Somatic Yoga: How Slowing Down Changes Everything

• Why Slowing Down Feels So Hard
• What Is Somatic Yoga?
• The Science Behind Slowing Down
• Coming Back to Yourself
• Try Somatic Yoga for Yourself

We live in a world that celebrates exhaustion. We brag about being busy, wear sleep deprivation like a badge of honor, and even turn mindfulness into another productivity hack. Yet when we finally collapse on the couch at the end of the day, the things we call “relaxing”—scrolling, streaming, sipping—rarely leave us feeling restored. They’re distractions, not renewal. In truth, even the rushing itself can be a distraction, keeping us from noticing what lies underneath.

What if slowing down could actually refill your tank in a way that lasts? What if rest wasn’t something you had to earn, but something you could choose—deliberately, unapologetically, and with the same intention you bring to your workouts or your workday?

Why Slowing Down Feels So Hard

Just a heads up: slowing down can feel uncomfortable at first. I see this all the time with new students and retreat participants. Many of us are so used to moving at the pace of the world around us that pausing feels unnatural—or even wrong.

I know this firsthand. As a Division 1 volleyball player in college, I was trained to push through broken fingers, sprained ankles, and back pain. I became an expert at ignoring my body—and for years, that mindset kept me from noticing when I truly needed rest.

It took me a long time to realize that slowing down isn’t weakness. It’s strength of a different kind. It’s a practice of listening, of tuning in, of reclaiming energy instead of leaking it. That’s the heart of somatic yoga: a gentle yet powerful way to reconnect with yourself, soothe your nervous system, and discover what true rest and renewal can feel like.

What Is Somatic Yoga?

Think of somatic yoga as a practice that shifts the focus from how a pose looks to how it feels. Instead of striving for “perfect” alignment, it invites you to slow down and notice the subtler messages your body is sending.

Movements are gentle, intentional, and often smaller than in a traditional class—but don’t let that fool you. These mindful explorations can create big shifts: releasing tension, improving mobility, calming the nervous system, and bringing you back into balance.

At its core, somatic yoga is about moving from within. It’s less about achieving an external goal and more about developing perception—what you feel inside (interoception), where your body is in space (proprioception), and how you connect to the world around you (exteroception). In this way, somatic yoga doesn’t just complement traditional practice, it deepens it—helping you approach familiar poses with fresh awareness and insight.

The Science Behind Slowing Down

Why Your Brain Needs Slow Movement

Slowing down is required if you want to move with deliberate intention and focused attention. Fast movements begin and end before you’ve had a chance to notice anything. But slow movement gives your brain time to gather information, interpret it, and respond—creating a clear, detailed “map” of your body in motion.

Think of it like this: zipping down the highway gives you only a blur of the city, but walking the streets lets you notice the architecture, the cafés, the hidden gardens. The slower the pace, the more detail your brain can register—and the more possibilities you discover.

How Somatic Yoga Reduces Pain

This is why slowing down can change the way we experience pain. At full speed, you might conclude, “My shoulder hurts whenever I lift my arm.” But when you move slowly, you may notice the pain only shows up when you lift quickly, at a certain angle, or beyond a certain height. That awareness gives you a way in—a chance to explore new options instead of avoiding movement altogether. And when you realize your “bad” shoulder doesn’t always hurt, the story you tell yourself about your body begins to change.

The Neuroscience of Slow

Somatic yoga also takes advantage of the Weber–Fechner Law, which explains that when the intensity of a stimulus is low (like moving gently and slowly), our brain becomes much better at detecting differences. It’s why you can easily catch the difference between one candle and two, but not between 100 candles and 101. In movement, slowing down reveals unnecessary tension and effort that would otherwise go unnoticed.

According to Henneman’s Size Principle, the body recruits small, precise motor units first, before calling on the bigger, less refined ones. In practice, that means slow, low-force movement relies on the finer, more controlled muscle fibers—helping us build coordination and steadiness.

And when we slow down, we break free from habit. Quick movements tend to fall into our old, familiar patterns, while slow movements create space for novelty. That novelty—trying something in a new way—is what sparks neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewire itself and learn.

Perhaps most importantly, moving slowly tells your nervous system that you’re safe. Reduced mechanical forces lower the sense of threat, creating a calm environment where your body feels free to explore movements that once caused pain or were long neglected. Safety is the foundation for growth and healing, and somatic yoga provides exactly that.

Coming Back to Yourself

Somatic yoga is an active kind of rest—one that helps you reset and restore while strengthening your connection to yourself. Where other forms of exercise push you to your edge, somatic yoga pulls you inward, asking: What do I notice? Where do I feel ease? Where do I feel stuck?

Each time you return to a movement, it’s never quite the same—that’s the somatic principle of “repetition without repetition.” Every breath, every shift of attention creates a new experience. Over time, these explorations build greater self-trust, agency, and resilience.

Somatic yoga doesn’t just change the way you move on the mat—it changes the way you move through life.

Try Somatic Yoga for Yourself

If you’d like to experience it firsthand, here’s a guided practice on the relationship between the spine, core, and low ribs to get you started.

Take the Free Somatic Yoga Class here

And if you feel called to go deeper, I offer weekly somatic yoga classes live on Zoom—yes, I send out recordings—as well as annual somatic yoga retreats where we explore this work in community. —Karin

References

• Enoka, R. M., & Duchateau, J. (2014). Understanding neuromuscular function. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
• Kattenstroth, J. C., et al. (2013). Dance improves balance, coordination, and cognition in older adults. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
• Doidge, N. (2025). Slowness of movement boosts awareness and learning. Psychology Today.
• Hartley, L.Wisdom of the Body Moving: An Introduction to Body-Mind Centering.
• Hargrove, T. A Guide to Better Movement: The Science and Practice of Moving with More Skill and Less Pain.
• Cohen, B. B. Sensing, Feeling, and Action: The Experiential Anatomy of Body-Mind Centering.
• Hanna, T. Somatics: Reawakening the Mind’s Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health.