Basic training in Somatic Yoga
Yoga & Somatics: Awareness between creation and self-organisation
120 teaching units / 3 modules / 4 somatic methods / 3 lecturers / KOMPASS funded
What is Somatic Yoga?
Somatic Yoga is a specific synergy of traditional flowing yoga practices and the somatic core knowledge from the Feldenkrais Method, Continuum and breathing work according to Prof. Ilse Middendorf, closely linked to experiential anatomy and embodied teaching strategies.
What is the focus of the Somatic Yoga training?
The somatic deepening in yoga focuses on the differentiation and development of body (self) awareness. Consciously addressing the senses of touch and skin, as well as the kinesthetic-proprioceptive dimensions of our bodily experience, enables a long-term refinement of physical, spatial and temporal awareness and leads to a deep embodiment. In this way, orientation develops in yoga practice, as well as in our ethical and social embeddedness as human beings. Subtlety and depth arise in our relationship with ourselves, with yoga and in its teaching.
“Doing” versus “allowing” – awareness between shaping and self-organisation
Through somatic practices, we fundamentally train our access to complex inner processes and build trust in our own resources. Together, we learn to integrate traditional yoga and breathing techniques through a high degree of “body connection”. We take our individual circumstances and needs into account in order to find an individual approach to our own yoga practice and thus also to our own teaching style. In this way, all physical postures – asanas – are formed from the inside out.
The teaching of basic principles is at the forefront of this advanced training course, which comprises a total of 120 teaching units. Somatic methodological knowledge is concretely and deeply integrated into the yoga repertoire.
As the strategies of physical-formal yoga transform more into a physical-sensory unfolding within the form, Somatic Yoga has a self-determined and boundary-expanding effect, thus becoming a self-responsible and joyful practice. The result is a present, creative synthesis of collection in form that moves deeply and intensifies the experience of yoga on all levels.
For the curriculum and dates of the modules, see also 'Ausführliche Seminarinformationen'.
Ausführliche Seminarinformationen
Teaching traditional yoga practices Basics & fundamentals:
- Asanas (yoga postures)
- Kriyas (asana sequences & flows)
- Bandhas (fascial gestures)
- Mudras (hand gestures)
- Pranayama (controlled breathing)
- Dharana (concentration)
- Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation)
- Nada Yoga (sound yoga)
- Dhyana (meditation)
Principles of somatic methods from
- Experiential Breathing according to Prof. Ilse Middendorf
- Continuum
- Feldenkrais Method
- Experiential Anatomy
All teachers are fully certified practitioners of the methods with many years of teaching experience and cross-method research practice.
Curriculum Somatic Yoga Basic Training
In the 3 modules (5 days / 40 teaching units) of the Somatic Yoga Basic Training, basic yoga practices (asanas, flows, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana) and basic knowledge of yoga philosophy are taught and combined with the principles of somatic pedagogy from Feldenkrais, breathing according to Prof. Ilse Middendorf (soft concentration, sensation, breath) and Continuum.
Through applied anatomy, the structure of yoga practice unfolds along the development of human movement from the floor to standing.
Curriculum
Module 1| 03 - 07 September 2025 | Floor - Beginning - Starting Point | with Jo Koppe, Katja Münker & Marion Evers
Body focus: Cell / Spine
Yoga: Basics of the wave movement of the spine - Lying asanas / lying basic positions - Breath awareness - Breath and movement
Somatics: Feldenkrais, Continuum, Experiential Anatomy, Experiential Breathing
Module 2 | 01 - 05 November 2025 | Away from the floor - Transitions 1 - Between animal and human | with Jo Koppe, Katja Münker & Marion Evers
Body focus: Skeleton / Muscle-fascia synergy 1
Yoga: Four-legged / half-high asanas - Flowing and holding - Breath awareness versus breath control - Pranayama
Somatics: Feldenkrais, Continuum, Experiential Anatomy, Experiential Breath
Module 3 | 06 - 10 December 2025 | Standing - Uprightness - Sincerity | with Kai Ehrhardt, Katja Münker & Marion Evers
Body focus: Diaphragm levels / Muscle-fascia synergy 2
Yoga: Standing + standing posture series – alignment – balance poses – weight shifting, self-movement – pranayama
Somatics: Feldenkrais, Continuum, Experiential Anatomy, Experiential Breathing
What certification does the yoga teacher training offer?
The basic training course with 120 teaching units is certified by the Somatic Academy.
Who is the Somatic Yoga basic training recommended for?
- Yoga teachers who are looking for inspiration and reflection for their own work
- Yoga practitioners who want to find a new, sensory-perceptive approach and deepen their practice
- Yoga beginners who want an open approach that is not tied to any particular school or style
- Researchers and those interested in all somatic methods who appreciate an interdisciplinary approach
- Educators, therapists, doctors, etc. who are looking for a body-oriented perspective in body therapy
Seminarleiter*innen
Kai Ehrhardt
ehrhardt@somatische-akademie.de
www.kaiehrhardt.com
Founder of the Somatic Academy Berlin, Breath Therapist/based on the work developed by Prof. Ilse Middendorf, Continuum Teacher and Heilpraktiker (Psychotherapy)
"I had the honor and privilege to learn from the two founders Prof. Ilse Middendorf (Perceptible Breath / Erfahrbarer Atem) and Emilie Conrad (Continuum) and I am pleased to be able to pass on this work." Since 2012, Kai has been developing professional trainings at the Somatic Academy as well as programs dedicated to the application of Somatics in everyday life. He has been a co-curator of the Body IQ festival since 2015. Since 2003, he has developed the approach "Authentic Eros", which integrates - as a somatic application - bodywork, relationship communication and group-dynamic processes in the area of personal and interpersonal development. He is a member of the professional associations Atem, Continuum and ISMETA.
Marion Evers
evers@somatische-akademie.de
Founder of the Somatic Academy Berlin, studied Theatre, French Linguistics & Political Science Cologne, Berlin, Marseille, M.A. "From Actor to Performer "1998, studies in Performance Arts, work in the field of directing/dramaturgy, speaker, moderator. The interest in a stronger integration of theory and practice leads to the foundation of the Somatic Academy, Embodiment Research, Body Phenomenological Foundations, Critical Somatics, Social Body & Body Politics in relation to somatic practices in their social and political relevance of "somatics" today.
Somatic Movement Educator (RSME/ISMETA), Somatic Yoga & Somatic Voice Trainer, Breath Therapist according to Prof. Ilse Middendorf, Yoga Teacher (BDY/EYU)
Katja Münker-Harder
www.movement-muenker.de/
Dance | Choreography | Performance | Somatics | Artistic Research | Walking Art | Mountain Hiking Guiding
Continuing education lecturer and director of Environmental Somatics and EMERGE/ Somatic in Dance at the Somatische Akademie Berlin. Member of the German Feldenkrais Association & ISMETA-registered RSME/RSMT/RSDE.
Trained as a physical therapist, Feldenkrais teacher, and mountain hiking guide, as well as in contemporary dance, (contact) improvisation, instant composition.
Conscious and embodied learning, the potential between individual freedom and collective inclusion in the environment, as well as joy, ease, and consciousness in the movement are the focus of her teaching. Her research-oriented practice is informed by deep-sensing investigation and reflecting evaluation. Beyond teaching her work includes performance projects, conference papers, and publications focusing on somatics and choreography, as well as on walking. Regular teaching at universities including FU Berlin, UdK Berlin, and HZT Berlin. Artistic research collaboration with AREAL_artistic research lab Berlin.
Jo Koppe
jo.koppe@gmx.de
jokoppe.mailchimpsites.com/
Continuum teacher | Somatic researcher | Sociolgist | Embodied Social Justice
Jo is on a continuous journey of weaving, integrating and sharing a variety of different experiences, practices and perspectives that help us to connect more deeply with ourselves, each other and the more-than-human world. He has studied dance as well as sociology and gender studies, and has worked as a performer and dramaturg, anti-bias trainer, personal assistant for people with disabilities and in end-of-life care, among other things. Since 2022 he has been teaching the somatic movement research method Continuum, in which we use breath, sound, movement, imagery and conscious awareness as portals to experience fundamental principles of our aliveness and use them as a source of renewal.
Photocredits: Björn Scheele
Kosten
Kosten
1850 €
Daten
Modul 1 | 03. - 07.09.2025 | Floor - Beginning - Starting Point | with Marion Evers, Katja Münker & Jo Koppe
Modul 2 | 01. - 05.11.2025 | Off the ground - Transitions 1 - Between animal and human | with Marion Evers, Katja Münker & Jo Koppe
Modul 3 | 06. - 10.12.2025 | To stand - Uprightness - Sincerity | with Marion Evers, Katja Münker & Kai Ehrhardt
Anmeldeinformationen
- Full Price: 1850.00 EUR