Who Does 'Calm Down' Actually Serve?

The weaponisation of somatics against minorities

By Kirsty Atkinson

Every time I go on social media nowadays, I get ads for “somatic” things. Apps, workout programs, “nervous system reset” programs… 

The message seems to be that if you’re stressed or wired or angry or depressed, you’re the problem and you need to find a solution. 

Back in the post-war decades, the same thing happened. Women were expected to stay at home and clean the house. Even though they had just been building weapons or sewing uniforms or so many other things. And even as improvements in technology meant cooking and cleaning took a fraction of the time. 

Women who were unhappy with this status quo were labelled “mad”. The problem was them, not the world. They were sent for therapy or worse – lobotomies, electric shock therapies and tranquilising medication were all weaponised against women who wanted more than to sit at home and vacuum. 

The message was clear: you’re the problem; calm down; get with the programme.

And the same thing is happening today.

It’s understandable to be angry at the world. There’s a climate crisis, the cost of living keeps going up, and the richest 1% of the UK population have as much wealth as the poorest 55% combined. With the rise of right-wing ideologies and the suppression of trans rights, minorities are even more understandably disillusioned.

But a somatic breathing programme is not going to fix that.

Therapies – including somatic therapies and practices – are a legitimate way to deal with the stress of a broken world. They can help you to process your thoughts and feelings and deal with the injustice of it all. 

But it’s not enough to expect people to download an app, to calm down, and to put up with a world that simply isn’t good enough.

We have to change from thinking about somatic therapies and practices as a way to calm down to a way to expand.

We can use somatic practices to expand what we have capacity for – not to put up with more injustice, but to have the energy to challenge the injustice. Not to put up with a world that isn’t fair, but to have the energy to change the world into something more fair.

Personally, this is why I joined Lotus Collaborations. I’ve done the work – years of therapy; courses in somatics – I’m even a qualified yoga teacher. But the personal work was just never enough because it helps with the symptoms, not the root problem. 

I’m excited to be working with an organisation that creates real, meaningful changes in the same communities and institutions that I have struggled with. I’m excited to be working alongside other neurodivergent individuals and other survivors who want to create the change that we need for our nervous systems to finally “calm down”.