The core of the ‘new American invention’ somatic yoga lies in interoception, the lived experience of the body from within. Something essential of all yoga, but redefined again due to so much confusion in the field of yoga.

Yoga practice is grounded in first-person sensation rather than external form, visual imitation, or predefined outcomes. Movements are guided not by how they should look, but by how they feel. Eyes are often closed, not as a ritual, but to reduce sensory distraction and allow attention to return inward, where more subtle information becomes accessible.

Instruction consistently redirects authority back to the practitioner. Rather than demonstrating poses or prescribing exact shapes, the teacher asks questions such as “How does this feel?” and “What is comfortable or nourishing for your body right now?” Discomfort is not treated as something to push through or correct, but as information to explore. This cultivates the capacity to make generative decisions from within the body (soma) itself. The method intentionally avoids creating students who copy the teacher’s movements or language; instead, it aims to foster self-trust and individual embodied intelligence.

The practice mostly is centered aour the concept that stress, trauma, and unresolved life experience are stored in the tissues of the body. These are not primarily cognitive memories, but somatic patterns expressed through muscular holding, postural limitation, and habitual tension. Through slow, attentive movement and pendiculation rather than stretching, these defensive patterns can unwind. Alignment and balance are not imposed but emerge organically, each at its own pace.

A defining feature of this work is its non-goal-oriented nature. There is no ideal posture, no performance standard, and no external benchmark for success. Transformation is observed through qualitative changes: softening of facial expression, spontaneous reorganization of posture, increased ease of movement, and a visible return of peace and vitality. Pain relief may occur, but it is not the primary metric. More fundamental is the restoration of voluntary control over one’s own physiology and the recovery of choice.

The teacher situates this approach within a broader spiritual context without imposing belief. The body is understood as a shared human ground, a first language prior to culture, ideology, or doctrine. Trust, safety, and compassion are essential conditions for learning. When the nervous system shifts toward parasympathetic regulation, deeper states of presence and witness naturally arise. From this state, the practitioner can relate differently not only to pain and discomfort but also to fear, impermanence, and change.

Ultimately, the method frames somatic yoga as a path of remembering. By returning to internal sensation and releasing armoring accumulated through survival strategies, the practitioner reconnects with an underlying sense of wholeness, vitality, and peace. Freedom is defined not as transcendence of the body, but as intimacy with it. Through this intimacy, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions are reorganized together, without hierarchy or separation. Shunyam Adhibhu