6 advantages of somatic yoga for awareness of the mental body

Somatic yoga combines traditional yoga postures and breathing with somatic movement therapy, a conscious type of exercise. This type of yoga focuses on the increase in consciousness of the mental body by prioritizing internal consciousness on external results.

Research suggests that somatic yoga can reduce stress levels, reduce pain, relieve trauma, increase flexibility and improve mental health.

1. Promose body-spirit connection

A potential advantage of somatic yoga is to cultivate a stronger mental body connection. Somatic exercises are focused on awareness of how your body feels during physical movement. The parts of the brain control movement are linked to internal systems that mobilize mental functions such as thought and planning.

With somatic yoga, conscious stretching movements intentionally focus on internal consciousness rather than external results. Regular practice can relieve physical and emotional tension, helping to heal and restore the mind and body to a regulated state.

2. Reduces chronic pain

Research shows a potential link between emotions and chronic pain. For example, depression can be associated with an increased risk of developing a condition of chronic pain such as fibromyalgia.

Experts believe that somatic yoga can help emotions treat the mind and reduce physical pain. Some preliminary research suggests that increasing awareness of the body’s mind through somatic exercises can help manage chronic pain and improve pain perception, especially for people with back pain.

3. supports the recovery of trauma

Somatic yoga can be used as an intervention tool for the treatment of trauma that encourages body and mind to work through past traumatic experiences and recovery. A trauma somatic yoga practitioner can be able to help release trauma through mental body techniques such as somatic yoga poses and stretching.

Research also shows that somatic practices can help people work through long-term symptoms and effects of trauma, even managing chronic conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (SSPT) and symptoms of depression.

4. Encourages relaxation

Studies show that somatic yoga movements can help guide the body out of combat or leak mode, leading to relaxation. Although it is possible to discover relaxation in a traditional yoga course, somatic yoga offers intentional body awareness and slow breathing that can help reduce heart rate and induce deep relaxation and calm.

5. improves flexibility and balance

Traditional stretches generally involve moving or maintaining certain parts of the body in place to lengthen muscle fibers, which is a way to warm the body. However, somatic yoga techniques are aware of a specific muscle, holding stretching and releasing tension by movement. This type of stretching and movement supports balance and increases flexibility and mobility.

6. Decreases stress and anxiety

Research suggests that mindfulness exercises such as somatic yoga and other forms of somatic support support stress and levels of anxiety. Somatic therapy practices can release any emotional stress that has been “stored” in the central body and nervous system.

With somatic yoga, focus on the body-spirit connection increases the awareness of your thoughts, emotions and physical sensations. This intentional physical consciousness allows stress to move (and ideally out) of the body.

In addition, somatic movements can help reduce cortisol levels (a stress hormone) in the body.

Basic somatic yoga practices

Three principles of somatic yoga help to raise awareness among internal and external signals to encourage intentional movement, which are:

• Exterition: This principle is aware of the external environment, such as room temperature, noise level or visual disturbances, as indices to cause physical movement.
• Interception: This step is to become aware of the physical signals of your body, such as muscle tension, rapid heart rate, discomfort or respiratory scheme.
• Proprioception: This step is to know the position or location of your body in physical space around you, body movement, balance and positioning.

These somatic elements are combined with the traditional components of the body of yoga, which include postures (asanas), breathing (pranayama) and meditation.

Who should try somatic yoga?

Anyone interested and capable can try somatic yoga. It may be useful to browse online directories, such as certified Somatic Movement Center and International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association, to locate the courses in person or online or the instruction of certified people in somatic moving.

Because somatic yoga is physical and mental therapy, it is possible to feel side effects, especially if you do not perform the movements correctly or do not overexate, like:

Before starting a somatic yoga practice, it is a good idea to check with a health care provider to make sure that this suits you. If it is accessible, plan to start slowly and work with a certified instructor.

Summary

Somatic yoga combines traditional yoga with therapy based on movement centered on improving the body-spirit connection by internal consciousness. Initial research suggests that the practice of somatic yoga can help improve stress, chronic pain, trauma, flexibility and balance.

Before you start somatic yoga, consider looking for trained instructors and checking with a health care provider to make sure that the practice is good and safe for you.