Our transition to the country side in 2019 gave room to spend more time with yoga teachers whom I could practice with online. This brought me to some teachers that teach yoga from a more somatic education perspective. Ever since, I am a big advocate for this approach, which for me represents curiosity, playfulness and endless compassion.
What connects these teachers is their clarity, their knowledge, their kindness and their tremendous generousity and availability in sharing their knowing, their doubts, their considerations and their explorations. They invited me (and still do) to go on a deep soma-exploration. They invited me to swiftly move away from what had become for me a goal-focused yoga practice, driven by subconscious patterns that were fed by beliefs such as: I should heal, I should get better, I should feel more at ease, my body should become stronger, I should master that asana, my head should become quieter, I should be able to process all the shit that hit me etcetera, towards a more process-based and how-curious-can-I-be approach. What if I do something else now, something new, how about going slower, or faster, how does that feel, how does it feel if I stay here a little bit longer, what would happen if I let my arm go expressing that movement/energy, what does stability feel like today, what pace of movement allows me to recruit sensations best, how can I move with a little bit less effort?
These teachers and their classes support me in my journey inward, in getting familiar with my inner landscape; the landscape of sensations, feelings, emotions, beliefs, ideas, reactions, patterns, habbits, conditioning and so on. For tapping into this richness I needed the what I call "free space in the holding space of teacher's intention". It's the invitation in the instructions and suggestions, that allows for self-inquiry.
All these teachers helped and still help me in finding my way back to the state of not knowing, over and over again. And the not knowing comes with curiosity, the desire to explore and experience, and a huge amount of playfulness. These human qualities serve way beyond the mat.
In this blog I would like to say something about these teachers. It's my way of saying thanks, and I do it for anyone who is looking for online yoga classes with a somatic approach.
Here they are:
Lisa Petersen, you find her at https://www.living-yoga.ie/. Lisa comes to Yoga Moves Utrecht in 2025, with her Somatic Teacher Training. I signed up for it, perhaps see you on the mat there. Check out her online immersion series or go to https://www.ekhartyoga.com/ to find her series of Thomas Hanna Somatics. I love Lisa’s hunger for knowledge and new perspectives, her embodied and clear way of teaching and the way she integrates somatics and yoga. And I love the way Lisa gives autonomy back to her students. "You are the boss of you", as she would say.
Peter Blackaby, you find him at https://www.peterblackaby.co.uk/. I try to attend the online Thursday evening classes as much as possible. It’s my weekly retreat-moment. For yoga teachers and all other soma-enthusiasts: Peter’s classes are highly educational, you will learn a lot, a lovely blend of doing, sensing and being, of somatic ground work and asana exploration. If you drop Peter a question, he will address it for sure. I hope to drop into one of Peter’s in person classes in day in 2025 😊. By the way, Peter has written an excellent book ...
Catherine Annis, you find her at https://www.catherineannisyoga.co.uk/. Catherine’s approach to yoga and teaching was filling my heart from the start. She blends humor, seriousness, autonomy and instruction to one hour classes that are to be summarized in one word: yoga. And for yoga nidra lovers: once a month on Friday evening.
Feldenkraisaccess at https://www.feldenkraisaccess.com/, not really yoga, but really a great platform for getting familiar with the highly educational Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (ATM). A lot of ground work, from isolated movement to more integrated movement, the perfect invitation to do less, to find appreciation for the tiniest shifts you can become aware of, to extend the map of your moving body. Wonderful teachers, lessons, programs. Each Feldenkrais lessons brings me a more integrated sense of Self.
Barbara Doeleman - van Veldhoven, you find her at https://ccmm.care/. Barbara not only became a very dear friend of mine since I did the MBSR-course under her leadership, for me she also is the embodiment of compassion & kindness. And after co-hosting two retreats with her I dare to say she is our Dutch Tara Brach 😊. In the covid-days Barbara set up a donation based online meditation community, led by wonderful meditation teachers (you find them here: https://ccmm.care/meditation-teachers-2/) and if you wish to join, you are very welcome (I contribute as teacher as well, with yoga nidra). Check out the website.
I hope you will find joy, freedom, playfulness and some liminal experiences in your practice, whether it’s through yoga, somatics, dance or anything else. I hope it supports you, your loved ones and their loved ones, and their loved ones - and so on - in this collective human and explorative journey on this wonderful and caring planet.
With love,
Astrid
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