Somatic yoga is a practice that combines traditional yoga with somatics, a type of movement therapy focused on increasing awareness of the body's internal sensations and retraining the brain and body to move more mindfully and with better muscle control
. It emphasizes slow, gentle, and mindful movements that help cultivate deep body awareness, allowing practitioners to sense muscular tension, relaxation, breath, heartbeat, and other internal experiences with curiosity and compassion
. Key principles of somatic yoga include interoception (awareness of internal body sensations), exteroception (awareness of the external environment), and proprioception (awareness of body position and movement in space)
. This approach fosters a profound mind-body connection, helping individuals manage stress, reduce chronic pain, and process trauma by calming the nervous system and improving self-regulation
. Unlike some yoga styles that prioritize alignment or achieving specific poses, somatic yoga focuses on internal sensations and movement from the inside out, encouraging a non-judgmental, exploratory, and compassionate relationship with the body
. It often involves slow flows and mindful transitions between postures, sometimes integrating elements from methods like Feldenkrais and experiential breathwork to deepen embodiment and ease movement
. Somatic yoga poses are typically gentle, often performed lying down or seated, and aim to re-establish the brain-to-muscle connection, which can help alleviate chronic pain, improve posture, and increase range of motion by addressing sensory motor amnesia-a condition where the brain forgets how to control certain muscles properly
. In summary, somatic yoga is a therapeutic and mindful movement practice that blends yoga and somatic principles to enhance body awareness, reduce physical and emotional tension, and promote healing and relaxation
