Exploring Somatics: Deeper Connection from Within
Do you ever feel like you are connected to everything and nothing at the same time? This feeling of “connected disconnect” is like being “wired and tired” or “restless and exhausted” – it feels like it shouldn’t be possible. It’s as if we are attached by invisible strings to a million things beyond our choice, pulled in all directions, but none of those strings connect to what we need and value the most. And, this constant, buzzing, outside connection has created a trend of seeking as we all – in some form or another – search for ways to come back to ourselves and feel grounded, centered, healthy, and whole.
Through this searching, we find ourselves drawn to people, activities, and opportunities that allow us to quiet our busy minds, nurture and support our health, and feel good in our bodies and at peace in our minds. As we each find those things that work for us, we untangle ourselves from what isn’t serving us and start forming connections that are meaningful to us, including reconnecting with ourselves! And, we start to feel better. We start to smile brighter. We start to move more easily. We enjoy life more.
At Twisted Grit, one of our biggest goals is to offer an abundance of ways for you to connect more deeply to your sense of community, self, and wellness. So, we continue to introduce new classes, workshops, and services that help you make lasting mind/body connections in a safe and welcoming space. Our newest offering will be to include Somatics in some of our classes, services and workshops.
What are Somatics?
At TGY, you often hear us talk about noticing and letting go; laughter and curiosity; and doing what feels good to your body and honoring what it needs. Somatics are an extension of this.
The term “somatic” comes from the Greek word “soma,’ meaning “the living body.” Your body is always talking to you and everything that shows up in the body is feedback telling you what your body needs. You can either listen when your body first whispers that it needs something, or you can wait until it screams at you for help. Your body houses a somatic memory and these memories can be stored in the muscles or fascia and can be experienced in the organs and the skeletal system. Somatics helps you develop awareness of those subtle cues that allow you to attend to the stored emotions for healing and release. Somatic work helps the body negotiate events on a body-based level so you can experience relief.
Somatics encompasses many pathways – it’s essentially any practice or modality that uses the mind-body connection to help with internal awareness. Somatic practices such as breathing, mindfulness, movement and touch can develop this awareness.
Somatic movement, in which yoga is included, is the practice of creating a deeper connection between the mind and body through mindful movement. The focus is on how you feel as you move rather than on achieving external goals (like perfect yoga poses). Somatic movement encourages you to explore and listen to your body.
In yoga, somatics encourages students to become more aware of their body’s subtle movements from the inside out. This internal awareness allows for greater sensitivity to tension, more ease in movement, and improved body function over time.
Somatic touch adds another layer to facilitate healing, body awareness and emotional release. In somatic touch practices, gentle, intentional, mindful touch is used to help you become more aware of the sensations and tension in your body. This can help you reconnect with parts of your body that might be holding stress, trauma, or emotional pain.
The goal of somatic touch isn’t “fixing” a specific issue, but rather to guide you to greater awareness of how certain areas of your body feel and what experiences might be connected to those physical sensations. It can also help you access stored emotions that can be held in the body – especially in areas that are tense or painful – and soothe the nervous system, promoting a feeling of calm and safety and promoting relaxation. Somatic touch is a great tool to help bridge the gap between the physical body, the emotions and the mind, and to deepen the mind-body connection.
Somatic breathing is another practice that focuses on bringing awareness to the breath and using it to create a strong bond between the mind and body. In somatics, breath is viewed as a vital part of your body’s movement and emotional expression. Somatic breathing involves mindful attention to how you breathe, allowing you to enhance body awareness, release tension, and better regulate your nervous system.
Somatic breathing practices start by drawing your attention to your natural flow of breath with no need to change or control it. It’s an observation time that allows you to begin to notice areas of tension, restriction, ease and unimpeded flow. Then, as you gain awareness, you are guided to gently deepen and slow your breath, increasing the flow of oxygen through your body and helping you to release both tension and pent-up emotions. This also helps promote a sense of safety, calming your nervous system and shifting you away from any stress and allowing you to release emotions by consciously breathing into tight or tense areas. Then, you are encouraged to integrate your breath with movement. This might be moving your body in rhythm with your breath or using your breath to explore how different parts of the body feel as you move or what emotions arise as you connect it to your movement.
Benefits of Somatics for the Body and Mind
The physical benefits of somatics are vast – it helps you to retrain your body to move freely with less effort. Slow, intentional movements help to release tension and stiffness, especially in areas prone to tightness like the lower back, shoulders, and hips. As your awareness of these areas increases, you improve your mobility and flexibility, enhancing your overall movement.
Beyond physical benefits, somatics help you build a stronger mental and emotional connection to your body. When you focus on the internal sensations of movement and link your body with your breath, it naturally promotes mindfulness. This increased awareness can reduce stress and anxiety, providing you with a sense of calm and relaxation. It’s common to feel emotionally lighter after practicing somatics, as the body often holds on to emotions that can be guided to release through gentle movement, somatic touch, mindfulness and breathwork. Somatics helps you effectively process emotions, reduce stress, and cultivate a more balanced and mindful approach to life.
And, the more you practice somatics, the more benefits you’ll unlock! The mind-body connection you develop as you go along – exploring all the ways somatics can help guide you to better health and function – will contribute significantly to your overall wellness, allowing for better sleep, reduced pain, easier emotional regulation, and a greater sense of ease in your daily life.
We believe that to fully support our students, TGY can’t focus on yoga solely for exercise, flexibility or mastering poses. We don’t roll that way! Instead, we seek to offer holistic ways for you to get curious, dig deep, explore, play and find what helps you feel. This is why we will be incorporating somatics into new classes on our schedule. We’ll use mindful movements, breathwork, somatic touch, and meditation in these classes, helping you focus on the internal experience rather than just the external. It’s our hope that this will not only help you deepen your yoga practice but also your overall wellness so that you can jive and thrive in your life!
Intrigued?
You can test the water with these three “feel good” somatic practices (we can all use more “feeling good” in our lives):
- Pausing, Reset, Redirect: Pause and notice what thoughts or emotions are present for you at the moment. Notice any negative energy around those thoughts or emotions. Give the emotion a name like frustration or confusion and notice where you feel this in your body. Place a hand where you feel that emotion. Reset by shifting your weight from side to side. Close your eyes and take slow deep breaths for one minute, sending your breath to where your hand is, allowing for any natural release of the negative emotion. Then, redirect your focus to something that you are looking forward to, visualize that event or experience, and soak up the positive energy of this future moment.
- Shoulder Shrug and Rolls: This will release tension in the neck and upper back. Whether sitting or standing, slowly shrug your shoulders up, then roll them back and down. Repeat until you notice a softening in the tension or a shift. These subtle movements can make a big difference in how your body feels throughout the day. This, along with other somatic stretches and mindful movement breaks throughout your day can have a lasting impact on your body and mind.
- Walking: When you walk, try to focus on how your feet connect with the ground. Notice the shifting of your weight and how your body adjusts with each step. Notice how your arms move and how you hold them as you walk. Maybe you pause and notice your posture and how that feels in your body, making adjustments in your posture and noticing how that feels different. You could even add some somatic breathing techniques. By tuning into the sensations of your breath as it moves in, through and out, you can calm your nervous system and increase your mental clarity.
If, on the other hand, you’re ready to dive right in and would like to see somatic movement and practices in action at the TGY studio, your first chance is our upcoming Equinox Restore class!
This will be the first of many classes in our TGY studio that will incorporate or offer this restorative modality. This class will include restorative yoga to help you to reduce tension and stress to make space for a deeper connection with your body and breath. In addition, somatic touch to the feet, hands, scalp, face, shoulders, chest will be provided to assist with grounding. Aromatherapy – with essential oils that assist with body awareness and grounding – also will help support meditation and release. The class is designed to give you the chance to not only learn about somatics and our new offerings but experience somatics’ benefits for the body. We will also be sharing about what the Fall Equinox is and what the season means for our bodies and practice.
Our Take 20 program launched in October of 2024, and allows you to book 12-minute somatic rest sessions. Use your app to navigate to appointments! Or chat with us in the studio to learn more.
We hope you find somatics just what you need to “do you,” only better.