Somatic Yoga Professional Education

The somatic deepening in yoga focuses on the differentiation and shaping of body perception. Consciously addressing the senses of skin and touch as well as the kinesthetic-proprioceptive dimensions of our bodily experience enables a refinement of bodily, spatial and temporal perception in the long term and leads to deep embodiment. On this path, orientation develops in the yoga practice, as well as as an ethically-socially embedded human being. Fineness and depth in dealing with oneself, with yoga as well as in its mediation emerge.

Consciousness between shaping and self-organization

By means of somatic practices we fundamentally train the access to complex, inner processes and create trust in our own resources. Together we learn to integrate traditional yoga and breathing techniques through a high degree of body connection. We take into account our individual circumstances and needs in order to find an individual approach to our own yoga practice and thus to our own teaching style. In this way, all physical postures - asanas - are formed from the inside out. 

After the basic principles have been taught in the first part, in the second part of the Somatic Yoga training the somatic method knowledge from the Feldenkrais Method, breath work according to Prof. Ilse Middendorf and Continuum will be related to the yoga repertoire in a more concrete and in-depth way in individual modules. This allows a deepening of the experiential anatomy and makes it possible for bodily relations to be embodied in a more plastic and pleasurable way and to be understood in connection with feeling. The deeper 'knowing oneself' that emerges opens up greater freedom. The design and composition of the yoga sequences in this further encounter with freedom is supported by the rhythms and decision criteria of the Somatic Methods and by improvisational strategies.

What does the Somatic Yoga includes?

traditional yoga practices basic & fundamentals within the framework of the BDY Standards

• Asanas (yoga postures)
• Kriyas (asana sequences & flows)
• Bandhas (Closures)
• Mudras (hand gestures)
• Pranayama (guided breathing)
• Dharana (concentration)
• Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation)
• Nada Yoga (sound yoga)
• Dhyana (Meditation)

Principles of the Somatic Methods

• Experiential Breath according to Prof. Ilse Middendorf
• Continuum
• Feldenkrais Pedagogy
• Experiential Anatomy

All teachers are fully certified practitioners in the methods with many years of teaching experience as well as cross-method research practice.

Cross-method content

• Pedagogy, the further development of somatic teaching language, somatic-didactic principles of lesson design, structure & choreography
• Philosophy, individual as well as group examination of yoga philosophy and western phenomenological philosophical approaches
• History and traditions of yoga
• Psychology & Yoga
• Meditation, source texts
• Yoga & socio-political relevance
• Values & ethics
• Professional Studies
• Teaching internship

How is the Somatic Yoga professional training structured?

The Somatic Yoga training 500 hours (+140 for health insurance certification) is part of our somatic education concept. It is spread over approx. 2 years in 2 phases over 11 modules and 2 introductory weekends.
The completion of the Somatic Yoga Training offers general BDY Yoga standards basic corresponding knowledge combined with a strong somatic focus. With the completion of the Somatic Yoga Training (640 hours), the graduate is entitled to be certified for health insurance approval by the Zentrale Prüfstelle für Prävention (ZPP).

Curriculum 

1st year of Somatic Yoga Training - Basic Training 280h
Sep 03, 2025 - July 2026

2nd year of Somatic Yoga Training (Advanced Training 500h | Modules 7-11 are bookable individually)

For whom is the Somatic Yoga continuing education recommended?

• Yoga teachers who are looking for inspiration and reflection for their own work
• Yoga practitioners who would like to find a new, perceptive approach and deepen their practice.
• Yoga beginners, who want an open, school- and style-independent approach
• Researchers and people interested in all somatic methods who appreciate an interdisciplinary approach.
• Pedagogues, therapists, doctors, etc., who are looking for a well-founded body and movement training.