Recently a student asked about the ‘soul’ in Soul Somatics. He thought it was spelt ‘sole’. After a wee chortle, and setting him straight I felt compelled to explain why ‘Soul’ matters and why I used it as part of the name for my new venture. So here goes:

Meditation, spirituality, yoga and movement all feel very natural to me (I’ve spent half my life devoted to it), and I was never academic, especially in science classes. Yet, I’ve ended up teaching something developed solely by neuroscientists. How can this be? And how can yogic wisdom and science exist side-by-side?

Well, firstly, there are parallels between the two. Both yoga and somatics integrate mind and body. They both teach us to slow down, to breathe, to heal. They both work. So combining them is even more powerful.

For me, the soul is the self, the search, the reason why we are here, our archetype, our purpose, our journey…you get the picture. Soul is the spirit, the moral aspect, our inspiration, our energy. It is also the secret to our individuality, our mind and the breath of life.

Somatics, however, is about proprioception, neuromuscular conditioning and the parasympathetic nervous system (try saying that without your teeth in).

Soul somatics is a marriage of both, it’s where a scientific paradigm exists alongside a spiritual one, where yogic wisdom is blended with somatic neuroscience. This stuff is powerful and fascinating, it floats my boat. This is the path I’m choosing.

It ticks all the boxes of my experience: massage therapist, yoga teacher, sports coach and hypnobirthing practitioner. I can see so many transferrable skills in all my past experiences.

So I’m blazing a trail (I never have been one for following an easy path). Somatics seems to be my ticket for a new journey. It’s already rewarding and fascinating. I’m pretty excited about my role in the future as a movement educator. I am positive that the rewards of somatic coaching will be challenging, fun and healing.

Anyway, back to Mr Sole. I told him that I wasn’t trying to introduce a new path-finding shoe, although if I could make a pair of cool moccasins to walk my true path I could have called it Sole Somatics; walking in these terrific shoes could heal all muscular pain, diminish sciatica, expel all toxins and make you think of ageing as only a myth…now that would be an awesome pair of sole slippers!

So, if you feel inclined, come join me on your own Soul Somatics journey. Oh, and just to clarify, I’m not selling shoes.