What is Somatics and why is it a perfect match with Yoga?

Understand Your Body and Find Balance

Although it has nothing to do with the ancient Yoga tradition, the Somatics developed by Thomas Hanna is a very yogic practice. The main idea is to rewire the brain and re-train the body to release deep-held tension and undo unhelpful compensation patterns. The patterns develpo through our postural habits and repetitive movement but also due to our mental condition: past traumas, chronic stress, anxiety, etc.

We can rewire the nervous system thanks to enhanced awareness. In principle, somatics means staying in your ‘felt sense’, experiencing and perceiving the tiniest changes in the body sensations. Engaging and releasing muscles in a conscious way offers us the comparison between ‘before and after’, highlighting places which got completely passive and those which are over-active and struggle to ‘let go’.

Force is never a solution. Only a patient, loving and gentle approach can bring any visible change. In somatics, repetition isn’t mechanical. Each time you go through a particular movement, you could initiate it from a different part of the body or change it slightly so that your brain continues to be stimulated.

Each time you step on the mat, you can discover new things and get new insights. I invite you to start this fascinating, life-long journey.