my readers or followers is interested in working with you for somatic work, Rachel, what’s the best way to reach you?

Right now I’m only working with family and friends as practice, but in August I’m going to start seeing SE clients in person at an existing private practice. I hope to have a website soon so people can schedule online. For now, you could just reach me at my email address: rachelaxmacher@gmail.com

Conclusion

I hope you've enjoyed this conversation with Rachel Axmacher as much as I have. Somatic work is a powerful tool for healing and growth, and I'm so grateful to have Rachel sharing her expertise with us. Stay tuned to my social in the days to come and you’ll get treated to some special videos from Rachel where she will lead us in a few somatic exercises you will not want to miss. I can’t wait to share them with you! In the meantime, remember to take care of your nervous system, and don't be afraid to try new things. Wishing you all a wonderful journey towards greater health and well-being this June and always! If you're interested in learning more about somatic work or working with Rachel, send her an email at the address she provided above!

P.S. Are you up for the June Challenge?

It’s time for our June Challenge incorporating somatic work. As mentioned last month, it is another gentle way to practice self care friends.

This June, I invite you to join me in a month-long challenge to prioritize your nervous system health. For the entire month, let's focus on incorporating one somatic exercise into our daily routine: grounding. Take a few minutes each day to press your feet into the floor, feel the sensation of your feet touching the ground, and breathe deeply. Notice how your body responds, and see if you can feel a sense of calm and relaxation spreading through your body. Share your experiences with me on social media using the hashtag #SomaticJuneChallenge, and let's support each other in our journey towards greater nervous system regulation and overall well-being. And just know that if you do get to practice your grounding on a sandy shore, you’ll have Rachel and me eating our hearts out.

And to make things a bit more interesting this June, I’ll donate a bottle of Kangen water to the most interesting grounding photo shared on social. So show me your toes on the carpet, on the sand, in the grass or in your favorite comfy seat! You can do this.

Until next time, make healthy choices, and remember to talk to yourself like you would your own best friend!