What is Somatic Yoga?

Somatic yoga combines traditional yoga, emphasising body awareness and mindful movement. This practice encourages a deeper connection with your body, fostering a greater understanding of physical sensations and emotions. Somatic yoga helps release tension and promote overall well-being by focusing on the body’s wisdom.

By incorporating slow, intentional movements, somatic yoga asks practitioners to notice how their bodies feel in each pose. Or, strictly speaking, how your body feels in movement, as it’s not the pose that is important; we’re not trying to make a shape and call it that. This is inherent in the Scaravelli approach to yoga I teach. This attentive approach nurtures a strong mind-body connection, which is essential for enhancing physical health and emotional balance. Regular practitioners often find their stress levels reduced and their body’s flexibility improved.

As more people discover this mindful practice, somatic yoga is transforming how we engage with our bodies. Whether seeking relaxation, healing, or simply a new way to move, somatic yoga offers something meaningful for everyone. I recently came across an article in the Standard for stressed Londoners that shares this approach’s different view from a traditional hatha yoga route.

Key Takeaways

• Somatic yoga enhances body awareness through mindful movements
• It fosters a strong mind-body connection for improved well-being
• Regular practice can lead to reduced stress and increased flexibility

Understanding Somatic Movement

Focusing on the internal feelings of movement rather than external results makes us learn new skills more consciously. As I often explain to my students, we cannot learn something new if we aren’t aware of what we’re doing.

What is Somatics?

Somatics is an umbrella term for lots of different practices and involves tuning in to how something feels. Caz Holmes, a bodywork therapist and embodiment facilitator in London who runs Embodied State, explains, “‘Soma’ means the body. So a somatic practice is body-led movement that helps you tune into how you’re feeling — physically and emotionally. Our bodies hold onto stress, tension, and emotions from daily life, so it allows you to feel and move through them, releasing what’s stuck rather than letting it build up.”

The Role of the Nervous System

The nervous system significantly impacts how we experience movement. Somatic exercises focus on calming and regulating this system, helping to reduce stress and promote relaxation.

When you move, your body’s receptors send detailed messages about your positions and actions to your brain. Your brain processes these messages and works with your vision, nervous system, and vestibular system, creating your perception of where your body is and how you’re moving. The brain interprets this information as feelings or sensations—what we might call the “felt sense.”

Somatic practices allow you to explore movement patterns, helping you recognise tension or discomfort in your body. By tuning into these sensations, you can learn to release stored stress and trauma.

Mindful Movements Explained

A somatic movement is an action performed consciously to focus on the movement’s internal feelings rather than its external results. This approach to movement uses the principles of proprioception (the sense of where parts of our body are located) and kinesthesia (the understanding of what our body feels like).

Proprioceptive information comes primarily from the receptors in our joints, tendons, ligaments, skin, and muscles. These receptors tell the brain where our limbs are located. Kinesthetic information comes from receptors in our muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, blood vessels, and nerves.

Through gentle and deliberate actions, you learn to identify areas of tension and discomfort. This process transforms movement into a therapeutic tool, allowing the body to express itself naturally and facilitate emotional and physical healing.

Developing Body Awareness

Developing body awareness is crucial in somatic movement. It enables you to connect with your physical self, improving emotional clarity. This awareness emerges through the ‘noticing’ of the experience, consistent in the practice of somatic exercise—slow, deliberate movements that encourage exploration of the body’s sensations.

As you engage in these practices, you start recognising habitual patterns of tension and relaxation. This enhanced awareness fosters a deeper connection to your emotions, promoting trust in your body’s signals. Continuous practice transforms how you navigate physical and emotional challenges, leading to a more harmonious relationship with yourself.

Key Benefits of Practicing Somatic Yoga

Practising somatic yoga provides multiple advantages, from enhancing flexibility to promoting emotional well-being. Unlike traditional yoga classes that might rush through 20-plus poses, somatic yoga emphasises quality over quantity, allowing time to notice kinesthetic sensations in the body.

Enhancing Flexibility and Mobility

Somatic yoga encourages gentle movements that allow the body to explore its full range of motion. This practice improves flexibility not by lengthening muscle tissue (as muscle fibres always retract to the same length) but by reducing tension patterns and improving your nervous system’s comfort with a specific range of motion.

Since we practice finding skeletal support and reducing the transitional speed of movement from one physical posture to the next, the large muscle groups need to work less. With that reduction in effort, they relax, releasing muscular tension. Each movement is performed slowly and mindfully, improving mobility and preventing injuries from abrupt movements. The combination of focused awareness and slow motion promotes better muscle coordination, increased range of motion, and enhanced joint health.

Stress Reduction and Relaxation

One of the most significant benefits of somatic yoga is its ability to promote stress relief. Through mindful breathing and movement, you can enter a state of relaxation that’s essential in today’s fast-paced world.

As you tune into your body, you learn to recognise stress responses and consciously release tension rather than hold onto it. Somatic yoga can effectively lower cortisol levels, improving both mental health and emotional stability. Through this relaxing experience, you’ll often feel more at ease and centred.

Emotional and Trauma Healing

Somatic yoga goes beyond physical movement; it’s also a tool for emotional healing. The practice encourages you to connect with your feelings and body sensations. This connection can be crucial if you’ve experienced trauma, as it allows you to process emotions in a safe environment.

By exploring bodily sensations, you can confront and release stored emotions. This aspect of somatic yoga provides a unique opportunity for trauma healing and offers a pathway to self-discovery and acceptance.

Physical Alignment and Posture Improvements

Practising somatic yoga promotes better alignment and posture.

Practising somatic yoga promotes better alignment and posture. Poor posture can lead to discomfort and chronic pain, impacting daily life. You learn how to sit and stand correctly through mindful movements and awareness.

Movement exercises target areas that often hold tension, such as the shoulders and lower back, creating a more balanced body structure. Improved posture not only promotes physical well-being but also enhances self-confidence.

Integration of Body and Mind

Like all yoga practices, Somatic yoga emphasises the deep connection between body and mind. This integration is essential for personal expression and emotional regulation. Key practices include breathwork, grounding techniques, and fostering mindfulness, each crucial in achieving balance and self-awareness.

Breathwork and Its Importance

Breathwork is fundamental to somatic yoga. Conscious breathing helps you connect with your inner self and cultivate heightened awareness of physical sensations and emotions.

This practice facilitates emotional regulation, enabling you to manage stress and anxiety more effectively. Techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing promote relaxation. When you slow your breathing, you invite calmness into your body and mind, reducing feelings of panic or overwhelm.

The Concept of Grounding

Grounding techniques help establish a strong sense of stability. This practice involves paying attention to physical sensations and anchoring yourself in the present moment.

Common grounding exercises include feeling the earth beneath your feet or noticing the support of a chair. Connecting with the physical environment cultivates self-awareness and mindfulness.

Grounding also encourages emotional regulation, allowing you to respond to stress with calm. These techniques can help you develop a deeper understanding of your emotions and reactions, providing insight into personal triggers and fostering a healthier approach to emotional challenges.

Fostering Mindfulness and Self-Awareness

Mindfulness is core to somatic yoga. It promotes awareness of thoughts, emotions, and body sensations. By practising mindfulness, you learn to observe your experiences without judgment.

This observation enhances self-awareness, allowing you to understand your physical and emotional states better. Recognising subtle changes in feelings or tensions can illuminate personal patterns and responses.

When we practice somatically, the emphasis shifts from achieving an outcome (like a perfect posture or shape) to experiencing the process. Learning is most efficient and beneficial when we focus on the experiences involved, treating each movement as new.

Implementing a Somatic Yoga Practice

Creating a successful somatic yoga practice begins with understanding its essential principles. ‘Soma’ means body, and a somatic practice is fundamentally about body-led movement that helps you tune into how you’re feeling — both physically and emotionally. It’s not about what movement you’re doing but rather the felt sense of that movement. Any movement can become a somatic practice when you bring your attention to the internal experience.

Think of it this way: if we emphasise the mindfulness of being present while slowly moving from one position to another, like transitioning from child’s pose through cat-cow to downward-facing dog, we’re engaging in somatic yoga. The form of the movement matters less than your awareness of how it feels from the inside.

The Dance of Space and Release

1. Make Space

As you inhale, you create internal Space. This isn’t just about filling your lungs with air; it’s a whole-body experience:

• Eight primary muscles engage, including the diaphragm and intercostal muscles
• Your ribcage expands, and the diaphragm lowers, creating Space within your torso
• The natural kyphotic curve of your thoracic spine is momentarily accentuated

2. Meet Space

At the peak of your inhalation, your internal Space meets the Space around you:

• Your body is in its most expanded state
• You’re physically and energetically reaching out to your environment
• This is a moment of potential, balance, and connection

3. Release

As you exhale, you release back to your centre:

• The respiratory muscles relax
• The thoracic spine gently straightens, reducing its natural kyphotic curve
• Tension built during inhalation dissipates
• You settle back into your “heart space”, your core essence

The Physiological Ballet

Understanding the physical processes can deepen your practice:

1. Breath as the Initiator: Your breath drives this cycle of expansion and contraction
2. Spinal Movement: The subtle straightening of your thoracic spine during exhalation is key to this practice
3. Floating Spine: In a position like all-fours, your spine naturally “floats” between the shoulder girdles and pelvis, allowing for unrestricted movement in the spine and a felt sense of how to feel “Gravity” through your outward breath and the sense of your weight, touching the ground.

Deepening Your Understanding

This principle of Space and release is fundamental to the Scaravelli approach. As you practice, you may notice:

• Increased awareness of subtle spinal movements, especially during exhalation
• A sense of expansiveness followed by comforting release and lengthening
• Improved spinal mobility and overall flexibility

But the benefits go much deeper:

• Force Through Bones: You’ll begin to feel the force through your arms and legs, primarily through your bones. This allows you to truly rest through your skeletal structure.
• Muscular Release: As you learn to rest through your bones, your larger muscles can release. They’re no longer working as hard, which leads to a profound sense of ease in your body.
• Connective Tissue Response: This shift in muscular engagement affects your connective tissues, allowing for a more fluid and responsive body.
• Renewal With Each Breath: The release you experience is felt as a renewal. Each breath cycle offers a chance to refresh and renew your entire being.
• Heightened Awareness: This approach requires you to be very aware, yet paradoxically, to “do” very little. It’s about sensing and allowing rather than forcing or striving.
• Somatic Experience: The Scaravelli approach is deeply somatic, meaning it’s based on your internal experience rather than external form. You’re learning to listen to and work with your body’s innate wisdom.

Remember, this practice is not about achieving a particular shape or pose. It’s about discovering a new way of being in your body – one that’s characterised by ease, awareness, and constant renewal.

Creating a successful somatic yoga practice involves understanding essential poses, tailoring sessions to personal needs, and providing guidance for beginners. The key is to remember that any physical activity can be considered a somatic movement if done slowly and consciously, concentrating on the internal experience.

Creating a Responsive Practice

Tailoring a somatic yoga practice to individual needs is crucial to listening to the body and adjusting movements accordingly. Consider:

• Personalised Guidance: Attending classes with experienced instructors can help refine movements and techniques
• Using props: Incorporating items like bolsters, blocks, or straps can enhance comfort and stability
• Setting Intentions: Beginning each session with a personal intention makes the practice more meaningful

Creating a responsive practice allows you to explore your unique body and improve attention to internal sensations.

Guidance for Beginners

For those new to somatic yoga, starting slowly is vital:

• Familiarise with a Yoga Mat: Practicing on a mat provides a defined space to feel stable
• Focus on Breath: Connecting the breath with movement deepens the body-mind experience
• Be Patient: Emphasise gradual progress and listen to your body

Joining beginner-friendly classes provides valuable support. Engaging with a community fosters growth and encourages a deeper understanding of somatic yoga.

Differences Between Traditional Yoga and Somatic Yoga

Understanding the differences between traditional yoga and somatic practices provides valuable context for your practice.

Historical Context

Traditional yoga is based on Patanjali’s philosophy, which emphasises self-discipline, concentration, meditation, and introspection. The Yoga Sutras, written over 2,000 years ago, explain how one could achieve spiritual liberation through self-study and contemplation.

Modern postural yoga, by contrast, is relatively recent—beginning in the late 1800s with Swami Vivekananda. It’s an amalgamation of body movements, physical culture, neo-Vedanta, and new ageism. Early pioneers in India worked hard to sell it as a practical health system.

Approach to Practice

Traditional yoga focuses more on asceticism—transforming the human experience into something otherworldly. Modern yoga, including somatic approaches, emphasises health and well-being for the practitioner.

As Kuvalayananda, one of the early modern yoga pioneers, noted: “Yoga aims at restoring the internal secretions to their normality by securing the health of the endocrine organs through Yoga practices.”

Somatic yoga goes beyond traditional practices by emphasising exploratory movement. While improving posture or specific movements is important, the focus remains on the intentional experience of each action rather than the final outcome. Vanda Scaravelli’s approach promotes a heightened awareness of what it feels like to “do yoga.” She encourages us to listen to our bodies, and since her practice is less centred on specific postures, it aligns perfectly with the principles of somatic yoga.

This section addresses common questions about somatic yoga, including its techniques, differences from traditional yoga, benefits, and ways for beginners to get started.

What are the techniques used in somatic yoga?

Somatic yoga employs gentle, mindful movements to enhance body awareness. Techniques include slow stretching, conscious breathing, and various postures focusing on internal sensations. Practitioners learn to tune in to their bodies, promoting a more profound connection during each movement.

How does somatic yoga differ from traditional yoga?

Somatic yoga places greater emphasis on internal awareness rather than external alignment. While traditional yoga often prioritises achieving specific poses, somatic yoga encourages you to listen to your body. This mindful approach allows for a more personal and intuitive practice.

What benefits can one expect from practising somatic yoga?

Practising somatic yoga can improve flexibility and decrease muscle tension. Many experience enhanced body awareness, reduced stress levels, and an increased sense of calm. This method may also aid in emotional release, contributing to mental well-being.

How can beginners start learning somatic yoga?

Beginners can start with gentle classes focused on somatic principles. Many studios offer introductory sessions that emphasise mindful movement and body awareness. Online resources, including videos and guided classes, can also be helpful for those starting at home.

In what ways does somatic yoga influence overall well-being?

Somatic yoga promotes relaxation and stress reduction, enhancing overall mental health. The practice encourages a better connection between mind and body, leading to improved emotional regulation. This holistic approach supports personal growth and self-discovery.

Can somatic yoga contribute to weight management?

While somatic yoga is not primarily a weight-loss method, it can promote healthier lifestyle choices. Increasing body awareness may make you more attuned to your physical needs, potentially leading to better eating habits and more conscious movement.