There’s a question I see in online discussions.

“So… is this like yoga? Or is it something else?”

The honest answer is from my perspective is: it’s something else. And also, it contains yoga. And also, it’s older than yoga. And also, most people have been doing versions of it their whole lives without ever having a word for it.

And now we do have a word for it.

Somatic.

A word that has quickly become a buzzword, passed around in wellness spaces, used to describe everything and sometimes nothing. And still, despite all of that, it remains one of the simplest ways to describe a deeply human experience:

Listening to your body. Building upon the knowledge you have before and bridging clarity.. maybe building clarity. Kind of the same thing non?

Somatic movement is the practice of moving from internal sensation rather than external instruction. Instead of “put your hand here, angle your foot there,” it begins with a quieter question: What do you notice? Where is your body naturally going?

What Somatic Means

The word somatic comes from the Greek word soma, meaning the living body as experienced from within. Not the body as an object or something to fix. AND ESPECIALLY NOT SOME PERFORMANCE THANG. More about something you feeland if I'm being honest with myself… how often are I actually there? How often are we actually there?

How often do we pause long enough to notice what’s happening beneath the noise? Beneath the expectations? Beneath the constant input of how we should move, feel, show up? Somatic practice invites you into a different relationship with yourself. One where you are not outsourcing authority. One where you are not waiting to be corrected or approved.

It asks you to get curious, which can be scary. What is actually happening inside of me? What shifts when I slow down? What do I discover when I stop performing movement and start experiencing it? I have really learned that if we never spend time exploring our internal landscape, we end up navigating life using someone else’s map. This doesn't have to be done through movement. Conversation, journalling, sitting still and even connection with others.

Why this matters right now

We are living in what some describe as a disembodiment epidemic. Most of us are spending our days in our heads, cycling through thoughts, notifications, deadlines, expectations. Our bodies become vehicles. Transportation systems for our brains:

• Get to the meeting.

• Finish the task.

• Push through the fatigue.

Somewhere along the way, the relationship with the body becomes transactional, mechanical even. Only checking in when something hurts, overriding signals because there’s something “more important.”

We disconnect because it’s more efficient to do so and that diisconnection comes at a cost. It shows up as chronic tension that we normalize.

It shows up as burnout that we can’t quite name (although I feel like burnout comes from many different aspects including the way our world and structures are put together). It shows up as anxiety that lives in the chest, the jaw, the gut and we try to think our way out of it.

Somatic movement interrupts this pattern.Not by adding more to your to-do list, but by shifting your attention. It brings you back into contact with sensation. With breath, subtle changes in the body that may go unnoticed. And over time, that reconnection builds something powerful:

Agency and Choice. Awareness of course but the first two super important as well. When you can feel what’s happening, you can respond differently.

What it looks like in practice

Somatic movement doesn’t always look like what we’ve been taught movement should look like. No performance to get right.

Sometimes it looks like lying on the floor and noticing which parts of your back make contact with the ground and which parts don’t.

Sometimes it looks like gently rocking side to side, following an impulse that doesn’t have a name or a goal. Sometimes it looks like moving through a familiar yoga flow with your eyes closed, letting sensation lead instead of memory. And sometimes it looks like things that don’t even register as “practice” hell not even registering that you practiced and just moving for movements fucking sake.

Dancing in your kitchen for no reason. Walking without headphones and noticing the rhythm of your steps. Pausing mid-day and rolling your shoulders because something feels stuck and knowing it's because you're frustrated.

Somatic practice lives in those moments. It’s less about what you’re doing, and more about how you’re relating to what you’re doing.

How to start

You don’t need a class or a mat.

You don’t need the “right” playlist or outfit or environment.

You need five minutes and a willingness to notice.

Here’s a simple place to begin:

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart.

• Let your arms rest by your sides.

• Close your eyes, if that feels accessible.

• Take three breaths without trying to change them.

• Then ask your body one question:

• What do you need right now?

And here’s the important part, don’t rush to answer it. Let the answer come as a sensation. A shift in weight or a desire to move, stretch, sway or be still.

Just practice listening. Because that’s what somatic movement is at its core, listening to yourself for yourself and those

around you.


With purpose, on purpose.
xo Ro
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If you want to go deeper, I offer 1:1 consultations for people who want to build a personal somatic practice that fits their life.

Book at wildroga.com.