Discover Somatic Vinyasa.

Is Somatic Yoga new?  The short answer is  “no it's not.” Somatics is a physical practice that's been around since the 1970s, when American philosopher and movement therapist Thomas Hanna introduced the term "somatics". 

Somatics originates from the Ancient Greek word soma, meaning body. It evolved to mean 'body consciousness', 'the body living in its wholeness' or 'the body as perceived from within'.  

When we combine somatics with yoga, it totally takes our yoga practice to the next level! 

Actually, all yoga is meant to be a form of somatic movement because the mind-body connection, perceiving the body from within, is fundamental to what yoga is all about. It lies at the very heart of our practice. But often yoga can become about simply moving in the same way as the teacher in front or perfecting a pose while our mind is somewhere out there in the world.

Somatic yoga is practicing from the inside. The focus is on sensing your way into and out of poses, how the movement feels, rather than how it looks to anyone else.

Do what feels good to your body. That's somatics.

I call it Somatic Vinyasa: aimed at bringing the practice back to its original state; a transformative way of practicing that invites us to create a deeper connection with our body. Blending flowing movement with mindfulness, breath work and sensation. It's really about awakening to what each of us already knows within. To become more 'embodied' - led by how you feel in your body when you move. It relies on slower movement, less alignment cues, creating a physical practice that is soothing and rejuvenating.

While the benefit of Somatic Vinyasa is still flexibility and strength, still following the same postures and safe alignment, it's more about soothing our nervous system, bringing awareness to where and how we store tension, trauma and joy in our body. We learn more about our physical, emotional and mental comfort zones. This can be the first step towards releasing old patterns, memories and balancing body & mind.

Because Somatic Vinyasa is feeling based, to practice it, you have to pull yourself back from the compulsion to ‘do something’ and shift your focus to how you are feeling in your body and mind.

By focusing on physical and emotional sensations, Somatic Vinyasa helps us become more aware of our mind-body connection, which is often overlooked in today's fast-paced, distracted lifestyle.

We’re not always totally aware of our own mind-body connection. Our days can easily become a blur of “to-do list” and spare time is spent with distractions like watching TV or on social media.

Can you relate to this? : Often, when we are extremely busy, we may bump into things, hurt ourselves, pull a muscle or drop something because we're rushing and not really paying attention.

Or we disconnect from how we feel during periods of stress - as in "we soldier on" - and sometimes our emotions can catch us off guard. We might suddenly lose our temper or burst into tears. We can also experience this physically: a tension headache, back ache or a stiff neck and shoulder pain.

Although pain is defined as a sensory and an emotional experience, it is traditionally researched and clinically treated separately from emotion, whereas in yoga we believe it is all connected.

Somatic Vinyasa invites us to become aware of our body from the inside out. It's an invitation to tap into the wisdom we all carry in our body and use it to nurture, release tension, restore balance and unlock a profound sense of awareness, well-being and healing.

Namaste

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