Healing the Painful Meaning: How Somatic Inquiry Unravels Judgment, Separation, and Suffering

“We are rarely suffering from our experience. We are suffering from the meaning we give it.”

Humans are natural meaning-makers. Every sensation, emotion, interaction, or event becomes interpreted, often instantly and unconsciously. These interpretations shape how we see ourselves, our relationships, and the world.

But the meanings we create are not neutral.

They often distort reality and amplify suffering.

Somatic Inquiry proposes a liberating perspective:

The sensation, emotion, or event is rarely the problem.

The problem is the meaning attached to it.

Meaning Creates Physiological Contraction

Consider how quickly the mind can turn a simple sensation into a threat:

• A tight chest becomes “I’m unsafe.”

• A sad feeling becomes “something is wrong with me.”

• A bodily symptom becomes “this is dangerous.”

• A facial expression becomes “they’re unhappy with me.”

Meaning and sensation fuse together, creating contraction, fear, and emotional pressure. Over time, these judgments build internal walls that separate us from connection, peace, and self-trust.

Somatic Inquiry brings attention to this process so we can see the difference between what is actually happening and what we believe is happening.

The Transformative Power of Questioning

Instead of pushing thoughts away or trying to “think positively,” Somatic Inquiry invites gentle questioning:

• What am I believing right now?

• What does this belief produce in my body?

• What does it protect me from?

• Who would I be in this moment without this interpretation?

This is not about forcing new beliefs.

It’s about discovering what remains when painful meaning dissolves.

Without the judgment, people often describe the same experience:

a sense of openness, neutrality, clarity, and peace.

Forgiveness as Internal Release

Forgiveness is reframed not as an act we give to another person, but as a release of the inner narrative that keeps us bound to pain.

Forgiveness is the softening of the grip on the story about what something “means.”

It is the moment when separation ends and the heart is allowed to turn inward again.

By letting go of the meaning, not the memory, Somatic Inquiry reveals that life is far kinder than the judgments we carry about it.