About Somatic Consent

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Founder of Somatic Consent

Meet Matthias Schwenteck

Matt is a German-born citizen who has been traveling and teaching internationally since 2010.

He is a trained facilitator in the fields of Sacred Sexuality and Tantra, and has been working with different healing modalities such as counseling, guided meditation, and bodywork, for over 20 years. His sessions and teachings are grounded in a background of trauma research and neurophysiology.

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Matt considers himself a student of life, and finds himself inspired by everything that resonates with the key values of connection, transformation, and love. In his unending search for authentic experience, Matt has walked many paths, including those of Tao yoga, shamanism, and energy work. In 2011, he found his calling within somatic practices and consent, and has been studying and fine-tuning this work ever since.

Matthias developed the Somatic Consent Engagement System in 2019, and has dedicated his life to guiding thousands of people through this evolutionary process in settings that range all the way from festivals, to workshops, to professional private sessions.

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Testimonials

I actually discovered Somatic consent serendipitously. I took your online class about Touch, Shadow and Relationships because I was interested in the Shadow aspect. Your explanation of the Somatic Consent Engagement System and how it relates to our patterns of behavior when we don't get what we want or we don't say no to what we don't want really resonated with me. It helped me to understand certain passive aggressive tendencies I employ as a defense mechanism. Through Somatic Consent I feel as though I can rewire certain behaviors and reactions, I feel more connected to my true 'yes' and I feel more empowered to say no and enforce my boundaries.
Kosamalotl Heather Broussard
What drew me is a combination of the following things: simplicity via the hands, focus on sexual/life force pleasure energy, and the neuroscience with it. That combination is just so much me, it felt like finding a soulmate in approach. It is a unique combination of theoretical and practical that nourishes both the academic in me and the practical energy body worker.
Jonathan Beger
What drew me to this specific teaching is that I am working a lot on feeling myself and the full range of my emotions, a combination of releasing the pattern of needing Others to feel Self. It actually all resonates and I would love to teach about it. I think it is so important for children to learn this form early on, can you imagine a society where this is part of the basic schooling?!?
Bas van der Tang
For me it is a deeper dive into myself. I have noticed that since I started this practise a year ago I am feeling more in my body even though other practises I am doing may well also influence this. I am interested in learning more in my mind but also through embodiment. I am feeling drawn towards being rather than doing.
Lisa Cleminson Grezo
I really appreciate the lens you are using and how you are connecting tantra and your experiences/training with the polyvagal theory. I love how you reframe the idea of being selfish and how it is good and important to do that when you have boundaries and agreements in place, and safety is maintained. Everything you said about embodiment resonated with me as well, and it feels really good to be able to trust a lot of things that I had been feeling in my body for some time and didn't fully understand. I also love your humor and authenticity.
Karina Perez
It totally speaks to me too. I love the no-nonsense practical approach, that the work is holistic. That science & spirituality aren't separated & that it encompasses personal & interpersonal growth at all levels of being. Also that it doesn’t contradict any ancient teaching on spiritual growth. I think that is a good marker that the methods are aligned with higher truths.
Nina Edmondson
To slow down, to feel, experiencing activation causing a change in thoughts and behavior in normal life circumstances. Allowing to take a few minutes to go back to the basic practice of what it feels like to me. Liberation! Freedom!
Luna Hilda
What drew me specifically to this training was the direct link between experienced sensations and deep relational patterns. It is like a fun, pleasurable Sherlock Holmes path. So much vital information for life expanding options. For your work especially the combination of theory, bodywork, nervous system and attachment makes The knowledge so liberating personally.
Janne Mattson
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The History of Somatic Consent

2011

It all began with the practice of bodywork and deep listening.

In 2011 Matthias attended a practitioner training in which the students were introduced to conceptual consent work. At first, he wrote the concept off as being “too mental” and  found himself much more interested in learning true somatic techniques. But after a deeper look, Matthias found the essence behind the theory was in two key questions: “who is doing the action, and who is the action really for?” He immediately realised how crucial this understanding was for human engagement.

2011

2012

This is when the inspiration took hold.

Matthias found that although this training carried a valuable piece of the puzzle, there was something missing. The key piece lacking from this work was that true conceptual consent implies that ‘doing an action and receiving’ is not based on getting a response through an action, but rather the sensation of the action itself.

2012

2013

This is true somatic experience.

However, the more he practiced on his own, the more confused he became. Matthias fell quickly into the misconception that the pleasure he was causing another person through his actions was what he ‘should be’ aiming for – instead of feeling the sensation in his own skin (for his personal pleasure).

2013

2014

Matthias began to look for answers.

In 2014, he attended a practitioner workshop in which the concept was narrowed down to one tangible point of awareness. The dynamic of taking action and receiving could be clearly differentiated and experienced through the awareness of the sensory inflow of direct pleasure through the somatic nervous system and the skin.

2014

2014

Everything fell into place.

This led to the discovery of the infinite possibilities of exploring somatic embodiment within the domains of personal and spiritual development. Matthias had found a learning system that was not based in a system of beliefs, but rather in the individual experience of the authentic self. He became deeply motivated to facilitate this embodied understanding and provide guidance for as many people as possible. He had found a path to awakening through direct somatic experience.

2014

2014 - 2018

Teaching individuals, couples and professional practitioners internationally in “Like a Pro”

2014 - 2018

2018

Co-founding The School of Consent, facilitator and educator of consent.

2018

2019

Development of the Somatic Consent Engagement System

2019

2020

Launching Somatic Consent

Somatic Consent is making its way to a worldwide stage in which thousands of people are participating.

Be part of it – Download our App (coming soon!) or FREE PDF Handbook now.

2020

Intention

I have been on a journey of personal and spiritual development for more than 20 years.

I am a student of life and curious about what works in day-to-day encounters and on my soul’s journey of being here in this life and sharing my gifts with the world.

I am an explorer and discoverer, a pioneer of unwalked territory. I am talented at connecting dots and ideas that resonate in my cellular system, in my mind and body, and sharing this with the world in different forms.

I was one of the co-founders of the School of Consent in 2018 and co-created curriculums for courses to educate consent facilitators around the world. For five years, I was studying and embodying the somatic dynamics of consent and facilitating sessions and workshops for individuals, couples and groups, and then educating facilitators on how to teach this transformative work to others. I am proud of what we achieved and now my intention is to deepen in my teaching journey and educate about consent with my own projects here on Somatic Consent.

I am wholeheartedly dedicated to sharing this work with the world in empowering ways that serve the purpose of transformation for individuals, people and the collective.

 I am sharing here my embodied knowledge and practices of Somatic Consent through a variety of free resources, including a Student Handbook, Waking up Pleasure in Your Hands + The 3 Minute Game Online Course, and a series of videos. These resources are free of charge for anybody to access, use and share in whatever way they choose. Take a look here.

My purpose is to inspire love, connection and healthy sexuality. Wherever you are on your journey, I hope you can use the tools to deepen your experience of life.

I am looking for collaborators who are inspired to translate and facilitate this transformative work in different languages. I invite you to reach out if you are interested.

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