Befriend Your Body: Soma Soul® Yoga

Lately, I’ve come to rely more and more on what I call SomaSoul® Yoga, a yoga practice dedicated to loving your body and bringing consciousness to the emotions and sensations held there. I utilized this practice over the past week when work stress began to take a toll on my sense of well being. I could feel my body-mind's flight & freeze response. In particular I noticed this while journaling and during times of self-reflection. I felt the freeze reaction in my tight guts along with racing in my heart, like I was ready to take flight. I recognized these body sensations as fear. Many of us were not given effective or helpful emotional connection and support throughout our childhood development. This was our "training to be humans." In this way the connection to our body and the capacity to self-care, self-soothe and emotionally self-regulate was compromised and we need to seek tools that help us love ourselves directly and effectively. I find SomaSoul® Yoga to be a valuable practice to employ as we experience the bumps and bruises in our emotional body's journey through this life. Through this process we can learn the skills we need to help us achieve the emotional connection and support we may not have received as children. The first step requires that you take time to recognize what you are feeling. Simply feel what you feel in your body. Locate the emotion or feeling tone in your body, and then name the physical sensations there. Remember, I discovered my fear as a tight and frozen feeling in my guts and the feeling of a racing heart. Maybe you will discover something similar or maybe you feel sadness and experience that as heaviness or collapse in your lungs and/or heart. After you recognize the feeling in your body, the next step is to welcome the feeling with curiosity. Simply ask, "Fear (your feeling), are you stuck inside or are you free?" Our emotions live in our brain and our body. 10 times out of 10 emotions are stuck within us. We often hold against our emotions. We need simple and natural expression of our feelings--remember the word emotion comes from the Latin "e” “movere" which means to move outwards! We need safe ways to allow our emotions to flow. After you've recognized and welcomed the emotional body it’s time to begin movement. Support the flow of emotion by moving your body! For those of you who have a rich background in yoga and/or healing movement, let your body memory of what nurtures you take the lead here. And for those of you relatively new to yoga and movement, trust that your body can guide you with a few simple movements and stretches. You’ll know that you have listened to your body because you will either feel the emotion soften and soothe or you may have an emotional release. In other words as you release your hold against feelings, the emotion naturally moves--you could cry, shake or shout. This is good!! This is the way to release chronic tension held in your body and allow space for relaxation to occur. Commit to truly nourishing your body, mind, and soul and dedicate some time this week to try out SomaSoul® Yoga.