Students’ attention is directed toward their bodies, as they learn to begin to tune in to subtle body cues.
Students are encouraged to become more aware of internal body cues and build skills of interoception (sensing and feeling from the inside) thereby building somatic literacy.
Students learn to pay attention to the position if their bodies in space (proprioception). This allows them to have a greater sense of boundaries and to be more effective in their techniques.
Students are encouraged to pause or breathe between techniques, allowing the nervous system to settle.
Students are reminded to ground in-between techniques to re-establish a felt sense of stability.
Adapted from Self-Defense Training as Clinical Intervention for Survivors of Trauma, Gianine D. Rosenblum and Lynn S. Taska Violence Against Women, 2014.
Sex Positive Self Defense and Somatic Education 