How Practicing Yoga Can Complement Somatic Psychotherapy

I’ve been thinking a lot about the benefits of incorporating a yoga practice, especially intuitive movement and restorative practices, alongside of somatic psychotherapy and wanted to share some of them with you.

Somatic psychotherapy is a type of therapy that focuses on the interconnectedness between the body and mind. It's based on the idea that our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are deeply rooted in our physical experiences and that by paying attention to our body's sensations, we can gain a deeper understanding of ourselves.

While yoga is an ancient practice that has been around for thousands of years, and its benefits go far beyond the physical realm. Yoga is all about cultivating awareness of the body, breath, and mind, and using that awareness to bring about a sense of balance and harmony in our lives.

When practiced together, somatic psychotherapy and yoga can be a powerful combination. Here are 6 ways they complement each other:

1. Body awareness: Both somatic psychotherapy and yoga encourage individuals to tune into their body's sensations and become more aware of their physical experiences. By paying attention to the body, we can gain a deeper understanding of our emotions and thoughts, and vice versa. A lot of people I work with, as a somatic psychotherapist, mention how paying attention to the body is like learning a whole new language. It definitely takes time to build connection with the variety of sensations and can be particularly difficult for many individuals who have been disconnected from their body for a long time. In general, proprioception, your body’s ability to sense movement, action, and location through movement, can be an accessible way to start noticing. Whether that’s in a yoga practice or any other movement you enjoy doing. Starting to focus on sensations alongside and after any movement can help tune in and build awareness.

2. Mindfulness: Yoga and somatic psychotherapy both emphasize the importance of being present and mindful in the moment. By cultivating mindfulness through these practices, we can learn to observe our thoughts, physical sensations and emotions without judgment, leading to greater self-awareness and self-regulation.

3. Trauma release: Somatic psychotherapy is often used to help individuals release trauma and emotional pain stored in the body. Yoga can also be a powerful tool for releasing stored stress, as it allows individuals to become more aware of their body and release physical tension and emotional blockages.

4. Build capacity for working with difficult sensations and emotions: Somatic psychotherapy encourages individuals to connect with their body, and facilitates the release of pent-up survival energy. This is achieved by guiding individuals through a process of gradually increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and emotions, allowing them to confront and release them, to start feeling more relaxed and grounded. By exploring bodily sensations and arousal states as part of the parasympathetic nervous system states (rest + digest) and sympathetic nervous system states (fight/flight), in a safe and intentional way through yoga, you can start to feel more tolerant and empowered in uncomfortable physical and emotional experiences.

5. Self-Expression: Building self-trust, self-expression and empowerment are healing components of trauma therapy and somatic therapy. And these are also values incorporated into a yoga practice. I always emphasize listening deeply to what the body needs and making individual adjustments based on how it’s showing up while practicing. (For instance, many practices tend to start in a calm seated position, yet if you arrive in a sympathetic state such as nervous, energized, or anxious, it could be too much to ask the body to sit quietly. In these cases I offer slow intentional standing movements as the arriving practice.) When we really listen, we can lean into what kinds of movements, expressions, and breath work feel right, and what we may skip or replace - it is all welcome. It’s a successful class when I am teaching and every individual is doing something slightly different. It tells me that they are safe and comfortable enough to listen to what their body actually needs, not what they feel they should be doing. And when working one on one with someone, we celebrate the moments they are able to notice, respect, and respond to what their body needs.

6. Integration: Somatic psychotherapy helps us to tolerate uncomfortable emotional and physical states so that we can better understand stuck patterns and build insight to change patterns in our thinking and our bodies. Adding in the relaxation, softness and slowing down of a yoga practice, can help integrate and digest the changes and insights that are occurring in psychotherapy.

The combination of somatic psychotherapy and yoga can be a powerful tool for healing, growth, and self-discovery. By integrating these practices, we can cultivate greater body awareness, increased capacity for tough emotions and sensations, mindfulness, emotional regulation, build self-trust and confidence in self-expression. So, consider incorporating therapeutic yoga alongside of your psychotherapy – your body (and mind) will thank you!