The health benefits of yoga are numerous, from increased flexibility to stress reduction. But did you know that a certain type of yoga, somatic yoga, could help you deal with past trauma? Somatic yoga is a practice that’s focused on feeling sensations within the body, and I got the scoop from yoga teacher Tim Kelleher on how it could benefit your body and mind.
What Is Somatic Yoga (& Can It Help You Overcome Trauma)?
take care of your body *and* your mind
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Published Apr 16, 2025
Ekaterina Goncharova/getty images
Meet the Expert
Tim Kelleher is the owner of Boston Yoga Union. Kelleher has been a devoted student of yoga for more than two decades and a leading teacher in the Boston yoga community since 2010. In addition to leading the studio community, Tim teaches publicly and privately, directs the highly regarded 200- and 300-hour teacher training program at the studio, is an adjunct professor of yoga in Boston Conservatory’s Dance Department, leads domestic and international retreats annually and volunteers with organizations that support the intersection of yoga and recovery in Boston.
What Is Somatic Yoga?
Per Kelleher, the definition of somatic is ‘relating to the body.’ “All yoga is somatic by this definition, but somatic yoga is not focused on any pose, or shape or alignment, but rather feeling sensation within the body, aside from any goal,” he says.
Somatic yoga classes focus on gentle movements, restorative poses and mindful breathing techniques, and Kelleher says they’re designed to help students go inward and learn to experience and communicate with their physicality. “They are slower paced, and it is entirely possible to experience an entire somatic yoga class laying down the whole time!”
“A somatic yoga session often includes low light, and lots of props,” Kelleher says. “Classes are slower paced, low to the ground and may take place entirely on the ground. Props are used to define and highlight sensations in the body, movements are small, specific and often linked to the breath.” How will you feel? Kelleher notes that practitioners can expect to feel tuned in, rejuvenated and rested after a somatic class.
What Are the Benefits of Somatic Yoga?
Somatic yoga can help practitioners heal from injury, communicate with their nervous system and reduce levels of stress and anxiety in the mind, Kelleher explains. “Using gentle movement and inward focus, somatic yoga practitioners go beyond shape or performance, and learn the power of interoception [or being aware of your body's internal sensations].”
Though research about somatic yoga is fairly limited, studies that have been done have shown promising connections between somatic movement (like somatic yoga) and a host of physical and emotional benefits. A small 2017 study found that somatic movement could help people address the negative emotional effects and symptoms of trauma, while research, published in Frontiers in Psychology found that increasing your awareness of your mind and body through somatic movement can help you manage chronic pain and may help lower your perception of pain.
While Kelleher says that somatic yoga is appropriate for almost any practitioner (particularly anyone who is interested in slowing down and becoming more self-attuned) and early research supports somatic movement as a means for addressing trauma, “Folks who are dealing with significant trauma or an acute mental health episode should seek these practices from a qualified provider with experience in trauma-informed yoga.”
