Yoga and Somatic Healing: How Listening to Your Body Creates Lasting Change

There was a time in my life when I practiced yoga purely from the outside in. I focused on alignment, flexibility, and strength — believing that if my body looked a certain way, I was “doing it right.” But something was missing. My body was moving, yet parts of me still felt unheard.

That’s when I discovered somatic healing — and everything changed.

Somatic healing is not about fixing the body. It’s about listening to it. In yoga, this means turning our attention inward and allowing sensation to guide the practice. Instead of asking, How does this pose look?, we ask, How does this feel inside my body?

Our bodies store experiences — emotional, physical, and energetic. Stress, trauma, grief, and even long-term habits leave imprints in the nervous system and tissues. Through slow, mindful movement and conscious breathing, somatic yoga invites these stored patterns to gently release.

In my own practice and teaching, I’ve seen how powerful this approach can be. A tight hip can soften when we stop forcing it open. A held breath can deepen once we feel safe enough to exhale. Healing happens when the nervous system senses safety — not pressure.

Somatic yoga is especially supportive if you feel disconnected from your body, overwhelmed, or stuck in cycles of pain or tension. It offers a way back to yourself — one breath, one sensation at a time.

At Asana Tribe Yoga Spain, this is the heart of the practice: movement that listens, breath that soothes, and space to feel without judgment.