How SMGI® Found Me at the Perfect Time
I wanted to share my experience with Somatic Mindful Guided Imagery® (SMGI®), along with further explanation of why this approach can be so effective, especially for people who feel like they’ve already “done the work,” yet still experience lingering symptoms.
Somatic Mindful Guided Imagery® is a gentle, body-based form of hypnotherapy that works with the subconscious mind, the nervous system, and the body’s innate intelligence. Rather than relying on cognitive processing alone, this approach allows healing to unfold through sensation, imagery, and internal awareness, meeting the body where it is, instead of forcing insight or harsh catharsis.
What’s less commonly discussed is that SMGI® also draws from ancient healing traditions, including shamanic principles such as soul retrieval. In shamanic understanding, trauma can cause parts of our essence, vitality, or life force to “split off”, fragment or “go offline” as a survival mechanism. This isn’t something that is “wrong” with us- it’s actually a brilliant solution that helps us survive whatever is in front of us at the time.
From this perspective, symptoms like anxiety, depression, chronic fear, or sleep disturbances can be signals that aspects of the self are still holding unresolved experiences. Somatic work creates a safe internal environment where these parts can be gently located, supported, and reintegrated, without needing to relive trauma in a conscious or verbal way.
I’ve lived with anxiety and depression since childhood and experienced multiple traumatic events from early life through my late teens. Over the years, I explored many healing modalities. While they were helpful in different ways, certain symptoms persisted.
When I began SMGI®, my external life felt stable. I was happily married and generally content. However, I was experiencing severe sleep disturbances. I was waking up at the same time every night screaming, and this was happening almost daily. These episodes were deeply disruptive for both me and my household.
From a somatic and shamanic lens, this made sense. Even though my life appeared to be stable in the present, my nervous system and subconscious mind were still operating from past survival patterns. Parts of my self that once helped me endure what was happening at the time were still waiting to be seen, acknowledged, and brought back into wholeness.
After learning about SMGI® through a friend, I decided to do six sessions. I set a clear intention before each session, and each session unfolded in a way that felt deeply respectful of where I was at. The work was gentle, non-invasive, and led by my own inner wisdom.
Around the fourth session, my husband commented on how much better my sleep had become! It was at that point I realized the nightly episodes had completely stopped. Rather than forcing change, the process allowed my system to naturally reorganize and release what it no longer needed to hold.
Beyond the improvement in sleep, this work helped me reconnect with my core essence, and because I had reintegrated parts of myself that had previously been stuck, I had a lot more energy in general. This reconnection supported major shifts regarding my career direction, which is something that often happens when soul-level healing takes place.
Somatic Mindful Guided Imagery® doesn’t bypass the body or override the psyche. It honors both, while also acknowledging the deeper layers of healing that many people intuitively feel called toward but don’t always have language for. By integrating somatic awareness with shamanic principles like soul retrieval, the work supports healing that is not only symptom-focused, but wholeness-oriented.
Healing doesn’t always require effort or rehashing the past. Sometimes, it’s about creating the conditions for lost parts to return, the nervous system to settle, and the soul to come back online.
Happy healing.
