We stay in a world that celebrates exhaustion. We brag about being busy, put on sleep deprivation like a badge of honor, and even flip mindfulness into one other productiveness hack. But once we lastly collapse on the sofa on the finish of the day, the issues we name “enjoyableâ€â€”scrolling, streaming, sipping—not often depart us feeling restored. They’re distractions, not renewal. In reality, even the speeding itself is usually a distraction, protecting us from noticing what lies beneath.
What if slowing down might really refill your tank in a approach that lasts? What if relaxation wasn’t one thing you needed to earn, however one thing you could possibly select—intentionally, unapologetically, and with the identical intention you carry to your exercises or your workday?
Why Slowing Down Feels So Arduous
Only a heads up: slowing down can really feel uncomfortable at first. I see this on a regular basis with new college students and retreat contributors. Many people are so used to shifting on the tempo of the world round us that pausing feels unnatural—and even incorrect.
I do know this firsthand. As a Division 1 volleyball participant in school, I used to be skilled to push by means of damaged fingers, sprained ankles, and again ache. I turned an skilled at ignoring my physique—and for years, that mindset stored me from noticing after I actually wanted relaxation.
It took me a very long time to understand that slowing down isn’t weak point. It’s power of a special variety. It’s a observe of listening, of tuning in, of reclaiming power as a substitute of leaking it. That’s the guts of somatic yoga: a mild but highly effective strategy to reconnect with your self, soothe your nervous system, and uncover what true relaxation and renewal can really feel like.
What Is Somatic Yoga?
Consider somatic yoga as a observe that shifts the main focus from how a pose appears to be like to the way it feels. As an alternative of striving for “excellent†alignment, it invitations you to decelerate and spot the subtler messages your physique is sending.
Actions are mild, intentional, and sometimes smaller than in a standard class—however don’t let that idiot you. These conscious explorations can create huge shifts: releasing pressure, enhancing mobility, calming the nervous system, and bringing you again into steadiness.
At its core, somatic yoga is about shifting from inside. It’s much less about attaining an exterior aim and extra about creating notion—what you are feeling inside (interoception), the place your physique is in house (proprioception), and the way you connect with the world round you (exteroception). On this approach, somatic yoga doesn’t simply complement conventional observe, it deepens it—serving to you method acquainted poses with recent consciousness and perception.
The Science Behind Slowing Down
Why Your Mind Wants Sluggish Motion
Slowing down is required if you wish to transfer with deliberate intention and targeted consideration. Quick actions start and finish earlier than you’ve had an opportunity to note something. However sluggish motion provides your mind time to assemble data, interpret it, and reply—creating a transparent, detailed “map†of your physique in movement.
Consider it like this: zipping down the freeway provides you solely a blur of town, however strolling the streets allows you to discover the structure, the cafés, the hidden gardens. The slower the tempo, the extra element your mind can register—and the extra prospects you uncover.
How Somatic Yoga Reduces Ache
Because of this slowing down can change the way in which we expertise ache. At full pace, you would possibly conclude, “My shoulder hurts at any time when I raise my arm.†However if you transfer slowly, it’s possible you’ll discover the ache solely exhibits up if you raise shortly, at a sure angle, or past a sure peak. That consciousness provides you a approach in—an opportunity to discover new choices as a substitute of avoiding motion altogether. And if you notice your “dangerous†shoulder doesn’t all the time harm, the story you inform your self about your physique begins to alter.
The Neuroscience of Sluggish
Somatic yoga additionally takes benefit of the Weber–Fechner Legislation, which explains that when the depth of a stimulus is low (like shifting gently and slowly), our mind turns into a lot better at detecting variations. It’s why you’ll be able to simply catch the distinction between one candle and two, however not between 100 candles and 101. In motion, slowing down reveals pointless pressure and energy that will in any other case go unnoticed.
In keeping with Henneman’s Measurement Precept, the physique recruits small, exact motor models first, earlier than calling on the larger, much less refined ones. In observe, meaning sluggish, low-force motion depends on the finer, extra managed muscle fibers—serving to us construct coordination and steadiness.
And once we decelerate, we break away from behavior. Fast actions are inclined to fall into our outdated, acquainted patterns, whereas sluggish actions create house for novelty. That novelty—attempting one thing in a brand new approach—is what sparks neuroplasticity, the mind’s means to rewire itself and be taught.
Maybe most significantly, shifting slowly tells your nervous system that you simply’re protected. Lowered mechanical forces decrease the sense of risk, creating a peaceful atmosphere the place your physique feels free to discover actions that when induced ache or have been lengthy uncared for. Security is the inspiration for progress and therapeutic, and somatic yoga offers precisely that.
Coming Again to Your self
Somatic yoga is an energetic form of relaxation—one which helps you reset and restore whereas strengthening your connection to your self. The place different types of train push you to your edge, somatic yoga pulls you inward, asking: What do I discover? The place do I really feel ease? The place do I really feel caught?
Every time you come back to a motion, it’s by no means fairly the identical—that’s the somatic precept of “repetition with out repetition.†Each breath, each shift of consideration creates a brand new expertise. Over time, these explorations construct better self-trust, company, and resilience.
Somatic yoga doesn’t simply change the way in which you progress on the mat—it modifications the way in which you progress by means of life.
Strive Somatic Yoga for Your self
In case you’d wish to expertise it firsthand, right here’s a guided observe on the connection between the backbone, core, and low ribs to get you began.
Take the Free Somatic Yoga Class right here
And should you really feel known as to go deeper, I supply weekly somatic yoga lessons stay on Zoom—sure, I ship out recordings—in addition to annual somatic yoga retreats the place we discover this work in group. —Karin
References
- Enoka, R. M., & Duchateau, J. (2014). Understanding neuromuscular perform. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
- Kattenstroth, J. C., et al. (2013). Dance improves steadiness, coordination, and cognition in older adults. Frontiers in Getting older Neuroscience.
- Doidge, N. (2025). Slowness of motion boosts consciousness and studying. Psychology Right this moment.
- Hartley, L.Knowledge of the Physique Shifting: An Introduction to Physique-Thoughts Centering.
- Hargrove, T. A Information to Higher Motion: The Science and Apply of Shifting with Extra Talent and Much less Ache.
- Cohen, B. B. Sensing, Feeling, and Motion: The Experiential Anatomy of Physique-Thoughts Centering.
- Hanna, T. Somatics: Reawakening the Thoughts’s Management of Motion, Flexibility, and Well being.