The Stories Our Bodies Remember: Turning Somatic Memories into Seeds

Lately, I’ve been learning a lot about somatic memories — the way our bodies store experiences, not just in our minds but in our muscles, breath, and heartbeat. For the past week, my focus was on the negative side of this. I saw how old wounds and stressful moments and memories from childhood can stay tucked away inside us and without us knowing it, influencing how we feel and react even years later - even today. 

Today I started to think that if healing somatic memories is so powerful, imagine how powerful the positive somatic memories can be!  Somatic memories can just as powerfully hold joy, safety, and belonging. A library of good memories so to speak.  Somatic simply means “relating to the body” — especially the physical sensations, movements, and experiences you can feel.

It reminded me of how many amazing memories I have of my own childhood, especialy when it comes to books, reading and tucking myself away to escape to a whole new world in a book.  Positive somatic meories These aren’t just passing thoughts — they’re felt memories. They live in the nervous system as anchors of calm.  Cool eh!

When I look back, I can see the safe places from my childhood. Times when I felt connected, protected, and loved. My body remembers those moments too — a warm hug, a laugh with incredible friends, a sunny afternoon walking home from Paremata Beach with our music going on our ghetto blaster!  Playing knuckle bones with my friends at school AND reading books... so many books... As I learnt about somatic memories, I learnt that these memories are treasures stored inside my physical body, not just my memories, and they’re just as real as the more sad or traumatic memories.

As I thought about this while I was driving today I that’s when it clicked for me: Children’s books have the power to create positive somatic memories!

When a little one reads one of my stories curled up next to Mum or Dad, or listens to a teacher’s voice bringing the characters to life, they aren’t just absorbing the words. They’re building using their imagination and creating memories of adventure, warmth, safety, and hope. The bright colours, the rhythm of the sentences, even the feel of the book in their hands — it all becomes part of the memory.

That’s why the themes in my books — courage, kindness, friendship, belonging — aren’t just lessons for the mind. They’re seeds planted in the heart and body. A story like The Lovely Little Ladybird (Friendship theme) might one day come rushing back to a child in the form of a smile when they see a ladybird in the garden. My Kiwi Garden might return to them in the feel of grass under bare feet in their own Kiwi Garden . These are the good memories that can help them feel safe even in a storm - and that is very cool!

So I’m learning to hold somatic memories differently. The negative ones still matter — they need compassion and healing — but the positive ones deserve just as much attention. They’re the reminders that our bodies can hold on to love just as tightly as they hold on to fear.

And maybe, through my stories, I can help fill a few more “memory shelves” with moments that feel like home.