Seated Somatic Yoga Routine

Somatic yoga is about finding what feels good in your body. Your body is constantly communicating with you by way of sensation. Sensations could include: warmth, feelings of calm, tension, coolness, discomfort, pain, tingly sensations, pulsing, trembling, shaking, ease, and more. Your body also communicates via bodily sensations, like hunger, thirst, fatigue, blood flow, heart beat, breath flow, and more. Another way that your body can communicate with you is through impulses, like the urge to yawn, sigh, swallow, stretch, linger in a pose, growl, yell, cry, move slowly, move quickly, and so on. You are encouraged to use these sensations to guide and inform your practice.

Somatic practices, like somatic yoga, invites us to be present with these sensations. To observe the sensations surfacing with curiosity and compassion. When we lean into sensation, we are developing a deeper connection to self. It’s a way of demonstrating that you’re listening, honoring, and respecting what your body is communicating. This is an expression of love and compassion.

This seated somatic yoga routine encourages movement through the joints of the body, particularly the spinal chain, shoulders and hips. There’s moments of pause throughout this practice, inviting you to observe and notice what’s present for you. We end this class with a self-havening practice, which is designed to send messages of calm and safety to your nervous system.

It is my hope that this class serves you well!