Somatic Yoga - What is it?

All of us have habitual patterns that we hold in our body. There can be a number of reasons for this: trauma (childbirth, a fall, etc), posture imbalances or even things like repetitive use. We are going to refer to this as guarding or holding.

In traditional yoga, we put our bodies in certain postures with specific alignment and we have a goal for that position. Maybe we are trying to create strength for example. It’s an intellectual way of approaching your practice with a goal of training the mind.

With Somatic yoga, it’s not about wrangling in the mind, it’s about turning the volume of the mind down while we turn the volume of our sensations up. We are trying to let our body guide the process through felt sensations. 

There’s a lot of primitive type movement that we often see in nature. Circular, non-linear, non-habitual, rocking and even shaking. We are disrupting the patterns or neurological pathways with a different sensation and following the movement of our intuition.

There are incredible benefits to Somatic Yoga practices:
-           Stress relief
-           Increases mobility
-           Creates new neurological pathways that can lead to better function
-           Decreases pain and stagnation
-           Increases circulation and joint lubrication
-           Enhances the mind-body connection

No props needed for this class! Enjoy!