Here is the latest blog I wrote this week about starting a journey into Somatic Yoga. Enjoy and I hope it is helpful.
I often get asked how to start or establish a regular Somatic Yoga practice – what movements to start with, what order to do them in, how many repetitions, and how is Somatic Yoga its different from “regular” yoga. Last week we launched a free “Learn Somatic Yoga” video series on YouTube. It is an invitation for you to begin a regular practice. Each video is just one movement, and the videos do not need to be done in any specific order. Choose what sounds interesting!
Let’s be honest – somatics and somatic yoga has reached celebrity status. It is because it works! After practicing, evolving with and teaching Somatic Yoga for 14 years, I was thinking about what to share with each of you starting Somatic Yoga, (and wishing the conversation could be in person – preferably with a hug). Then I thought of a way to sum it up that comes straight out of one of my favorite books. Despite having shelves full of yoga, meditation, spirituality and the usual laundry list of self help books, this quote comes from John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie.
“Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process; a new factor enters and takes over. A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has a personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip, a trip takes us.” – John Steinbeck
Before starting each Somatic Yoga practice, consider it a journey in itself TO YOURSELF. Each practice starts with “landing”. Simply put, landing is noticing where you are in the room and what parts of you are physically touching the ground. I refer to “landing” as setting your internal GPS. When you start a trip, the first instruction in setting the GPS is to “Tap Security & Location.” With eyes opened, you initially notice the room around you – walls, ceiling, sounds, smells, and anyone else in the room. Familiarize yourself with the outer environment. It is the unchanging and predictable component; like knowing the color and make of your car. Then feel and adjust the “seat”. Like putting on a seat belt, create safety by finding a supportive position for your body. Observe how the body is positioned. If it is agreeable, close your eyes. Ask the brain to perceive the body’s location and accept the support of the ground.
In Somatic Yoga, we work with the nervous system. The nervous system is more responsive and self-regulating when it recognises that the body is secure in gravity. The sympathetic and parasympathetic systems operate in harmony. When you know what is outside of you and feel the ground underneath you, there is balance maintained between the body’s fight-or-flight response and its rest-and-digest functions. Now just like any trip, this doesn’t mean there won’t be bumps in the road…It is just that you will be able to handle them with more ease and grace. The next part to setting the internal GPS is location – where does the rubber meet the road in your body?
With a familiarity of your external environment and the ground (the road), send an invitation to venture inward. This is the moment of truth. Your inner reality (the rubber) can include difficult emotions, pain or discomfort in the body, or a lack of connection to the body. This can be a tough place. It is a different messy every day. You are not trying to “fix” your vehicle: just acknowledge what is – sadness, frustration, anger, grief, fear. Get a baseline on physical sensations in the body. By accepting what you feel – not denying it or becoming it, the “rubber” is where intention and implementation start.
Remember how in “landing’ you work with the brain? Leave the brain out of this one. Consider your accepting heart. Set labels aside. There is nothing “bad” or “good” about your inner experience. The rubber wheels keep on turning. If there is something you “see” in your minds eye or feel in your body that you like, be grateful for the view but know it may vanish. If there is something difficult, that too will disappear from your vision. The somatic road map inward is non-dualistic and impermanent. Please pack an available snack of self kindness to make the ride smooth. 😘
If you have been my student for some time (thank you!), 😍 you can bloom bigger and play with new ways to initiate a familiar movement and deepen your sense of Self on your ride inside. Beginners mind is always best policy in Somatic Yoga anyway; because you are constantly transitioning and new to yourself every day.
This series of shorter videos (I’m aiming for 15-30 minutes) will make it easier to find time for yourself on a regular basis. When it comes to daily rituals, they are never about HOW LONG or HOW MUCH TIME you have; it’s just that you do something every day (or almost?) to bring you into your light center. Think of it like brushing your teeth. It is not the duration, but will know when you did it.
Somatic Yoga is very forgiving, flexible and safe. There is no right or wrong order of movements, no alignment or end pose. It is a playful way of using movement as medicine for the body, mind and spirit. The more curious you are about what is going on in the body, the easier it will be to decide what to do and how long. Over time, your inner voice of intuition will strengthen. You will hear your body ask for a little of this a little less of that. Maybe one day you are a spitfire of energy, and the next, you are on the ground like a rock, (yes – some days I mainly lie still with my tire deflated). Sometimes the mind will constantly check out. Other days, emotional release will make you want to check out. Normalise it.
Remember to celebrate the innate satisfaction of noticing when a full body yawn happens. You are one with your dogs and cats who pandiculate every time they get up!
Megan MacCarthy
Here is the latest blog I wrote this week about starting a journey into Somatic Yoga. Enjoy and I hope it is helpful.
I often get asked how to start or establish a regular Somatic Yoga practice – what movements to start with, what order to do them in, how many repetitions, and how is Somatic Yoga its different from “regular” yoga. Last week we launched a free “Learn Somatic Yoga” video series on YouTube. It is an invitation for you to begin a regular practice. Each video is just one movement, and the videos do not need to be done in any specific order. Choose what sounds interesting!
Let’s be honest – somatics and somatic yoga has reached celebrity status. It is because it works! After practicing, evolving with and teaching Somatic Yoga for 14 years, I was thinking about what to share with each of you starting Somatic Yoga, (and wishing the conversation could be in person – preferably with a hug). Then I thought of a way to sum it up that comes straight out of one of my favorite books. Despite having shelves full of yoga, meditation, spirituality and the usual laundry list of self help books, this quote comes from John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie.
“Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process; a new factor enters and takes over. A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has a personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip, a trip takes us.” – John Steinbeck
Before starting each Somatic Yoga practice, consider it a journey in itself TO YOURSELF. Each practice starts with “landing”. Simply put, landing is noticing where you are in the room and what parts of you are physically touching the ground. I refer to “landing” as setting your internal GPS. When you start a trip, the first instruction in setting the GPS is to “Tap Security & Location.” With eyes opened, you initially notice the room around you – walls, ceiling, sounds, smells, and anyone else in the room. Familiarize yourself with the outer environment. It is the unchanging and predictable component; like knowing the color and make of your car. Then feel and adjust the “seat”. Like putting on a seat belt, create safety by finding a supportive position for your body. Observe how the body is positioned. If it is agreeable, close your eyes. Ask the brain to perceive the body’s location and accept the support of the ground.
In Somatic Yoga, we work with the nervous system. The nervous system is more responsive and self-regulating when it recognises that the body is secure in gravity. The sympathetic and parasympathetic systems operate in harmony. When you know what is outside of you and feel the ground underneath you, there is balance maintained between the body’s fight-or-flight response and its rest-and-digest functions. Now just like any trip, this doesn’t mean there won’t be bumps in the road…It is just that you will be able to handle them with more ease and grace.
The next part to setting the internal GPS is location – where does the rubber meet the road in your body?
With a familiarity of your external environment and the ground (the road), send an invitation to venture inward. This is the moment of truth. Your inner reality (the rubber) can include difficult emotions, pain or discomfort in the body, or a lack of connection to the body. This can be a tough place. It is a different messy every day. You are not trying to “fix” your vehicle: just acknowledge what is – sadness, frustration, anger, grief, fear. Get a baseline on physical sensations in the body. By accepting what you feel – not denying it or becoming it, the “rubber” is where intention and implementation start.
Remember how in “landing’ you work with the brain? Leave the brain out of this one. Consider your accepting heart. Set labels aside. There is nothing “bad” or “good” about your inner experience. The rubber wheels keep on turning. If there is something you “see” in your minds eye or feel in your body that you like, be grateful for the view but know it may vanish. If there is something difficult, that too will disappear from your vision. The somatic road map inward is non-dualistic and impermanent. Please pack an available snack of self kindness to make the ride smooth. 😘
If you have been my student for some time (thank you!), 😍 you can bloom bigger and play with new ways to initiate a familiar movement and deepen your sense of Self on your ride inside. Beginners mind is always best policy in Somatic Yoga anyway; because you are constantly transitioning and new to yourself every day.
This series of shorter videos (I’m aiming for 15-30 minutes) will make it easier to find time for yourself on a regular basis. When it comes to daily rituals, they are never about HOW LONG or HOW MUCH TIME you have; it’s just that you do something every day (or almost?) to bring you into your light center. Think of it like brushing your teeth. It is not the duration, but will know when you did it.
Somatic Yoga is very forgiving, flexible and safe. There is no right or wrong order of movements, no alignment or end pose. It is a playful way of using movement as medicine for the body, mind and spirit. The more curious you are about what is going on in the body, the easier it will be to decide what to do and how long. Over time, your inner voice of intuition will strengthen. You will hear your body ask for a little of this a little less of that. Maybe one day you are a spitfire of energy, and the next, you are on the ground like a rock, (yes – some days I mainly lie still with my tire deflated). Sometimes the mind will constantly check out. Other days, emotional release will make you want to check out. Normalise it.
Remember to celebrate the innate satisfaction of noticing when a full body yawn happens. You are one with your dogs and cats who pandiculate every time they get up!
Peace and Light, Megan
1 year ago | [YT] | 61