Somatic Healing Life Coach Certification (and EMDR)

"Breath Work for Somatics" means to breathe with intentionality. Somatic practice focuses on deepening the connection with our body's sensations and physical experience. This allows individuals to release tension, access stored trauma, and regulate our nervous system through conscious breath.

Breath Work is an essential tool to become more aware of bodily sensations and promote self-healing on a physical, mental, and emotional level.

Enjoy this Breath Work Activity out in Nature.

I have been doing yoga for over 14 years now. I absolutely love how it has helped me mentally as well as physically. After the Lahaina fire, yoga, specifically Somatic Yoga, focusing on what feels best for your body and offers choice, was a life-line and saving grace. That group was called Heal Lahaina Yoga and offer donation-based classes every morning on the west side of Maui which support the locals.

I started yoga after a major life event and have found it is what I go back to when I need to feel grounded, more in my body. However, I realized that the reason I like Somatic Yoga is that I get to have choice.

In this course you will meet my in-person instructor Jules Gard, former co-owner of Island Spirit Yoga. She now offers Somatic Yoga through the Lahaina Healing Center where I teach Somatic Dance and offer Integrated Somatic EMDR Sessions. Love her work and am so excited that she was willing to be highlighted!

Somatic movement is a way to move the body that focuses on your internal experience rather executing a perfect move. These movements allow you to get back into your body if you are feeling disconnected. It helps you release emotions and supports your mental health. Some examples of somatic movements include:

• Somatic yoga

  A style of yoga that focuses on how movements feel to you, rather than how they look.

• Somatic Exercise

  A sequence of moves that helps to release trauma and heal physical and emotional challenges.

• Deep Breathing

  We share this at the beginning of this course. Exercises that focuses on bringing your awareness to the throat, belly, jaw, shoulders, and the rest of your body as you breathe in and out.

• Integrated Somatic EMDR

  A mindful way to connect to different areas of your body that are wanting attention and love. It can be a meditation technique that brings your awareness to each part of your body to focus on scanning, assessing, and also finding resources to support emotional healing connected to different parts (Also, look into Interfamily Systems work.

• Somatic Dance

  A somatic technique seek to reconnect you with your physical body and the present moment after you have experienced adverse situations.

Other examples of somatic movements include somatic exercise with sequences of moves, qigong and tai chi.

Always look at the workbook as a resources for each section. What you see in the videos are separate from what you will learn in the workbook and it all covers somatic yoga movements. Remember when doing moves, all of them are based on your mobility, what feels good to you and what will work for you. If any of the moves don't align with you, skip the move.

Jules Gard’s educational background includes certifications in YogaSOMATICS, YogaSOMATICS Restorative & Vinyasa (under Ateeka), and extensive studies with Angela Farmer, Victor Von Kooten, and Hillary Cartwright in Narada Yoga. She is also a skilled practitioner of somatic movement, having trained in Continuum Movement (with Emile Conrad), Core Awareness (with Liz Koch), and Polyvagal Theory (with Amber Elizabeth Gray).

You can read more on Jules in our workbook!

Cosmic Cat is one of my favorite moves that Jules does. I always did Cat Cow and felt like I wanted more wiggle room...literally. So, enjoy this one! For more on Cat Cow, read the workbook!

Most people say this is one of their favorite moves, laying flat with knees up at a 45. It is not a full corpse pose with legs straight out, however, if you are wanting more information on that, there are descriptions in the workbook.

I started doing this move in one of Jules classes and realized it was helping with my hip mobility after my accident. When I was getting my training in Integrated Somatic EMDR, they mentioned the Psoas muscle, in current trainings it is regularly shared. One of the books I highly recommend and my mentors and instructors swear by is The Psoas Book by Liz Koch. If you are wanting to release your psoas, Somatic movements can help and this book has key step by step processes to heal from trauma. Highly recommended.

Love this. I first tried this move at Island Spirit Yoga and found during the pandemic and found if helped my shoulders so much! I do the movement at the beach, in bed, on the floor, on a yoga mat and as you can see, in nature. Enjoy!

Doing this 2 minutes a day is a game-changer. You don't have to go heavy duty on the move. Less is more. Just relax and rock it out.

Jules would have us do this move at Island Spirit Yoga for 15-20 minutes each session and I always felt more relaxed. I remember one of my old friends who worked for the Puyallup tribe always said this was such a great move to revive blood flow. So, I have been doing this move way before my yoga journey started but it is a great one to remember to due if you have been walking, standing, or sitting all day (aka, just make it happen as often as possible).

This move is a reminder to be kind and gentle to yourself. Feel into what is good for you. Focus on your breath as you do the move. It makes a huge difference! Also, look at the workbook for guidance on these areas.

I have a Chiropractor Jasmine Therese Esguerra who originally introduced me to this move. It was to prevent Arthritis. We would practice on her table. Later when I saw Jules teach it and other Somatic instructors I thought, 'Wow, I was doing it all along!' Try this out and you can do it in sections if that is helpful (aka, feet to hands to arms, to neck and back down again). Don't overdo it. Drink lots of water after doing these moves!

I call this the Banana Stretch. Originally, I learned this move from my friend and Yin Yoga Instructor Chelsea Barker. If you try this stretch you can simply move your body into the banana position without doing the extra move of grabbing your wrist and pulling or putting one ankle over another. Always check in with your body and see what feels good to you! Love how this opens up my side and I definitely feel more of a connection to my body.

These are tools which can support you in your process of coaching these moves to others. Remember, if you don't feel comfortable or confident teaching the move, I would focus on practicing and getting comfortable. Try the moves out with friend and ask for their feedforward.

Integrated Somatic EMDR Therapy combines body-based awareness with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a therapeutic strategy for helping people process traumatic experiences. Traditionally, EMDR therapy focuses on reprocessing troubling memories by shifting the eyes from side to side while recalling challenging situations, allowing the brain to reclassify traumatic memories as non-threatening. Integrated Somatic EMDR Therapy has a somatic component, enabling participants to explore physical sensations, emotions, and body responses that arise when practicing EMDR procedures.

As shared in the workbook, Resourcing was taught to me in my Integrated Somatic EMDR Training. The person I got the most information from on the topic was Karee Powers from The EmbodyLab. She is amazing and helped me so much!

During the pandemic, I really got into bilateral sound. It was possibly to drown out all the noise of what was happening in the world. I found that it offered me solace and I felt more centered and calm after listening to it. I would utilize Bilateral Sound when doing Hypnotherapy Sessions with specialist Chandrika on Maui. She would take me through parts work, EMDR, and Brain-spotting. The results were profound!

This session with my friend focused on many aspects of Somatics and utilizing bilateral movement connecting with shapes, colors, the area of the body that wanted attention. In the next video you will hear her results.

This video shares the experience Nadia had our nature session.

Let's get the dance party started!

What is Somatic Dance? Somatic dance is a type of movement that focuses on your experience in your body, rather than the appearance of the dancer, the technique, or dancing with another. This is a very experiential dance.

Love this. We always think of dance as some specific moves, acting a certain way, moving your feet. You can simply sway.

This is a dance at Iao Valley that I love.

Dance #2 Out in nature. This valley had cultural and personal significance as shared in the intro video. Get out in nature, dance in your living room, dance in any room and make it fun for you!

So many resources are in the workbook on how to coach Somatics to your clients, friends, family. However, here are some staple points I would like to share!

YOU DID IT! Raise the Roof! Congratulations! I am so happy for you!