My Journey to Somatics
My name is Danielle Byers, and I’m the practitioner behind Sacred Somatics.
I have been a deeply sensing person my whole life. As a child and young adult, this sensitivity did not always make day to day life easy. I learned coping strategies over the years but did not yet know about the foundational system that is The Nervous System.
I always had an interest in human beings & behaviour which led me to take a Bachelor’s Psychology degree in my early 20’s. I entered into Elementary School Teaching in 2009 and in more recent years, have been working as a Resource Teacher. The environment of working in schools with many different Nervous Systems, both those of children and adults, has been a great training ground for the last 15 years.
It was through the unexpected loss of my mother in my early 30’s and navigating shock and grief as a young mother myself, that I found healing through the body. It started in traditional fitness, where I would show up to my mat and move my body. I then gained a new awareness - I was processing the well of grief through the practice of getting out of the mind and going into the body, to move through all that was happening in my internal experience. In addition to movement, my practices and rituals became cornerstone in my life and became a central part in my healing journey as well. Deepening into this authentic part of myself has been a catalyst for so much growth in my life, hence the combination of Sacred and Somatics as my approach to this work. I truly live everything I offer to you through this work.
The body has an incredible capacity to heal itself when we learn to listen to its language.”
— Peter A. Levine
As a life long learner, I went on a quest to understand why this form of healing stood apart from all of the others that I had tried to work with, but was still unable to find true relief and settling within myself. I started guiding movement classes and entered into the field of coaching and started gaining experience in working with others in their most tender life moments and happenings.
In my continued pursuit to deepen my own practice and serve those I work closely with, I learned about the modality of Somatic Experiencing and began the 3 year journey through this profound body-based healing approach. I not only experienced my own deep seated healing but began to understand the importance of bringing the body and Nervous System into all of the work that I do. I have completed both the Beginning and Intermediate years of SE and am actively training in my final year to be able to offer somatic touch work.
An Embodied Practice
Today, I wear many hats and have the honour of bringing this work across the many fields I work in. I work as a Somatic Practitioner and Naturotherapist, Embodied Movement Guide, Educator, and Facilitator of Sacred Spaces. My most sacred work of all is that of Mother, to two exceptional young beings who are 9 and 12 years old.
It is the greatest honour to walk alongside another as they reconnect back to their wholeness and remember who they are. It’s a gift to be able to support you!