Somatics
Somatics is a way of moving in which you perform movements slowly and with attention. You are invited to do this with a curious, open and kind gaze. It helps you learn to feel your body from the inside again (interoception). Somatic Movement Education was developed by Thomas Hannah a student of Moshe Feldenkrais.
Somatics is accessible for people of all ages and abilities. The exercises primarily floor based. By having muscles first seek tension and then slowly release (pandiculation) you reprogram patterns in your brain and body.
Because you are invited to focus your brain on certain places in your body, there is little room to wander off into thoughts and to-do lists during a somatics session. This has a very relaxing effect. In time, this carries over to how you move in your daily life both physically and mentally.
For example, pull your shoulders up as high as you can hold them for a moment, feel what you feel and then lower them again as slowly as possible. Then notice what you notice. For example, warmth, tingling, something else or nothing at all. For many people, there are places in the body that are no longer consciously felt. (sensory motor amnesia)
For me, somatics is the missing link between yoga, movement, mobility and the connection to the brain. It has helped me regain and increase my connection to my center, physically and mentally. At first, the changes are subtle. For example, I noticed it while talking to one of my sons who was at the top of the stairs. I had the space in my neck to look up again. Later I noticed that I barely had a headaches. Learning to listen to my body has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I move more freely, smoothly, fluently and with more ease. I love that is offers room for playfulness, which is how dancing can also be somatics for me ;-). The great thing is that ultimately you do this yourself. In the words of my teacher Lisa Petersen:
“You are a soma. Your soma is self-regulating, self-monitoring, self-assessing, self-correcting, self-renewing and ultimately self-healing.“
Yoga
I regularly get the question what kind of yoga I teach. My answer is I teach Carrie Yoga. Over the years I have taken many courses trainings and have done a lot of embodied experiencing. All this together I have made my own, picked out what I find important and now pass it on in my own way. Hence Carrie Yoga.
Looking at it from a lineage point of view I feel mostly connected to somatic yoga as taught in the lineage of Donna Farhi and Lisa Petersen. Originally I was trained by Dona Holleman (student of BKS Iyengar).
Important principles for me are moving from a curious inquisitive attitude. Feeling and listening yourself. What feels good in your body on this day and adjusting the movement accordingly. Looking at your possibilities with compassion and kindness and what gives you Joy. It is important to me that there is a safe, authentic atmosphere. There is nothing that needs to be fixed or changed. You are allowed to be there as you are with all your emotions, feelings and sensations that are with you in the moment.
Yoga and or Somatics sessions can be followed via Zoom or at your home (only if you live in a 30 km radius from Varsseveld)