Nondual Therapy & The Felt Sense of Now: Embracing the Body Beyond the Story
- Amy Ward
- Jun 25
- 16 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
True healing happens inside the recognition of the seamless nature of reality - which is the resting in presence is through the gateway of the felt sense. The term “felt sense” (coined by Eugene Gendlin and used in Somatic Experiencing and other therapies) refers to the direct, raw bodily knowing of a situation or emotion, implicit and uncaptured by words. It is the embodied feeling of life, experienced without analysis. To explore the felt sense is to practice intimate mindfulness of the bodymind, dropping under our narratives and simply listening to the language of sensation. Nondual teachings gently guide us to “be with what is” in just this way.
Feel your breath right now, the expansion and contraction, without describing it. Feel any emotional tone in the chest or belly – perhaps a tightness, fluttering, or warmth – and allow it to be as it is. The invitation is to welcome these sensations with a kind attention, as if you were cradling a child. This is experiencing the body beyond the story.

"to reach the deeper layers of suffering, you must go to its roots and uncover their vast underground network, where fear and desire are closely interwoven and the current of life's energy oppose, obstruct and destroy each other"
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
You may notice, as you do this, that sensations are not static things but living processes. A knot of anxiety in the stomach, once truly attended to, might unfurl into heat or move upward as a wave; a numb area might tingle to life and then dissolve into softness. What's more, we might gently open to recognising that our experience cannot be named or described - yet it is self-evidently here. This is wisdom.
By staying with the felt sense, you enable energies experienced as ‘stuck’ energies and emotions to complete and release. This is the principle behind Dr. Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing, which helps trauma patients discharge frozen fight–flight responses by mindfully tracking bodily sensations. It’s also echoed by Dr. van der Kolk, who observed that “Traumatised people need to learn that they can tolerate their sensations, befriend their inner experiences, and cultivate new patterns”. We do this gradually, in bits and pieces, always in a context of safety. From the nondual perspective, awareness itself provides the ultimate context of safety – an unbreakable present-ness that, like an infinite lap, can hold whatever arises. The body then is not approached as a problem to fix, but as a beloved part of the spectrum of now, communicating in the only way it knows how. Here, we can also begin to gently and tenderly question our ideas about 'stuckness' and 'frozenness'. What is true to the felt sense of experience? What is actually the case?
When Nisargadatta advises us to “remain as the I Am” and not contaminate that beingness with identifications, he is pointing to a state of pure presence in which the felt sense can freely unfold. In that I Am space, we are simply present – not labeling sensations as “my illness” or “my trauma” or “bad,” but just feeling them. This presence is deeply intelligent and therapeutic. Modern neuroscience tells us that simply feeling our bodily states with mindfulness can integrate the brain and calm the nervous system. In Polyvagal Theory (developed by Dr. Stephen Porges), the key to restoring nervous system balance is the experience of safety. When we feel safe, our body shifts out of fight/flight or freeze and into the ventral vagal state of relaxation and social connection. By mindfully inhabiting the felt sense, especially in a kindly way, we are sending signals of safety to the body: we are saying “I am here with you; it’s okay to feel this.” This co-regulation with oneself activates the body’s natural healing capacities.
Over time the body that once was the source of fear is revealed as the portal for a deep love affair as consciousness and being reunite. This is yoga - and in my experience, this is one of the most beautiful experiences of being this aliveness. It is what the phrase I often use 'a cosmic conversation as your own inherent radiance' arose out of in my own direct experience.
In the principles of Nisarga Yoga – this is ‘go within to go beyond’. Sensations become guides rather than enemies. The boundary between “me” and bodily feeling thins – not in a way that overwhelms, but in a way that dissolves the alienation we once felt. In truth, your body’s story is written in sensation, and reading it with love is a doorway to profound integration and revealing self as the source and totality of this seamless one life that you are.
The Thought Field: Gentle Recognition of the Non-separate Nature of Flowing Bodymind
Just as we explore bodily sensations beyond conceptual story, we also learn to meet what we experience as 'mind' in a new way. Thoughts, like sensations, are part of our human experience – but we rarely relate to them as experiences. Instead, we either climb into our thoughts and get lost in their stories, or we try to push them away when they’re unpleasant. We also label our experience - 'the body' is taken to be 'a thing' that 'I' inhabit (identification) - but when we really investigate this - we find something very different, beyond what we can describe. Nondual awareness thus offers a middle path: neither identification nor suppression, but gentle recognition. Thoughts can be witnessed as just another movement in the field of consciousness, much like clouds drifting in the sky of the mind which cannot be set apart from sensation at all. We do not need to fight them, fear them, or follow them; we simply acknowledge their presence with interest, and care. As confidence and trust is deepened - awe, wonder, and beauty are revealed.
Take a moment to observe whatever thought is passing through right now. It might be an image, a worry, a snippet of internal dialogue. Rather than judging it or analysing it, just say internally, “Ah, a thought is here.” Notice its shape and energy: is it fast, slow, heavy, light? The key is not to dive into the content or story of the thought, but also not to flee. This is what is meant by gentle recognition. In trauma-sensitive mindfulness, this attitude is vital: if a painful memory or thought arises, we acknowledge it through the felt sense, and without slamming the door on it, we meet ourself with a soft, courageous nod to what is present. Over time, this consistent recognition creates a relationship of trust in the experience of mind - for the purpose of understanding, we could say that 'the mind' (what I refer to as 'child mind') no longer needs to shout or throw extreme images at you to get your attention, because it knows you will listen quietly, without trying to fix it. This is the Responsive Radiance and Flawless Flow that is the your true nature - principles of 'Compassionate Attunement' that we use to explore experience in Reparenting as Presence.
Sri Nisargadatta often advised seekers to focus more on the basic sense of existence (“I am”) than on the content of their thoughts. This wasn’t to ignore thinking, but to prioritise the context of awareness over the mental narratives. When we abide as the witnessing presence, thoughts can be seen as vibrations of mind-stuff that come and go. They lose their seeming tyrannical power.
We realise that no thought can encapsulate the truth of who we are or what life is - which naturally, without force, discharges and diffuses. The experience of thought and interpretation being at the forefront of life loosens its grip.
In fact, Nisargadatta remarked that no idea we have about ourselves is absolutely true – except the bare fact “I Am”. Thus, even while thoughts appear, we remain rooted in a deeper sense of being. In practice, whenever you find yourself entangled in a web of thought (ruminating on the past or worrying about the future), you can gently pause and return to simple presence: feel your breath, feel the aliveness in your body, and notice the thought as a thought. This is not an avoidance of thinking, but a wise de-centering from it. You might even mentally note a friendly “thinking, thinking” and watch the thought dissolve like a ripple in water.
This skill of recognition is emphasised in many mindfulness and compassion focussed traditions and has clear echoes in cognitive therapy as well – but here we are less concerned with changing the content of thoughts and more interested in recognising firstly -thought as thought, and secondly - thought's limitation in capturing the nature of reality and what we experience as 'me and my life'. You will be blown away continuously in this investigation by how much of your lived experience has simply been what you have thought about reality, in stark contrast to how reality actually is.
When recognition is steady, an amazing thing can happen: the witness and the thoughts (the “observer” and the “mind’s chatter”) start to feel less divided. You might glimpse that thoughts are simply another expression of the same awareness that knows them. In nonduality, consciousness is like a screen and thoughts are its pictures – yet the screen and the picture are made of one substance (light or awareness). Thus even thinking, when seen directly, is impersonal and transparent. This realisation takes the personal charge out of mental events. A traumatic thought can be acknowledged: “Here is the image of that night,” without the additional layer of “it’s happening to me again now; I can’t handle this.” We neither cling to the thought nor run; we let it be in the open space of knowing. Insight arises that the peace of the witnessing Self is never truly disturbed by any thought – thoughts are like wind stirring a clear pond, but the depths remain untouched. With practice, the mind’s habit of constant noisy seeking – trying to think its way into safety or happiness – calms down. After all, the mind only seeks what the Self already is: peace, love, and security. Realising this, thinking can finally serve rather than dominate. Creativity and practical thinking remain, but obsessive mental suffering diminishes. In the gentle light of awareness, the mind heals by gradually reorienting from feverish doing to quiet being.
The Somatic Bridge: Modern Trauma Research Meets Nondual Insight
It is profoundly encouraging to see how modern research in psychology and neuroscience echoes the wisdom of the sages. In recent decades, scientists and therapists have come to recognise the essential role of bodily awareness, safety, and presence in healing trauma and stress. The Polyvagal Theory, for instance, has revolutionised our understanding of the autonomic nervous system by showing that our sense of safety or danger underpins our emotional and physiological states. According to Dr. Stephen Porges (who developed the theory), our nervous system is constantly reading cues of safety vs. threat below conscious awareness, and it switches into different modes: a calm, connected mode when safe (ventral vagal activation) and defensive modes (fight/flight sympathetic arousal, or shutdown dorsal vagal freezing) when under threat. Crucially, we cannot heal in an environment perceived as unsafe. This aligns with an intuitive truth that nondual teachers also emphasise: one must feel secure and supported to let go into deeper awareness. In the context of inner work, the infinite Self – the true I Am – is like an unconditionally safe space. Resting in the sense of pure being provides a sanctuary of absolute indestructability when apparent outer circumstances or one’s own mind feel unsafe. It’s a form of absolute safety because the Self (pure awareness) cannot be harmed or overwhelmed by any content of experience; it is the untouchable container of all content. Thus, when Maharaj says to take refuge in the I Am or to abide as awareness, one way to understand this is as creating an internal polyvagal anchor of safety. This is not an anchor as a point in space and time - but an all encompassing anchor of ever-unfolding openness. In this refuge, the hyper-vigilant body can downshift out of survival mode. The heart rate slows, the breath deepens, muscle tension unwinds. The social engagement system comes back online, meaning we feel more open to connect with others and with ourselves compassionately. Indeed, Porges notes that when we feel safe, the ventral vagus allows us to “engage socially by making eye contact, softening our voice, and expressing care”, even allowing stillness and closeness without fear. In nondual terms, feeling safe reveals our natural capacity for love and connection – attributes of our true Self.
Somatic trauma therapies also highlight interoception – the awareness of internal body sensations – as a key to recovery. Trauma can disrupt interoception: some people become alienated from their internal signals, while others become flooded by them. Rebuilding a healthy connection to inner sensation is essentially teaching someone how to be present in the body again, without overwhelm. This is directly parallel to mindfulness and nondual practices that train inner attention. As van der Kolk puts it, “Neuroscience research has shown that the only way we can consciously access the emotional brain (the ‘survival’ brain) is through our interoceptive pathways — through sensing and perceiving internal bodily sensations”. No amount of talk or intellectual understanding can substitute for this direct sensing of the body. That’s why, for example, yoga, breathwork, and meditation have become recognised as powerful adjuncts to trauma therapy – they all cultivate interoceptive awareness gently and progressively. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and similar programs have demonstrated that learning to nonjudgmentally witness body sensations and thoughts can reduce anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms. This is science catching up with what contemplatives have long practiced: sitting in presence with what is, and thereby allowing the body-mind to regain equilibrium.
Another meeting point is the concept of “titration” in Somatic Experiencing – the idea of dipping into uncomfortable sensations a little at a time, and then returning to a resource state (like a safe or neutral sensation), gradually building the capacity to process difficult emotions. This mirrors the nondual advice to self-inquire or feel into the pain only as far as you can while still remaining as the witness. The witness consciousness acts as the resource state: it’s that sense of a bigger space of awareness that you can always step back into if things get too intense. In spiritual terms, one might call it resting in the Self or in the sense of “I am here now”, before approaching a trauma memory or a wave of anger. By oscillating in this way – feeling a bit of the difficult energy, then relaxing back into spacious presence – the nervous system digests the previously unbearable experiences. Over time, integration happens naturally. What was fragmented or frozen within us finds its place in the wholeness of consciousness.
It’s also worth noting the role of self-compassion in both healing paradigms. Modern trauma counselors often say that healing accelerates when the survivor stops blaming or shaming themselves and instead approaches their own pain with warmth and curiosity. In Dr. Arielle Schwartz’s words, “One key to healing from C-PTSD is to develop self-compassion… you cannot simply think your way out of trauma reactions; it is essential to learn how to lean into yourself with love.”. This counsel could be straight out of a nondual handbook: love is at the core of true awareness. Maharaj’s teaching that “the love of the Self in you is for the Self in all” resonates here – as we recognise our identity as awareness, which is universal, we naturally develop a compassionate regard for the suffering parts of ourselves (and others).
Resting in the infinite Self is not a dry, detached affair;
it is suffused with the quality of allowing, which is love.
That loving awareness says to every part of us, “I see you. You are included.” No part of our experience is cast out of the heart of awareness. This unconditional acceptance is what ultimately heals the splits experienced within us. Trauma is sometimes described as a state of inner fragmentation – parts of us exiled because they hold pain or terror. In the sacred wholeness of presence, these exiled bits can return home. The nondual understanding that nothing that arises is truly separate from the Self becomes a lived felt-sense of inner unity. In that unity, trauma’s legacy of separateness and isolation (feeling cut off from the world, from one’s own body, from the divine) is lovingly dissolved. The Polyvagal drive for connection is finally met — but it is met both vertically (with the Self, the greater Being) and horizontally (with other living beings, in authentic relationship). We find that our true nature is profoundly relational: the witness and the witnessed are one, which means we are not alone. All of life is with us and in us.
Resting in the Infinite Self: Healing in Wholeness and the End of Seeking
Ultimately, the great healing that nondual wisdom offers is the recognition of our true nature as undivided awareness – the Infinite Self. This realisation is not just a lofty spiritual attainment; it fulfills a very human longing for wholeness and safety. Resting in the safety of your infinite self is pointing to your experience right here and now, beyond definitions (the limitations of time and space, inner and outer, self and other - created by thought) - the refuge that is always available, the ground of being that was never traumatised, never lacking, never in danger. This is the safe haven that trauma therapy strives to help people find (often metaphorically, as an “inner safe place” or a compassionate inner observer), and that nondual therapy provides in the deepest possible way. Nonduality goes a step further to say: that safety is not just a visualisation – it is literally what you are. You are the safe space in which all experiences come and go. You are not like the sky, you are the sky: thunderstorms of trauma and sunny days of joy both occur within you, but no storm can scar the sky. Knowing yourself as this sky-like awareness brings an unshakeable peace. Even if waves of emotion or memory still arise, they are seen as waves on the vast ocean that is the Self – and the ocean can contain all waves without being harmed. There comes a profound, bodily-felt relief in this recognition. The chronic tension of trying to hold the world together, or hold yourself together, relaxes. Healing is no longer a future event or a goal to reach; it reveals itself as the very nature of presence. In fact, many spiritual teachings say that awareness is healing, because in the light of awareness, the darkness of ignorance and separation vanishes spontaneously.
As the sense of identity shifts from the limited body-mind to the expansive consciousness, a few notable things happen. Fear greatly diminishes, because what is there to fear when what you are cannot be destroyed? Nisargadatta assures, “When you are the pure ‘I amness’ only, there is no fear”. Fear was a result of identifying with the perishable, the limited. Now that you know yourself as the imperishable principle of life itself. This doesn’t make you carelessly invincible in behavior – rather, it manifests as a deep serenity and courage in the face of life’s ups and downs. Paradoxically, feeling beyond personal fear allows you to be deeply vulnerable and intimate with life, as life, in a healthy way, because you can afford to keep the heart open. The infinite Self cannot be wounded, so it can embrace discomfort and the wounds of the world without flinching - there is nothing that can flinch. In practical healing terms, this means we can process and release without retraumatising, because we’re holding it from a bigger place. The sacred safety is like a cosmic therapist’s office that is always open, always enveloping us in unconditional presence.
Moreover, the cessation of seeking that comes with awakening to our true nature has its own therapeutic power. Much of human psychological struggle comes from an endless seeking – for approval, for security, for relief, for meaning. In trauma, this seeking often takes the form of hypervigilance (seeking safety by scanning for threats) or addictive behaviors (seeking relief or numbness). When the nondual insight dawns that “I am That which I have been seeking”, an enormous burden drops. The moment naturally becomes richer and more vivid, because our attention is no longer fixated on a future outcome. Peace and happiness are recognised as our very nature, and it is only seeking them elsewhere that ever obscured this fact. The healing here is the healing of the illusion of lack. A traumatised psyche often internalises a belief, “Something is wrong with me” or “I am lacking in some way” – a painful separation from a sense of worth or wholeness. Nondual realisation blows that belief out of the water by revealing that who you are is inextricable from the whole of life, from the source of love and worth itself. “Nothing is wrong with you, but the ideas you have about yourself are wrong,” Nisargadatta gently says (or possibly ferociously - this compassion was unleashed!). What a liberation to see that our self and world-concepts (often negative or limiting) are not the truth! We stop trying to become somebody in order to be okay, and we start being, freely, allowing life to move through us, as us, intelligently.
In this awakened condition, even the concept of “healing” undergoes a transformation. We might realise that on the level of absolute reality, there was never anything to heal – awareness was ever pure and whole. Yet, simultaneously, on the relative human level, our personal history and body benefit immensely from this realisation. Healing happens as a byproduct of resting as the Self. Old patterns fall away because we are no longer feeding them with our identification or resistance. We naturally make healthier choices, feel more connected to others, and respond rather than react. We might still seek out therapy or supportive practices, but now we do so not from desperation or the belief that we are broken, but from a loving intent to care for ourselves. Life becomes less about “fixing me” and more about expressing the wholeness that I am. For many, this is the ultimate healing: to know “I am life itself, complete and inseparable from the One,” and thus to live authentically and presently.
Closing in Ground
As you finish reading these words, take a gentle moment to simply be. Feel the aliveness in your body, the sensations dancing and the breath ebbing and flowing. Notice the awareness that is here, effortlessly witnessing these experiences – an awareness that is silent, boundless, and tender. This awareness is your home. All the insights of nonduality and all the modalities of trauma healing converge here in the simplicity of presence. The witness and the witnessed are not two; the healer and the wound are one. In recognising yourself as the spacious, undivided Self, you offer the greatest medicine to the bodymind: the medicine of true inclusion and unconditional love. Each time you remember to rest as I Am, to touch the felt sense directly, to recognise a thought gently, or to see beyond a concept into raw reality, you are nourishing your wholeness. You are, in effect, meditating the world into wholeness as well, because the gifts of your presence ripple outward. As Nisargadatta Maharaj frequently reminded his students, the highest help you can offer the world is to stabilise in the awareness of unity. From that unity flows compassionate action that is not contrived, but natural.
There is a sacred saying: “Healing is the return to memory of wholeness.” Nondual wisdom and somatic science together help us remember that wholeness. Through them we learn that our true identity is the open sky of consciousness, in which clouds of sensation, emotion, and thought come and go. Some clouds are dark, some light, yet none leave a trace on the sky.
Invitation
Come to trust more and more in the sky-like Self that you are. In that trust and resting, all the storms of the past lose their hold, and you find yourself here and now, alive, complete, and free. The journey ends where you are – in the sacred safety of present awareness. Everything truly needed for healing is already blossoming in this very moment of being.
Comments