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Why We're All Going Back to Our Bodies: The Rise of Somatic Healing
Emily Rose Adams
April 28, 2026
Hi, I hope you're well. I've just returned from a long weekend in Paris — a city I love, but one that has never really been focused on wellness. Smoking is ubiquitous, hotel gyms are normally decorative, and there isn't quite the same energy with optimising health that we've somehow developed in London. I did manage to track down some great spots though — Sant Roch sauna was a brilliant find, intense heat and full-on music throughout; 48 Collagen Café and Dayz Café opposite were both lovely; and going for a little 5k run in the sunshine was simply divine. But the best thing Paris did for my health this weekend was remind me that croissants, chocolate and wandering slowly through beautiful streets are, arguably, a wellness practice in their own right.
Emily x
This week’s edition covers:
🧬 Health News: Scientists discover how superagers maintain memory, a gut bacterium breakthrough which may be quietly causing depression and the world's first wearable perimenopause device.
🧠 Feature: Why We're All Going Back to Our Bodies: The Rise of Somatic Healing
🎙️ Podcast: You Have Always Been Enough — Healing Trauma, Inner Child Work & the Path to Self-Compassion | Soulla Demetriou
🧠 Scientists just discovered why some 80-year-olds have the memory of a 50-year-old
A 25-year study from Northwestern Medicine has found that a rare group of adults over 80, known as SuperAgers, maintain memory abilities comparable to people decades younger — and their brains either resist or withstand the damage typically linked to Alzheimer's disease.The key finding: SuperAgers produce at least twice as many new neurons in the hippocampus compared to their typical ageing peers— suggesting the brain can stay biologically active and regenerative well into old age. The most common lifestyle trait among SuperAgers? Being highly social and maintaining strong relationships.
🦠 Harvard discovers a gut bacterium may be quietly causing depression — via your shampoo
Harvard researchers found that when a gut bacterium called Morganella morganii interacts with a common environmental pollutant, it produces a molecule that triggers inflammation — something strongly linked to depression. That pollutant, diethanolamine (DEA), shows up in industrial solvents, agricultural products, and a long list of consumer goods including shampoos, soaps and cosmetics. It raises the possibility that for some people, everyday chemical exposure might be quietly feeding an inflammatory loop that contributes to low mood. Early stage, but a compelling addition to the gut-brain story.
🍞 Scientists discover why bread causes weight gain beyond just calories
A new study in mice suggests that bread may cause weight gain not by adding extra calories, but by quietly slowing the metabolism. The carb-heavy diet appeared to reduce energy expenditure and activate genes linked to fat storage, while also raising levels of insulin and leptin — hormones closely tied to appetite and weight regulation. Early stage research, but an interesting addition to the growing conversation around how carbohydrates affect our biology beyond simple calorie counts.
🪑 Sitting all day may not be as bad as we thought — if you move enough in between
A reassuring finding for desk workers. A massive study tracking over 72,000 people found that simply increasing daily steps can significantly reduce the risk of death and heart disease, even for those who spend long hours sedentary — with hitting around 9,000–10,000 steps a day delivering the biggest benefits. The conclusion: it's not sitting itself that's the main problem — it's not compensating for it.
💊 Meet Peri — the world's first wearable designed for perimenopause
For a condition that affects every woman on earth, perimenopause has spent a remarkable amount of time being dismissed, misdiagnosed and misunderstood. That may finally be changing — and the technology is starting to catch up. Peri is the world's first wearable designed specifically for perimenopause: an adhesive sensor patch worn on the torso that tracks temperature, heart rate, stress signals and movement to identify patterns linked to hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disruption and anxiety, syncing with an app for personalised insights over time. It launched at $449. The category is long overdue a dedicated technology.
🧠 Nervous system regulation is officially the wellness trend of the year — and the products are catching up
If your social media feed has been full of vagus nerve content lately, you're not imagining it. Nervous system regulation has moved from niche wellness conversation to a full-blown product category — and brands are responding fast.
Pulsetto uses low-level electrical stimulation to activate the vagus nerve directly, targeting stress, anxiety and sleep. SONA — which regular listeners will recognise from a recent episode — uses sound and vibration therapy to support nervous system regulation and recovery, and has kindly offered The Health Review listeners 15% off using code THR at checkout.
These devices sit alongside a growing wave of breathwork apps, somatic movement classes and sound therapy offerings all working toward the same goal: helping an overstimulated nervous system find its way back to calm.
Why We're All Going Back to Our Bodies: The Rise of Somatic Healing
If you've been curious about breathwork, ecstatic dance or somatic therapy but not entirely sure what any of it means or why it's suddenly everywhere — this piece is for you. Somatic therapies — body-based healing practices — are booming, with the global market projected to grow at 17.5% annually through to 2032. The word somatic comes from the Greek word soma, meaning body, and the core idea is simple: healing doesn't only happen in the mind. It happens in the body too.
The science behind this has been building for decades, but is finally reaching the mainstream. Three frameworks in particular have reshaped how we understand trauma: Somatic Experiencing, developed by Dr Peter Levine; Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr Stephen Porges; and the work of psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, whose book The Body Keeps the Score spent years on bestseller lists and gave millions of people language for something they'd always felt but couldn't explain — that trauma lives in the body, not just the memory.
The reason body-based practices are thought to help comes down to the nervous system. When we experience something overwhelming, the body activates a survival response — fight, flight or freeze. If that experience is never fully processed, the nervous system can remain in a state of chronic activation long after the danger has passed, showing up as tension, poor sleep, gut issues, anxiety, or that persistent sense of never being quite switched off. Somatic practices work by gently helping the nervous system complete those responses and return to a state of safety — a process supported by a growing body of clinical research, even if the precise mechanisms are still being studied. Breathwork activates the vagus nerve directly, shifting the body from fight-or-flight into its rest-and-repair state. Chanting and toning do the same through vibration in the throat and chest — which is why every spiritual tradition on earth has used the voice as medicine. Ecstatic dance allows the body to move through and release what talk therapy often can't reach.
What I find most compelling about this moment is that none of these ideas are new. Ancient cultures understood the body as central to healing — ecstatic ritual, communal chanting, ceremonial movement were not entertainment, they were medicine. What's new is the science catching up, and a generation that has tried all the talking, taken all the medication, and is still not well, looking back to what humans have always instinctively known. I spoke to Soulla Demetriou, a trauma-informed somatic and transformational coach, about all of this in this week's episode — and it's one of those conversations that’s stuck with me, and I hope it will for you too. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
This feature is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own doctor before making changes to your health.
You Have Always Been Enough — Healing Trauma, Inner Child Work & the Path to Self-Compassion | Soulla Demetriou
Most of us spend years trying to improve ourselves. But what if the problem was never who you are — it was the wounds you've been carrying without even knowing it?
In this episode of The Health Review I sit down with Soulla Demetriou — author of You Have Always Been Enough, trauma-informed somatic and transformational coach, and founder of Soulshine Retreats. Soulla's work blends Internal Family Systems, breathwork, nervous system regulation and embodiment practice to guide people through what she describes as depth-led inner work — and her book, published by HarperCollins, is one of the most compassionate and science-backed guides to healing from the inside out that I've come across.
Soulla shares her own journey through anxiety, trauma and the long road back to herself — and what she found along the way that changed everything. This isn't a conversation about self-improvement. It's a conversation about self-compassion. And as Soulla shares, there is a profound difference.