The health benefits of yoga are numerous, from increased flexibility to stress reduction. But did you know that a certain type of yoga, somatic yoga, could help you deal with past trauma? Somatic yoga is a practice that’s focused on feeling sensations within the body, and I got the scoop from yoga teacher Tim Kelleher on how it could benefit your body and mind.

Meet the Expert

Tim Kelleher is the owner of Boston Yoga Union. Kelleher has been a devoted student of yoga for more than two decades and a leading teacher in the Boston yoga community since 2010. In addition to leading the studio community, Tim teaches publicly and privately, directs the highly regarded 200- and 300-hour teacher training program at the studio, is an adjunct professor of yoga in Boston Conservatory’s Dance Department, leads domestic and international retreats annually and volunteers with organizations that support the intersection of yoga and recovery in Boston.  

What Is Somatic Yoga?

Per Kelleher, the definition of somatic is ‘relating to the body.’ “All yoga is somatic by this definition, but somatic yoga is not focused on any pose, or shape or alignment, but rather feeling sensation within the body, aside from any goal,” he says.

Somatic yoga classes focus on gentle movements, restorative poses and mindful breathing techniques, and Kelleher says they’re designed to help students go inward and learn to experience and communicate with their physicality. “They are slower paced, and it is entirely possible to experience an entire somatic yoga class laying down the whole time!”

“A somatic yoga session often includes low light, and lots of props,” Kelleher says. “Classes are slower paced, low to the ground and may take place entirely on the ground. Props are used to define and highlight sensations in the body, movements are small, specific and often linked to the breath.” How will you feel? Kelleher notes that practitioners can expect to feel tuned in, rejuvenated and rested after a somatic class.