Reclaiming the Felt Sense: A Somatic Approach to Yoga
I've been in the thick of moving house, shifting things from my flat in Glasgow to my new home in Aboyne and sorting out care for my dad, who’s been living with me since his stroke and the onset of dementia. It’s been incredibly full-on. But slowly, a sense of routine and normality is beginning to emerge. After so many years of feeling all over the place, it feels like a very welcome relief to just be in one place for a while.
The last time I wrote, I shared some reflections on sisterhood and my own sense of disconnection, how I’ve bypassed that part of life in many ways. In response, I received so many heartwarming messages of solidarity and stories of your own experiences, which I am immensely grateful for. Thank you.
Today’s post continues in that vein, but through a slightly different lens: somatic yoga and reclaiming the felt sense of the feminine. Not just for women, by the way, but for anyone longing to reconnect with their intuition, emotions, and the deep intelligence of their body.
Marion Woodman writes in her book The Pregnant Virgin: "The word feminine has very little to do with gender, and that a woman is not the custodian of feminity. Both men and women are searching for their pregnant virgin. She is the part of us who is outcast, the part who comes to consciousness through going into darkness, mining our leaden darkness, until we bring her silver out."
I’ve been practising a lot of somatic yin yoga recently as a way to turn inward, to listen deeply, and to soften some of the harshness I place on myself, especially around perfectionism and isolation.
I started reading Twisted Sisterhood, which I’ve yet to finish, because I found myself returning instead to two books by the late Jungian analyst Marion Woodman, who was a pioneering voice in feminine psychology and embodied healing.
She writes in Addiction to Perfection:
“When the body is denied, the soul is denied.”
This line struck me. It speaks so directly to what I’ve been sitting with: that in a world which rewards independence and achievement, usually followed by burnout, which we may feel shame in admitting, so many of us have learned to go at life alone, even when we're in partnership and relationship with others.
When it comes to healing, we can't deny the body, no matter its shape, size, or condition.
In a world that idealises the "perfect" body, and so often in my own life, I can now admit that I carried a deep sense of shame. I pushed my body hard in pursuit of fitting that ideal. But underneath it all was a sense of failure, and in that failure, I was not only denying my body, I was also denying my soul. Even through something as seemingly nourishing as yoga.
Somatic yoga invites us to come back to self-connection first, to our breath, to our tissues, to our inner landscape. And from that embodied place, something else becomes possible: we start to feel safe not just within ourselves, but also in our relationships and friendships. We can show up with boundaries and with softness because we’ve made space for our own natural rhythms, a self-acceptance can begin to settle into our bones and as a result, there is the opportunity for growth and openness, vulnerability and ease within our connection to others.
What is Somatic Yoga and How is it Different from Somatic Therapy?
Have you ever done a yoga practice or left a class feeling like you had fully arrived in your body? You just feel different: there’s more space, more ground beneath your feet, and a sense that you’re prepared to take up that space and ground. That class, whether or not it was labelled as "somatic", has likely touched on interoceptive awareness: the ability to perceive your body from within.
Whereas proprioception tells you where your body is in space, interoception is about tuning into your inner landscape. It’s the experience of sensing your breath moving in and out, feeling your heartbeat, noticing tension or relaxation in your muscles, and becoming aware of sensations like hunger, fatigue, warmth, or even numbness. It's how we perceive gut feelings and emotional cues within the body.
Interoception is the foundation of emotional regulation, self-awareness, and empathy. And in somatic yoga, the focus shifts away from how a pose looks to how it feels. This is why yin yoga, when approached with mindful awareness, can be such a powerful somatic practice.
Somatic Yoga is Not Somatic Therapy
This distinction feels really important, especially for us as yoga teachers to remember. While both somatic yoga and somatic therapy involve working with the body and nervous system, somatic therapy is guided by a trained therapist and often addresses trauma or psychological wounds in a clinical or psychotherapeutic setting.
As yoga teachers, staying within our scope of practice means we can still hold safe, healing spaces but we’re not acting as therapists. Instead, we’re supporting others in gently reconnecting with their own inner wisdom through movement, breath, and embodied presence.
Why This Matters
Many people come to yoga because they’re burnt out. It’s often recommended by GPs, as it can be immensely supportive during recovery from burnout, grief, or emotional overwhelm and somatic yoga offers a place to land softly within yourself.
It doesn’t demand flexibility, strength, or performance. Instead, we invite a sense of presence, give ourselves permission to simply be, and slowly, over time, our internal landscape begins to open. From there, we can listen more deeply to the call of the body.
To complement this post, I’ve released a 30-minute Somatic Yin Yoga class that blends yin shapes with intuitive somatic movement.
There’s also a 15-minute Somatic Yoga Nidra-style relaxation, which you can listen to below or on YouTube.
This class is my go-to practice when I’m feeling emotionally drained or just need a moment to fully land in my body. Often, I notice myself leaving my body when I’m stressed, overworked, or simply overwhelmed. I hope it offers you some comfort, too.
Grab a few pillows, your yoga mat, and any support you need. Include your journal.
Here are some journal prompts to deepen your practice and support the work you’re doing to heal:
Journal Prompts to Deepen Your Practice and Healing Work:
Take a few minutes after your practice to reflect:
Where in my body do I feel safe?
When do I notice myself leaving my body?
What would slowing down give me permission to feel?
Thank You for Being Here with Me :-)
I hope this post has helped clarify the difference between somatic yoga and somatic therapy. In my next post, I’ll explore this topic in more depth and share some book recommendations if you’re interested in deepening your own somatic healing and understanding.
A great place to start is with the work of Peter Levine, a psychoanalyst and the developer of Somatic Experiencing. Two of his most well-known books are:
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma
In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness
These books offer deep insights into how trauma is held in the body and how we can begin to release it safely, slowly, and with compassion.
I'd love to hear your reflections or experiences.
