The term
somatic refers to the
body, as distinct from some other entity, such as the
mind. The word comes from the
Greek word Σωματικóς (
Somatikòs), meaning "of the body". It has different meanings in various disciplines. In
neurobiology,
somatic can be an adjective referring to the
soma, the part of the
neuron containing the
cell nucleus. In
anatomy,
somatic can refer to the part of the
nervous system that controls voluntary movement and sensation and judges relative effort and weight, called
proprioception. Additionally,
somatic muscles are basically those of the musculo-skeletal system.
[1] In
genetics,
somatic can refer to a cell or tissue that resides outside the germline (see
somatic cell). For example, a
somatic mutation cannot be transmitted to descendants in animals. In the
philosophy of education, certain ideas that have to do with the body and the mind have been called
somatics. According to the originator of this usage of the term, "somatic awareness allows a person to glean wisdom from within".
[2] The usage of
somatic as put forth by
Thomas Hanna implies a truly integrated mind/body/spirit nature of humans. Thus far, the popular usage of this term has not fully realized this meaning, and a mind-body dualism still often occurs in disciplines describing themselves as somatic.
