Somatic yoga: what it means, what a class is like, what the evidence shows, and a slow 20-minute class

Get help straight away

The NHS says a mental health emergency should be taken as seriously as a physical one, and that you will not be wasting anyone's time.

• Call 999 or go to A&E if your life is at risk: for example, you have seriously harmed yourself or taken an overdose, or you feel you can't keep yourself safe.
• For urgent help in England, call 111 and select the mental health option, or use 111 online.
• Call Samaritans on 116 123. It is free, any time, day or night.
• In the US, call or text 988, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time.

Sources 1, 2, 3, 4

Slow yoga, with close attention to how it feels

"Somatic" means relating to the body. In somatics, a field Thomas Hanna named, it means the body as you experience it yourself. A university memorial page credits the psychologist and yoga teacher Eleanor Criswell with creating Somatic Yoga. Today the name is used loosely for many slow, sensation-led classes (our reading).

Sources 5, 6, 7

Only three small studies use the name

The best, a 27-person feasibility trial in functional neurological disorder, found it practical, safe and promising, but it was small and exploratory. Two pilots in cancer survivors had no comparison group. Nothing has tested it for stress, anxiety, back pain or weight in the general public.

Sources 8, 9, 10, 11

Yoga tends to sharpen body awareness

In 16 of 21 studies that compared yoga with a control group, body awareness rose more with yoga. For stress, yoga with mindfulness worked no better than physical yoga or mindfulness alone in 102 adults, so the slow, attentive part hasn't been shown to add anything.

Sources 12, 13

Calmer, not rewired

Slow breathing reliably raises heart rate variability, a sign of vagus nerve activity, and many people feel calmer. The polyvagal theory behind most "nervous system" claims was judged untenable by 39 experts in 2026.

Sources 14, 15

Trauma isn't stored in your hips

No study shows trauma stored in muscle or fascia. Trauma-sensitive yoga has helped some people as an addition to treatment, and NICE recommends trauma-focused talking therapies. Strong feelings in a pose are real, but they aren't trauma leaving your body.

Sources 16, 17, 18

A slow class to try

Our free 20-minute class follows the order of the published programmes: floor first, standing at the end, eyes open allowed and every move optional. It's gentle activity, so pair it with activity that raises your heart rate and with strength work.

Sources 10, 9, 19

The word

In everyday English, "somatic" means "relating to the body as opposed to the mind".

Source 5

Hanna's somatics

Thomas Hanna coined "somatics" for the field concerned with the first-person experience of the body. A 2013 study quotes his definition: "the art and science of the inter-relational process between awareness, biological function and the environment". A 2022 dance history paper argues that the history he gave the field was distorted.

Sources 6, 20

Somatic Yoga, the method

According to a university memorial page, Eleanor Criswell (1938 to 2024), a psychologist who taught yoga from 1967, created Somatic Yoga, and her somatics was rooted in Hanna's. A 2019 trial built its programme on the principles of Hanna Somatics and Criswell's Somatic Yoga. Those two sources are all we found, so treat this as the best account available.

Sources 7, 10

A loose label today

Classes sold as somatic yoga range from Criswell-style floor sequences to any slow class with pauses, and the studies use the name for programmes built in different ways. So it's a way of practising rather than one fixed method (our reading).

Sources 8, 10, 9

The published programmes

In the cancer survivors' programme, 90-minute classes began with a body and breath scan lying down, then slow "somatic movements" (arching and flattening the back, twists and a hip series), knees to chest, cat-cow and child's pose, then mountain pose, a warrior series and tree pose, and ended with guided relaxation. Movements were done "slowly and gently with the least possible effort and are never forced." The functional neurological disorder programme combined slow movement, breathing, attention to body sensations, balance and grounding tasks and restful positions, and gave people choice over their practice.

Sources 10, 9

Pandiculation

Many classes use what Hanna called pandiculation: tightening a muscle, then releasing it slowly while you notice how it feels. The method's theory is that stress leaves muscles in tightened patterns you can't relax at will until the brain regains control. That's the method's explanation, not a tested finding, and the only paper on pandiculation's role in the body is a hypothesis paper.

Sources 10, 21

How it differs from other gentle styles

Yin yoga holds passive stretches for minutes; restorative yoga rests in supported poses; yoga nidra is guided relaxation lying still; and trauma-sensitive yoga is a tested programme built on choice and invitation. Somatic yoga sits closest to gentle hatha yoga: active but slow, with attention on how it feels rather than the shape of the pose (our reading). Our guides to each style have more.

Body awareness, in plain words

Interoception is the process by which the nervous system "senses, interprets, and integrates signals originating from within the body", and problems with it are part of anxiety, mood, eating and other disorders. Studies usually measure body awareness with questionnaires such as the 32-item MAIA, and a questionnaire score isn't the same as sensing accurately. With anxiety, more attention on body sensations can sometimes feed worry, so look outward too if that happens (our suggestion).

Sources 22, 23

Three small studies use the nameStrong evidence

PubMed found 5 records with "somatic yoga" in the title or abstract: papers from three small studies and one service report. ClinicalTrials.gov lists one completed study, with no results posted. The grade is for that fact; the studies themselves are weak.

Source 8

Functional neurological disorder: practical and safe in a small trialEmerging evidence

At one London centre, 27 adults with functional neurological disorder (FND) were randomised to six hour-long one-to-one sessions of somatic yoga, mostly online, or 6 weeks of self-guided music relaxation; 21 finished. Everyone who started the yoga finished it, no harms from the yoga were seen, and exploratory results favoured yoga for self-rated improvement and body awareness.

It's a small, exploratory feasibility trial: participants knew their group, the therapist was one of the authors, and more of the yoga group were having other treatments. The authors report that one kind of dissociation, which they call identity-related dissociation, rose in the yoga group at week 3: an unexpected result that they suggest could reflect closer attention to the self early in practice. A lab analysis of the same people found faster attention and less dissociation over time in both groups, more so with yoga.

Sources 9, 24

Nerve damage after chemotherapy: no comparison groupMixed evidence

Two pilots of 90-minute somatic yoga and meditation classes, in 10 and 8 cancer survivors, reported better flexibility, reach and a walking balance test in the first and fewer nerve symptoms in the second, with no side effects. Neither had a comparison group, so practice and natural change can't be ruled out.

Sources 10, 11

Body awarenessEmerging evidence

In a 2025 review of 33 studies, 16 of the 21 that compared yoga with a control group (76%) found more body awareness with yoga, though measures varied and studies were small. In a 12-week trial of stressed adults, self-compassion was more closely linked to wellbeing than body awareness was.

Sources 12, 25

StressEmerging evidence

In 102 adults with high stress, 12 weeks of yoga with mindfulness, mostly physical Iyengar yoga, or mindfulness alone cut stress about equally, with no extra benefit from combining them. NCCIH reports that a 2020 review of 12 studies of yoga for stress in healthy adults found benefits in all of them. Gentle yoga of any kind is a reasonable choice; nothing shows the somatic version adds anything.

Sources 13, 26

Pain, and other somatic methodsMixed evidence

NICE offers a supervised group exercise programme for chronic primary pain and names no type. Feldenkrais improved balance in older people in trials at high risk of bias; Hanna Somatic Education has one series of 103 people with neck or back pain and no comparison group; and a 10-week online somatic movement class improved spine mobility in 15 older adults but not body awareness. Somatic practitioners argue their approach suits people living with pain; it's a reasonable gentle option, not a better one (our reading).

Sources 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

SafetyStrong evidence

Across 94 trials, yoga was about as safe as usual care and other exercise. Mild, temporary rises in symptoms can happen with mindfulness, yoga or tai chi.

Sources 32, 33

Slow breathingStrong evidence

Your heart rate varies slightly from beat to beat, and part of that variation reflects the activity of the vagus nerve. Across 223 studies, slow breathing raised it during a session, straight after one and after a course.

Source 14

Yoga's own effect is inconsistentMixed evidence

A 2015 review of 14 trials, only 2 of acceptable quality, found no convincing evidence that yoga changes heart rate variability, while a 2018 review of 17 trials of tai chi or yoga found favourable changes and less stress. Across 42 trials of very varied programmes, practices that included yoga poses lowered some cortisol, heart rate and blood pressure measures against active comparison groups.

Sources 34, 35, 36

The polyvagal theoryEmerging evidence

Much "nervous system regulation" language leans on the polyvagal theory. In 2026, 39 experts on the vagus nerve and evolution agreed that its major ideas aren't supported by past or current knowledge. The theory's author disputes this, so read it as expert critique rather than settled fact.

Sources 37, 15

What to expect

Slower breathing, a calmer heart and, for many people, feeling calmer. The NHS suggests a breathing exercise for stress done regularly, as part of your daily routine. That's worth having; "rewired" and "reset" promise more than the evidence shows (our reading).

Sources 14, 38

No study shows trauma stored in your hipsMixed evidence

Our search found no study testing it. The 1994 paper behind the phrase "the body keeps the score" says "a trauma is stored in somatic memory and expressed as changes in the biological stress response": a theory about memory and stress hormones, not about muscles. A 2014 editorial only asked whether fascia can hold memories. Our fascia and emotions guide traces the idea.

Sources 16, 39, 40

The book's wider claimsEmerging evidence

In a 2026 commentary on The Body Keeps the Score, a psychiatrist concluded that its claims about trauma-induced brain damage and the unique effectiveness of body-based treatments "are not supported by the current weight of research". It's one person's commentary, so it's weak evidence too. In a survey of 1,581 US adults, 77% agreed that the body keeps the score, so if you believe it too, you're far from alone.

Sources 41, 42

Trauma-sensitive yoga is the tested versionEmerging evidence

In 64 women with long-lasting PTSD, 52% no longer met the criteria for PTSD after 10 weekly classes, against 21% with health education. In 131 women veterans, 10 weekly classes did about as well as group cognitive processing therapy over 3 months, with limits our yoga for PTSD guide sets out. Pooled trials show self-rated PTSD improving but not clearly clinician-rated PTSD, at low or very low quality.

Sources 17, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47

Body awareness didn't explain the gainsEmerging evidence

In a yoga trial of 141 people with PTSD, body awareness didn't explain the improvement once other factors were included; better mental wellbeing and less stigma did.

Source 48

What the guidelines sayStrong evidence

NICE judged the uncertainty in the yoga evidence too high to recommend it, and recommends an individual trauma-focused CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) for adults, or EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) after non-combat trauma more than 3 months ago. The US Veterans Affairs and Defense guideline found insufficient evidence for or against yoga or somatic experiencing, but says such practices should be supported for people who are interested.

Sources 49, 18, 50

Other body-based trauma methodsMixed evidence

Somatic experiencing, a therapy rather than a yoga class, has preliminary evidence of mixed quality and one randomised trial, of 63 people against a waiting list. Studies of trauma releasing exercises (a shaking technique) weren't consistently rigorous.

Sources 51, 52, 53

Trauma-informed isn't the same as treatment

The UK government's definition rests on 6 principles: safety, trust, choice, collaboration, empowerment and cultural consideration. It says the purpose of trauma-informed practice "is not to treat trauma-related difficulties, which is the role of trauma-specialist services and practitioners."

Source 54

Strong feelings during practice

Quiet, body-focused practice can bring up strong feelings. That doesn't mean anything is being released. Stop, open your eyes, sit up with your feet on the floor, look around and breathe slowly, and skip that position next time. Our guide to exercise and PTSD has more on making exercise feel safe.

Source 54

Long eyes-closed relaxation

Keep guided body scans and long relaxations short and optional, or sit up with your eyes open. One review warns that guided relaxation not delivered with care can bring on "overwhelming flashbacks, emotional distress, and extended dissociation".

Sources 55, 9

Breath holds and fast breathing

Box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing are optional, and breath of fire is left out: in mental health trials, holds and fast breathing caused more problems than slow breathing, and NCCIH advises beginners to avoid forceful breathing.

Sources 56, 57, 26

Positions that can feel exposed or trapped

Happy baby, reclining bound angle and face-down poses such as cobra and sphinx are optional. A seated or side-lying version works as well.

Long passive stretches

Holding deep stretches for minutes, as in yin yoga, isn't what somatic classes do and doesn't suit loose joints. Keep holds short and in the middle of your range, as our yoga for hypermobility guide advises.

Shaking or "trauma release" sequences

They aren't part of the tested somatic yoga programmes, and studies of trauma releasing exercises weren't consistently rigorous.

Source 53

Call 999 (911 in the US) or go to A&E now

Call 999 or go to A&E if:

• Your life is at risk: for example, you have seriously harmed yourself or taken an overdose.
• You feel you may be about to harm yourself, or you can't keep yourself or someone else safe.
• You have chest pain that feels tight or like squeezing, or spreads to your arms, neck or jaw, or severe difficulty breathing, or someone passes out and isn't responding normally.

Sources 1, 2

Get urgent help today

• In England, call 111 and select the mental health option, use 111 online, or ask for an urgent GP appointment.
• Call Samaritans free on 116 123, any time, day or night (UK and Ireland). If you're under 19, you can also call Childline on 0800 1111.
• Text SHOUT to 85258, any time.
• Contact your mental health crisis team if you have one.
• In the US, call or text 988, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time.

Sources 1, 2, 3, 4

See your GP if

Worry, low mood, flashbacks, nightmares or avoiding reminders of a trauma are affecting your daily life. Slow movement can sit alongside treatment, but it doesn't replace it.

Source 18

See a GP soon

If you're 18 or over (or 16 or over in some areas), you can also refer yourself to NHS talking therapies without seeing a GP.

• You think you have symptoms of PTSD, or you've been diagnosed and treatments are not helping (or speak to your mental health specialist if you have one).

Sources 58, 18

During or after yoga

• A flashback, panic or feeling cut off from your surroundings: stop, sit with your feet on the floor, look around and breathe slowly, then tell your therapist (our suggestion).
• A breathing exercise brings on panic, dizziness, tingling or a feeling of being smothered: stop it and breathe normally.
• If yoga keeps making symptoms worse, change the setting or the type of practice rather than pushing through, and talk to your therapist (our suggestion).

Sources 56, 59, 18

If slow breathing makes you light-headed

In 84 students, deep breathing at 6 breaths a minute caused mild over-breathing. If you feel light-headed or tingly, make the breaths smaller or go back to breathing normally.

Source 59

Functional neurological disorder or seizures

The trial ran one-to-one with a therapist and saw a temporary rise in dissociation in the yoga group. Practise with your care team's agreement (our suggestion).

Source 9

Chest pain or fainting while exercising: call 999

Call 999 if:

• You get sudden pain or discomfort in your chest that doesn't go away; it can feel like squeezing or pressure, burning or indigestion.
• The pain spreads to your left or right arm, or your neck, jaw, stomach or back.
• You have chest pain and feel sweaty, sick, light-headed or short of breath.
• Someone faints while exercising, can't be woken within 1 minute, or has chest pain or a pounding, fluttering or irregular heartbeat.

Sources 60, 61, 62

Unusual breathlessness

Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) straight away for severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get words out), a chest that feels tight or heavy, pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. If you're more short of breath than usual, or your heart is racing, fluttering or skipping beats, contact NHS 111.

Source 63

During yoga

A joint pain that is sharp, gets worse during a session, lingers into the next day or changes how you move is a reason to use an easier version, and to see a GP or physiotherapist if it keeps happening (the rule in our plans). Muscle soreness for a day or two after something new is normal. In a hot class, stop if you feel dizzy, sick or unwell; our hot yoga guide lists the signs of heat illness.

You can say no to any hands-on adjustment, and a teacher registered with Yoga Alliance must get your explicit consent each time.

Sources 64, 65, 26, 66

Head-down poses, bones and pregnancy

With glaucoma, or high blood pressure that isn't under control, skip headstands, shoulder stands and long head-down holds. With osteoporosis, swap deep forward folds for a flat-back hinge from the hips, and twist smoothly. In pregnancy, our yoga in pregnancy guide covers the changes. NCCIH advises beginners to avoid headstands, shoulder stands, the lotus position and forceful breathing.

Somatic classes rarely include head-down poses. With osteoporosis, keep twists and knees-to-chest gentle (our suggestion).

Sources 67, 26

In pregnancy

After the first trimester, or if lying flat makes you dizzy, do the floor moves propped up on pillows or on your side, as the bent-knee fall-out's own page advises for that move.

Before you start

The NHS advises getting advice from a healthcare professional first if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, or have recently had a heart attack or an operation.

"Trauma is stored in your hips, and hip openers release it"Mixed evidence

No study has tested it, and the 1994 paper behind "the body keeps the score" describes memory and the stress response, not storage in muscle or fascia. Feeling emotional in a pose is common and real; it isn't evidence of something leaving your body.

Sources 16, 39

"Somatic yoga rewires your nervous system"Emerging evidence

Slow breathing measurably raises heart rate variability, but yoga's own effect on it is inconsistent, and the polyvagal theory behind most regulation language was judged untenable by 39 experts.

Sources 14, 34, 35, 15

"Somatic yoga heals trauma"Strong evidence

It hasn't been tested in PTSD. Trauma-sensitive yoga helps some people as an addition to treatment, and NICE recommends trauma-focused talking therapies, judging the yoga evidence too uncertain to recommend.

Sources 18, 49, 17, 43

"Body-based treatments work better than talking therapy for trauma"Mixed evidence

A 2026 commentary found the evidence doesn't show body-based treatments are uniquely effective, and the guidelines put trauma-focused talking therapies first.

Sources 41, 18

"28 days of somatic yoga melts belly fat"Strong evidence

No study has measured weight with somatic yoga, and gentle hatha yoga is listed at 2.3 METs, about the effort of a slow walk. No exercise burns fat from one spot: our yoga for belly fat guide explains.

Sources 68, 69

"Somatic exercises lower cortisol, and that burns belly fat"Mixed evidence

Yoga-based practices lowered some cortisol measures against active comparison groups in a meta-analysis of very varied programmes, but no somatic yoga study measured cortisol, and no study shows a fall in cortisol from yoga explains any loss of belly fat.

Sources 36, 70

"Somatic yoga is a new, scientifically proven method"Strong evidence

Eleanor Criswell is credited with creating Somatic Yoga, and she taught yoga from 1967. Three small studies use the name, none large enough to prove much.

Sources 7, 8

"You have to shake, cry or push through strong feelings to release them"Emerging evidence

Mild, temporary rises in symptoms can happen, and trauma-informed practice aims to prevent re-traumatisation. Stop, ground yourself and tell your therapist if you have one.

Sources 33, 54, 55

"Pandiculation permanently lengthens tight muscles"Mixed evidence

That's the method's theory. The only paper on pandiculation's role in the body is a hypothesis paper, and no trial has measured it.

Sources 10, 21

"Ordinary yoga isn't somatic"Emerging evidence

Yoga already trains attention to breath and sensation, and most controlled studies found yoga raised body awareness.

Source 12