Somatic Yoga is a transformative practice that allows you to create a deeper connection with your body, blending movement with mindfulness for a deeper understanding of your body and better healing. It focuses on coordinating the perception within the body, releasing tension, and restoring balance to the body and mind to perform activities more easily and consciously. Somatic Yoga allows you to better nourish yourself from the inside out by focusing on inner feelings rather than outward manifestations.
What is Somatics
Derived from the Greek word for living body, Somatics is a type of movement therapy that emphasizes the training of the mind and body to slow muscle pain and spasms, achieve mind-body balance and improve asanas, and increase flexibility in movement. The practice was created by Thomas Hanna in the 1970s. Hanna believed that the body responds to stress and trauma in everyday life through specific muscle reflexes that lead to involuntary, habitual contractions or movements that cause stiffness and pain.
How traditional yoga differs from somatic yoga
While traditional yoga styles and practices focus on harmonizing the external body, somatic yoga advocates that people improve their bodies through inner exploration.
Traditional yoga (Hatha yoga, vinyasa yoga, Ashtanga yoga) strengthens and stretches the body in an effort to tame the mind in order to attain the otherworldly state (Samadhi). Somatic Yoga works by activating your innate, initial healing energy, resting the “thinking” mind in order to heal yourself of past forced asanas or wounds, and treats the body as an important tool.
Traditional yoga tends to use common body asanas and arrangements of the body.
Somatic Yoga, on the other hand, uses nature’s shapes (circles, vibrations, and waves) to create new neural pathways in the brain through non-linear and non-habitual movements.
Traditional yoga domesticates the mind through meditation, chanting, and structured movements.
Somatic Yoga aims to bypass linear thinking and improve sensation and depth.
How somatic yoga works: Contractions and breathing
We learn about ourselves through movement because movement is the result of the brain and nervous system communicating with the muscles. Your nervous system is also heavily influenced by the way you breathe. Somatic Yoga combines a form of movement called Pandiculation with your breathing.
From a neurological perspective, pandiculation involves contractions of tension that is already present, then a slow extension and complete release. This is a biological function in the body that resets muscle length and acts on sensorimotor levels. Just like our pets, we unconsciously retract our movements every time we yawn. If you have a pet, you’ve no doubt seen them reince every time they get up during a break.
Listen to how your body feels
In somatic yoga, the natural contracting, expanding, and relaxing Spaces during the breathing cycle are seen as constricting movements within the body. We learn to self-regulate the nervous system by synchronizing our instinctive breathing needs with the physical contractions of our muscles. When you close your eyes and enter the mind-body space, you will find more sensations.
Body Flow is an integrated practice that nourishes the mind and body, incorporating yoga therapy, slow and conscious mind and body movements to achieve mind and body healing by increasing awareness of the body.
Somatic Yoga is different from stretching, which can be painful and short-lived. Somatic Yoga uses constricting exercise techniques to reset the optimal length of muscles at rest, thereby relieving chronic tension and pain. This restorative asana sequence, called body Flow, is ideal for soothing stiff muscles, relieving pain, and improving poor posture and flexibility in a way that is superior and safer than stretching.
Principles of body flow Yoga practice
1. Have sensory awareness: How does your body feel? Notice any areas of tension, discomfort, or ease. This awareness is fundamental to the practice of somatic yoga.
2. Move slowly and intently: Somatic Yoga practices often involve slow movements that prioritize internal perception over external expression. Each movement brings you into the present moment and is an opportunity to explore and discover yourself.
3. Focus on your breath: Your breath is your power. Conscious breathing deepens awareness, releases tension, and promotes integration of the mind and body.
4. Observe without judgment: Listen to your body by observing how you feel without judgment or having to force yourself into any particular shape or position!! This non-judgmental attitude promotes the development of self-awareness! This non-judgmental attitude promotes self-awareness and reduces the risk of injury.
5. Explore and play: Body movements encourage an attitude of curiosity and play. This attitude encourages you to move at your own pace and rediscover your body’s potential. Think about how children move their bodies, whether for fun or for frustration. They all explore making their own movements and letting the energy flow through the body at will.
6. Incorporate into your daily life: Apply the insights you gain from practicing yoga beyond the mat. Bring mindfulness practices and body awareness into your daily routine and use this mind-body connection to build your physical strength.
Practice techniques for somatic Yoga
To make your yoga practice a more profound body experience, you can try the following techniques to incorporate into your daily practice:
Talk to your mind: Before practicing, speak softly about how you feel while touching your heart with one hand and your belly with the other to connect with your inner self.
Touch yourself: Break the taboo about touch and soothe the nervous system by touching yourself.
For example, while sitting on your heels, put your hands on your thighs and caresses them.
Spiral twist: Gently turn parts of your body, such as your hips, wrists, ankles, and even your head and neck, with a spiral twist to promote circulation and flexibility.
Clench and Release: Increase the body’s perception by clenching and then unclenching your fists, feet, and legs.
Free flow: Draws inspiration from traditional yoga asanas, but is not strictly limited by them.
Guide your body with “relaxation” and “relaxation” to encourage natural flow.
Rise and fall like a wave: In specific asanas such as spinal flexion, cat-bull pose, or wide-legged forward fold, imagine your body rising and falling like a wave to enhance the fluidity and depth of your movements.
Sound therapy: Using sound for self-healing, whether it’s singing, chanting, humming or Shouting, can help process emotions and release energy in the body.
Shaking the body: Gently shaking the limbs and the whole body at the beginning or end of the movement helps to relax the muscles and increase the overall perception of the body.