Hypervigilance is a condition in which the nervous system inaccurately filters sensory information and the individual is in an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity. This seems to be linked to a dysregulated nervous system, often caused by traumatic events or PTSD. One way to help cope with trauma is through somatic therapy, a newer form of mental health counselling that focuses on connecting the mind and body.

The internet promised me to help me heal my trauma and most important, to finally be skinny.

Trauma hides in your body and manifests through pain, like a beeping signal that you must follow. “The Somatic Workout Plan” is a homage to a moment between a woman, her body, and her hypervigilant phone. Through social media performative antics and “survival mode” healing speeches, this project explores touch through interaction between body and content.
 

 

 
When life online becomes a performative ritual, every experience becomes a moment with potential to be commodified as content. From your happiest achievements and goals, to your deepest traumas and pains, sharing your life online becomes a re-enactment of yourself, an hyperreal version of you, as content.
 

 
The internet alerted me that I was harboring trauma in my body, causing me to gain weight. With a soft ASMR voice whispering in my ear, guiding and helping me, the internet explained that I was unhappy not only because of unresolved trauma and PTSD, but also because my body, as a self-defense mechanism, stored fat in my belly in order to survive.