Somatic Yoga: Discover Benefits and Techniques

YesA truly relaxing and meditative experience is surprisingly hard to find these days. (If you’ve ever done bicep curls in a yoga class, you know what I’m talking about.) And while there is a place for yoga classes that are more like interval training, sometimes you need a practice that allows you to slow down and reset settings.

One of the antidotes to yoga trends that make your heart race (eg.snake yoga– yes, you read correctly) is somatic yoga, a practice that combines somatic movements– where you focus on how the exercise makes you feel, moving your body as gently and compassionately as possible – and yoga poses, and it emphasizes mind-body connection.

But what is somatic yoga and what makes it different from the activities you’re probably more familiar with? We asked two veteran teachers to explain and share the benefits of this unique practice.

Okay, seriously, what is somatic yoga?

Somatic yoga classes typically include yoga poses you already know, as well as somatic exercises, which are usually simple small movements aimed at increasing awareness within the body.

But in somatic yoga there is often not so much of this. What you make it unique, but How you do it. “We practice staying focused on what we’re doing throughout the entire practice,” says Lisa Tatham Flynnteacher from New York, certified in Hannah Somatic Education And trauma-informed yoga therapy. “It’s a first-person, internal, lived-experience practice,” unlike some other types of yoga where you can be focused on your body from the outside in.

Not all somatic yoga classes look the same, and different teachers may have different approaches (for example, some may include elements of yoga therapy or Feldenkrais Method). But here are a few ways in which somatic yoga practice may differ from other forms of yoga.

1. It’s about how you feel, not about achieving posture.

Unlike other forms of yoga, where the focus may be on achieving a pose or movement with the correct form or full force, in somatic yoga the actual shapes the body creates are not as important, he says. Armen Menechyanteacher from Los Angeles, specializing in yoga therapy and somatic practices, founder Pure Joy.

“There is no right way your posture should look,” Menechian says. Instead, somatic yoga encourages movement in a range that is comfortable for your body and approaches movement with a sense of playfulness and exploration.

2. You will likely spend a lot of time on the floor.

Menechyan often spends the first thirty to forty minutes of classes on the floor, moving from a relaxed, lying position. In Hannah’s Somatic Yoga, which Flynn teaches, students relax on the floor between poses, taking a minute to “notice the sensory feedback created by the movement,” she says. “Information flows from your skin, muscles, joints, bones and your peripheral nervous system to your sensory cortex, and your motor cortex uses it to help you make whatever movement you make next.”

3. It is not focused on stretching.

For some people, yoga is essentially synonymous with stretching. But in somatic yoga, “we don’t stretch,” Flynn says. In fact, rather than focusing on the lengthening side of the movement (i.e. the back during cow pose), somatic yoga focuses on the contracting side of the movement (i.e. the abdominals in cow pose).

The idea is that “by focusing attention on the contracting side of the movement, we use our nervous system to prevent the lengthening side from contracting, so it lengthens without stretching,” Flynn says.

4. Most of your practice happens in your head.

Hannah Somatic Yoga teaches that students should visualize doing a pose before actually doing it. “When you do visualization, your premotor cortex sends what’s called a motor plan to your body, letting your muscles know what they need to do,” says Flynn. What if there is a pose that you cannot do or that simply is not in your practice that day? “Do it in your imagination,” she says.

“Somatic yoga encourages movement within limits that are comfortable for your body.” —Armen Menechyan, somatic yoga teacher

Benefits of Somatic Yoga That Will Convince You to Try It

1. Renewal of dormant muscles

“Most of us have places where we suffer from sensorimotor amnesia,” Flynn says. “You lose track of what the muscle feels like and what it does.” She says we can feel it as a range of motion that is limited and doesn’t improve no matter how much we stretch it. Somatic yoga helps re-engage and reset these muscles, she says.

2. Sealing control

Flynn says somatic yoga can help your body learn to relax the muscles it normally contracts. “Your nervous system works 24/7 to support these contractions, so if you think of your brain as a computer, you have less bandwidth,” she says. “It affects sleep, and if you have tight abdominal muscles, as many of us do, it’s likely to affect your digestion and breathing.”

3. Improved mind-body connection

“I think the biggest advantage is that my head and my heart are in sync and I don’t neglect my body,” Menechian says. Flynn compares the idea of ​​unifying the mind and body to a sixth sense. “You tune in, you develop this sixth sense that gives you an idea of ​​where you are at any given moment,” she says. “When you have the capacity for internal control, you have the capacity for self-regulation and self-healing.”

4. Output from the sympathetic nervous system

Flynn says somatic yoga can help practitioners shift from the sympathetic nervous system, where your body is activated and stressed, to the parasympathetic nervous system, where your body is relaxed and conserves energy. “You won’t stay there all the time—life means there are times when you need to step up,” she says. “But you won’t stay activated—you’ll reboot.”

5. Mental and physical relief.

“If I’ve had a stressful day, working out will bring me home to my body,” Menechian says. “If there are any symptoms of anxiety or depression, this will give me the opportunity to see them more clearly. When it comes to chronic pain and fatigue, this results in less nerve inflammation and inflammation throughout the body, so the pain is reduced many times over.” (Check out these somatic exercises for depression.)

5 Somatic Yoga Poses You Should Try

Flynn emphasizes that the principles of somatic yoga can be applied to any yoga pose and any style of yoga. Here she shares some somatic exercises, as well as how to approach several common poses from a somatic yoga perspective.

1. Shoulder lift

1. Kneel with your palms on your upper thighs, or sit in a position that is most comfortable for you.
2. Slowly raise your shoulders up, tilting your head back slightly.
3. Then, even more slowly and with control, allow your shoulders to release from gravity and your head to move forward to a neutral position.
4. Repeat three times.

2. Lying crunch

1. Lie on your back, bend your knees and place your feet on the floor at a comfortable distance from each other. (If you experience lower back pain, try spreading your legs.)
2. Extend your arms out to the sides in a T shape and carefully turn them over so that one palm is facing the floor and the other is facing the ceiling.
3. Slowly turn your head so that you are looking at your palm facing up and slide your knees towards your palm facing the floor, keeping your feet flat on the ground and moving only as far as is comfortable.
4. Repeat the exercise carefully.
5. Continue slowly alternating movements from side to side for about three cycles, then return to the neutral position.

3. Tree Pose (Vrikshasana)

1. Start standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms at your sides.
2. Inhale to lengthen your spine, then exhale to shift your weight to your left leg.
3. Place the sole of your right foot against the inside of your left ankle, then slide the sole of your right foot up the inside of your left leg as far as you can.
4. Inhale and gently open your chest. As you exhale, press your foot and inner leg together to stay centered and strong.
5. Place your palms together in front of your heart in a prayer position. (If necessary, you can hold on to something for added stability.)
6. Stay here for a few breaths, then repeat on the other side.
7. After working on each side, return to the floor in a relaxed position and scan your body, noticing how the pose affected you.

4. Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)

1. Lying on your stomach, first visualize performing a cobra.
2. Then bend your elbows so that your arms are pointing forward.
3. Straighten your spine as you inhale, using your back, not your arms.
4. Count to three, then exhale as you slowly lower yourself back to the floor.
5. Repeat three times.
6. Then place your hands under your forehead and rest, breathing deeply and noticing how you might feel differently.

5. Legs up

1. Lie on your back and before doing this, visualize performing the following pose.
2. Bend your knees to place your feet on the floor.
3. Using your abdominal and hip flexors, pull your knees toward your chest.
4. Slowly extend your legs toward the ceiling, focusing on the front of your body.
5. Remain in this position for eight breaths, counting “Om one, Om two, Om three, Om four” as you inhale and the same as you exhale.
6. Slowly and steadily bend your knees to place your feet back on the ground, then walk your legs out.
7. Take a moment to relax and notice any sensory feedback created by this pose.

How to Know if Somatic Yoga is Right for You

According to Flynn, everyone can benefit from somatic yoga, but she recommends it especially for those who feel stuck in their yoga practice or have become injured trying other forms of yoga. “It’s a practice that you can do and you’re in control,” she says. “You can determine which version is right for you.” She also offers it to those interested in exploring the brain-body connection and those who find other forms of yoga too regimented.

Those who suffer from burnout or have trouble concentrating or regulating their emotions can also try somatic yoga, Menechian says. “Or anyone who needs to slow down,” he says. “And I think a lot of people are right now.”