I didn't know there was a name for it at first. Just that I needed gentle somatic exercises at home — small movements on the floor of my bedroom that made my nervous system feel a little more like mine again.
For years, I'd catch myself doing these small, almost involuntary things when my body needed to come back to itself.
A long exhale with a little sound at the end of it. Gently bouncing up and down on my heels. Shaking my arms, hips, head, and hands. Twisting side to side while letting my arms freely wrap and slap around my middle. Rolling my shoulders in slow circles without meaning to. Lying on the floor for no reason other than the floor was there and I had the overwhelming urge to.
I thought I was just being weird. Turns out I was involuntarily doing somatics.
How I actually found this work
I want to be honest with you about how I came to somatic yoga, because I think it matters. I didn't hear about it on a podcast, get a recommendation from someone else, or actively seek it out in any way. I did not sign up for a training or pursue another certification. I did not enroll in a nine-month mentorship program and set up a payment plan.
I saw it on YouTube.
More specifically, I found Brett Larkin, whose somatic yoga playlist and teachings on what she calls the REST method gave me a solid, stable foundation to begin exploring this work on my own. That was really all I needed to start. A good teacher on the other side of a screen, and a willingness to actually try the practices instead of just letting it pass by as another "trend."
I want to be clear. I'm not affiliated with Brett. I'm not a cheerleader or an advocate for her work. There are many wonderful people doing this work, and if her voice doesn't land for you, keep looking. Someone else will. Her material, however, was a doorway for me, and I want to name it because that matters.
And since we're being honest
I've been teaching for nearly twenty years. Something I want to name up front is that I've never called or considered myself an expert on anything I teach. Not yoga, not Pilates, not energy work, and certainly not somatics. That being said, I don't think I have to be an expert to share what has genuinely helped me. I just need to be honest about where I am in the work and excited about passing along what resonates.
This is the approach I've always taken as a teacher. Here's what I've learned. Here's what shifted for me. Please take what serves you and leave the rest.
There's often a strong current in the wellness world that says if you aren't certified in something, or if you can't claim authority as an expert, you shouldn't be teaching it or even talking about it. I understand where that comes from, and I hold real respect for the people who go deep into formal training. I offer trainings and certifications myself, and I believe in what I put into them.
But I also think there's room for a different kind of sharing. The kind where a teacher says, this is what I've been practicing, this is where I learned it, this is what it's done for me, and here's a small piece you can try if you're curious. That's not claiming authority. That's just being a person who has found something helpful and wants you to know about it.
After years on my own healing journey, I've come to trust the landscape of knowledge I already carry. A decades-long relationship with yoga, Pilates, and mind-body fitness disciplines. The last several years spent formally stepping into coaching after becoming a certified yoga lifestyle coach and realizing that coaching had always been woven into my teaching style and philosophy. Training in reiki after being a longtime skeptic (you can read about that journey here). I bring all of that with me whenever I share, whether I have a certificate for that particular thing or not.
Will I go deeper into formal somatic training one day? Maybe. If it calls me, I'll go. But I don't need it to practice this on my own, and I don't need it to offer it to you the way I'm offering it here. As something I love. Something that has helped. Nothing more, nothing less.
What somatic yoga actually is
Somatic yoga is less about the pose and more about the sensing.
You move slowly. You notice. You let your nervous system catch up to your body. It's the opposite of pushing through, which is the language most of us were taught to speak when it comes to our bodies.
Where traditional yoga often asks, what does this shape look like, somatic yoga asks, what does this shape feel like. Both have their place. But if you're someone carrying stress in your shoulders, your jaw, your hips, your belly (so, like most of us), the sensing version is a softer doorway back inside of yourself.
The REST method, in plain language
The REST method is the framework I came back to again and again when I was learning. It's Brett's, and I'll credit her for it, but it's also drawn from principles that live in a lot of somatic work.
Gentle rocking, side to side or front to back, tells the nervous system that you are safe and supported. Think of how we rock babies. That instinct isn't accidental.
A sigh. A hum. A little sound on the exhale. This stimulates the vagus nerve, which is one of the main highways of your parasympathetic nervous system. Humming, in particular, is a small miracle. You can do it in the car, at your desk, while cooking dinner, anywhere and anytime really.
Slow, twisting movement through the torso, the hips, the spine. Spirals unwind tension in a way that straight lines can't quite reach.
Your own hands on your own body. A squeeze on your forearm. A hand on your heart. The butterfly hug, where you cross your arms and hold opposite shoulders. Most of us are quietly starved for soothing touch, and self-touch counts. And for those with touch-related trauma, or who simply don't like being touched, growing safer with your own touch is often the first step if this is something you'd like to work on healing.
You can layer all four. You can pick one. You can do them in any order. There is no wrong way. That's kind of the point.
A simple somatic reset routine I come back to
This is the one I want to give you today. It borrows from the REST method and from my own practice. It takes about three minutes. You can do it on your bedroom floor, on a yoga mat, on a rug, on grass if you're feeling brave. No props or playlist are required, though a quiet room helps.
Lie down on your back. Knees bent, feet flat, arms wherever they want to be. Let the floor hold you for a full breath before you do anything else.
Slowly rock your knees side to side. Small at first. Just a few inches each way. Let the movement come from your low belly, not your legs. Notice where your back meets the floor and where it doesn't. R · Rock
Pause in the middle. Take one long exhale out through your mouth. Make a sound if you want to. A sigh counts. A hum counts. Silence counts too. E · Emote
Bring one hand to your chest and one hand to your belly. Breathe so that both hands rise, the belly one first. Do this for maybe six breaths. Don't count too carefully. T · Touch
Add a little spiral. Let your knees drop gently to one side, then the other, with your arms falling in the opposite direction if that feels good. Slow. Small. Nothing to accomplish. S · Spiral
Come back to center. Roll to one side. Rest there for a moment before you sit up. This part matters. Coming out of a reset too fast undoes some of what you just did.
That's it. That's the whole thing.
Why this small thing works
Your nervous system doesn't speak English. It speaks sensation.
When you move slowly, exhale audibly, and give your body a chance to feel supported by the ground, you're sending it a message it actually understands. You are safe. You can come down now.
Most of us walk around in a low hum of activation we've stopped noticing. Somatic work interrupts that. Not with willpower. With attention.
You don't have to call it anything. You don't have to buy a mat or download an app or find a teacher. You can just do the thing, on the floor of whatever room you happen to be in, on a Tuesday when your chest feels tight for reasons you can't quite name.
If you want to go deeper on your own
For those of you who like a book in your hands, here are a few that have been meaningful for me as I've explored this work more deeply on my own over the last several years. This isn't a complete list, just a starting point.
- The Body Keeps the Score The foundational read for understanding why the body holds what the mind can't always process.
- Healing Trauma Short, accessible, and the closest thing to a beginner's introduction to somatic experiencing from the person who coined the term.
- Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga A gentle bridge between the yoga world and the trauma-healing world.
- Healing with Somatic Yoga if you want the fuller version of what I learned on YouTube.
And of course, YouTube itself. Brett's somatic yoga playlist is free. So is an entire universe of teachers offering this work. You do not need to spend a dollar to begin.
Start where you are
If three minutes feels like too much today, do one. If lying on the floor isn't available to you, do this practice seated, with your feet flat and your hands on your thighs. The point isn't the choreography. The point is telling your body that you're listening.
Somatic yoga taught me that healing doesn't always look like a big brave thing. Sometimes it looks like a woman on her living room floor, rocking her knees an inch to the left, an inch to the right, remembering that she has her body and her body has her.
♥