Yoga (योग) is a Sanskrit term from the root yuj (युज्) meaning 'yoked' or 'harnessed.' Yoga is the process of rediscovering that our bodies and minds are not separate, and is a diverse set of techniques and practices for bringing them into greater coherence with one another. This practice of rediscovery extends outward from ourselves and our bodies: while we may sometimes seem quite distinct as individuals, we are not separate from the others around us and the environment in which we’re embedded.
The field of meaning of the word “yoga” has changed over the centuries, both in Indian contemplative history and as techniques originating in India have become part of a global conversation. Yoga continues to encompass a wide variety of practices including ethical observations, āsana (postures), prānāyāma (breathwork), singing and chanting, devotional practices, intellectual speculation, cultivating better focus, and various forms of meditation. There are many ways to practice yoga, and folks like to argue about which is the best and most authentic, as pundits have been doing for thousands of years. Nevertheless, unifying threads run through them all. One of these is an emphasis on practice instead of theory. Rather than being a one-and-done attainable goal, yoga is an ongoing process, something we have to engage with for it to work. It is a choice we make, again and again, to replace old unconscious patterns with new more conscious ones, and a skill that is developed by doing without being too attached to the outcome. And because mind and body are not separate, practicing postures and consciously witnessing your breath are a fundamental way to start noticing all of your patterns in greater detail — physical, energetic, psychoemotional, relational, and transpersonal.
I’m not flexible/strong/fit/thin/etc. Can I do yoga?
Yes, yoga is for everyone, and your body and your practice don’t need to look like anyone else’s. The postures (āsana-s) are containers for your experience of yourself, and the real important stuff happens inside. If you can focus on your breath for a few seconds, you can do yoga, and you can expand your capacity for greater focus, fitness, and presence.
The success of Yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships.
— TKV Desikachar
What is Somatics?
Somatics is the exploration of consciousness through your body, your movement, and your mind as a continuum of experience. It is a field of study for getting to know yourself better, through voice, touch, movement, imagery, and storytelling. Like yoga, it is a way to recognize and explore your movement patterns and habits of mind so you have more power to change them where they aren’t serving you. Somatic movement redirects the current of movement experience away from performative, outside-in movement towards interoceptive, inside-out movement, where experiencing yourself as a dynamic process is more important than how it looks. As we cultivate the capacity to sense our inner environments more granularly, we can bring our inner worlds into more balanced relationship with our outer worlds, expanding our sense of personal agency in the world and strengthening our ability to connect with others. I am pursuing IDME (Infant Developmental Movement Education) and SME (Somatic Movement Education) certificates in Body-Mind-Centering®, developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. It is a living tradition, continually recreated and cocreated by its students, teachers, and practitioners. What sets BMC® apart from other somatic approaches is its comprehensive embodied research into the unique minds of each of our diverse tissues. The coherent interwoven communities which comprise you await your attention.
We are not made up of ‘things.’ We are made up of consciousness and process.
