With any practice, it’s beneficial to have a strong foundation. Somatic healing involves many layers, and so it’s especially important to start from the ground up. If you’re exploring somatic yoga for beginners, I invite you to begin your journey here so you understand the key elements to any somatic healing practice.
This post also includes trauma-informed guidance, giving extra insights into the challenges survivors might face, and how to still create a supportive practice with this in mind.
Somatic yoga is one type of practice within my Trauma-Informed Yoga Practices Guide, where you can explore different types of yoga practices that support healing including nervous system regulation, tension release, rest, emotional support, and more.
Exploring Somatic Yoga After Trauma
Trauma-informed practices understand that many people (especially survivors of trauma) may not be comfortable with immediately tuning into their bodies.
Many trauma survivors feel tension in their bodies after trauma, and wish to find release without retelling their experiences. While movement-based practices are supportive of softening this tension, we can go beyond this into the world of somatic exploration.
Somatic exploration involves using our creativity and movement to uncover the hidden emotions and beliefs we’re holding onto (even if we’re not consciously aware this is happening.) We’ll explore how to use this Trauma-Informed Approach to somatic yoga so you can move within your pace and comfortability.
As you explore somatic yoga through a trauma-informed lens, you might wonder if there is any difference between these two types of yoga. While they overlap in many ways, they’re not the same. I welcome you to learn more about Somatic vs. Trauma-Informed Yoga, the main differences, and if one or both are supportive for you.
How to Start Somatic Yoga For Beginners
There are many phases of a somatic practice, so beginners might choose to begin with the basics: grounding and resourcing.
Somatic work is much more involved than feeling tightness in an area of our bodies and knowing it’s because of a belief. There are other steps we can take so we become more comfortable in our bodies first, then explore deeper into our practice if we choose. The most important part of any somatic healing and trauma-informed practice is to have grounding strategies and a resource in case you become overwhelmed in practice.
This may seem like the less interesting part of the journey, but it’s the foundation – without it, we might become overwhelmed or dissociate during all of our practices – not leading to much progress, or even becoming activated.
Grounding
In essence, grounding is how we return to the present. Presence is important for any practice, because we can’t explore our current landscape if we’re elsewhere in our minds. The foundation of any yoga practice (as outlined in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali) is explained in its very first sutra: Now, yoga begins (atha yoga anushasanam.)
A few examples of grounding strategies you might explore are:
- Breathwork
- Noticing the contact of the ground supporting you
- Meditations
- Body scans
I invite you to accompany your practices with these 25 Grounding Affirmations.
Resourcing
A resource is different from grounding, but is still an important part of practice.
The purpose of a resource is to explore it after grounding. First, you return to the present, then you cultivate a deep sense of comfort and safety. This creates a more effortless practice because you’re not trying to force anything to happen, you’re coming from a place of centeredness.
Resourcing supports you as you experience more activating moments and return to center. These two techniques may seem the same, there is a subtle difference: Grounding’s main purpose is presence, resourcing’s main purpose is regulating your nervous system.
Internal and External Resources
A resource can either be something you focus on internally or can feel physically.
Internal Resources
- Cultivating a feeling
- Imagining a chakra in your body
- Focusing on a pleasant memory
It may be difficult for some to cultivate an inner resource in the beginning, and that’s totally okay. That’s why there are also external resources. This is something tangible that you bring awareness to that you know makes you feel centered and calm.
External Resources
- Co-regulating with a person or pet
- Placing a blanket around you
- Having a photo or object that brings you calm (this could also include religious items, quotes, or jewelry that has meaning for you.)
There are also no strict rules for what calms you. It could be something entirely different from what I’ve listed. What supports you is always the best choice.
How Long to Focus on Grounding And Resourcing
It’s beneficial to have lots of repetition and experience with grounding and resourcing before moving forward in practices.
Many trauma survivors may feel like it’s safer to live in their heads (thinking mode) instead of fully embodying the present, which may remind them of danger. Self kindness and patience are also key factors because, especially after trauma, this can be challenging for some. It’s okay to take your time during practices and give yourself the permission to accept the rate of progress you make.
There is no time limit or deadline to healing.
You might choose to explore yoga classes dedicated to grounding to have more guidance in the beginning. This is how we can also discover which poses, techniques, and styles are more grounding for us.
Guided meditations are supportive for discovering an inner resource. An inner resource asks for more creativity as we imagine a different place, person, or visualization to support our nervous systems.
If you’re interested in a trauma-informed meditation, my free Healing Light Meditation is a body scan (supportive of grounding) that also incorporates an inner resource (healing light).
Integrate Your Foundation
While yoga is a form of somatic practice because it involves moving your body, it may not always be a somatic healing practice. It’s all about the focus of your yoga practice, because yoga could be a flexibility, strength building, spiritual practice, or a combination – it all depends on the focus of the class. Somatic yoga is when we focus on connecting our unconscious beliefs with physical movement, deepening our mind body connection, maybe even incorporating somatic exercises along with poses.
We might choose to take our beginning foundation – grounding and resourcing – into our practice. Because this is somatic yoga for beginners we can focus on building our strength in these areas. During yoga practices, I invite you to incorporate grounding when you can, maybe noticing the contact of your body on the ground supporting you in each pose. Over time, you’ll build up your ability to remain present and grounded.
If you notice you’re becoming activated in classes, you can incorporate your resource and practice this as well. You might also choose to explore your resource before and after your yoga practices. This will also become easier to access over time, and you might choose to revisit your resource outside of class.
Ready For the Next Step?
When supporting trauma healing under a somatic lens, it’s important that we first establish grounding and resourcing. This is because it brings us into a state of presence and safety – and without these two, we can’t go any further without risking overwhelm, dissociation, or becoming activated.
I welcome you to be patient with yourself as you explore grounding and resourcing. There is no perfect way to do this, we all lose our sense of presence during practice. We know when we’re ready for the next step when we can be present for most of class or are able to recognize when we’ve drifted and come back to the practice. Ultimately, it comes down to when you feel like you’re ready.
If you’re ready to take your practice further, I invite you to explore the next blog post in this three-part series: Bridging the Gap Between Sensations and Emotions.
Supportive Practices to Begin Your Journey
Somatic yoga can include gentle flows, supportive exercises, and moments when you can lead your own practice. I invite you to learn more about these gentle practices to get started.
- Guided Self Touch for Reconnecting with Your Body
- 15 Min Yoga for Dissociation
- Day 5 of Embody & Bloom Yoga Series: Embodiment
- 15 Min Slow Yoga to Return to Your Body
Continue Exploring Somatic Yoga Practices
If you’d like to explore somatic yoga through guided practices, I welcome you to explore my Coming Home to Your Body Playlist. These trauma-informed practices focus on body awareness, gentle movement, and reconnecting with yourself through choice, curiosity, and self-compassion.
Explore my Coming Home to Your Body Playlist (YouTube)
A Library of Gentle Classes
If you’d like to continue your practice with more support, I welcome you to explore my private library of gentle trauma-informed yoga classes. Classes honor sexual trauma survivors and explore somatic exercises, nervous system regulation, rediscovering softness and rest, and deepening self compassion and embodiment. If you’d like to learn more, I welcome you to explore below.
