What is Somatics?
On its own, the word “somatic” is defined as “relating to the body” as distinct from the mind or psyche. You have a somatic nervous system and somatic cells, and you can experience somatic disorders like an uneasy stomach or headache after periods of stress. The word “psychosomatic,” rather than meaning “it’s all in your head and you’re imagining things,” actually means that your mental state is affecting your physical state/wellbeing.
A somatic movement is a movement that's practiced consciously with the intention of focusing on the internal experience of the movement.
When “somatic” is attached to many of today’s therapies and disciplines, it simply means that these disciplines emphasize bodily awareness (i.e. relating to the body): somatic yoga, somatic psychology, somatic therapy, somatic stretching, and somatic breathing techniques.
What is pandiculation?
Pandiculation is the body's natural way of resetting the nervous system and releasing chronic tension through a three-step process:
Contraction – The muscle(s) gently contract, activating neural pathways.
Slow Release – The contraction gradually softens, allowing the nervous system to sense the change.
Expansion & Relaxation – The muscle lengthens naturally, leaving a lasting sense of ease.
This process re-educates the brain and muscles to break habitual tension patterns, unlike stretching, which pulls on the muscle without changing neural control.
Why Does Pandiculation Work?
Muscles tighten due to habitual movement patterns, stress, and posture. When this tightness becomes chronic, the brain starts treating it as the “new normal.” Pandiculation directly communicates with the sensory-motor system, allowing the brain to recognize and release unconscious muscular holding.
Where Do We See Pandiculation in Daily Life?
The big stretch and yawn you do upon waking.
A cat or dog stretches by contracting first before fully releasing.
Instinctive movements after sitting too long—rolling shoulders or stretching arms with a sigh.
Unlike forced stretching, these natural movements help the nervous system regulate muscle tone.
How Can Pandiculation Improve Your Yoga Practice?
Helps release deep-seated muscle tension before stretching.
Enhances body awareness, making movement more fluid and intuitive.
Reduces compensatory patterns, improving alignment and mobility.
Prevents injury by retraining muscles to relax rather than overstretch.
Supports a more effortless practice by integrating somatic movement.
Somatic works by fostering a deeper mind-body connection, improving movement efficiency, and releasing habitual tension patterns. Here’s how they contribute:
1. Releasing Chronic Tension for Greater Ease in Movement
Pandiculation helps reset muscle tone by engaging, sensing, and slowly releasing muscles. Unlike passive stretching, which may override the nervous system’s protective mechanisms, pandiculation communicates with the brain to retrain habitual tension, leading to more sustainable relaxation and freedom of movement in yoga postures.
2. Improving Proprioception and Body Awareness
Somatic practices encourage you to tune into subtle sensations and refine your ability to feel and control movement. This heightened awareness can improve balance, coordination, and alignment in yoga, reducing the risk of strain or injury.
3. Enhancing Flexibility Without Forcing It
Rather than stretching muscles forcefully, somatic movement and pandiculation allow muscles to release naturally, leading to an effortless increase in mobility. This can make deep poses like forward folds, backbends, and twists feel more accessible and enjoyable.
4. Encouraging a More Intuitive and Personalised Practice
Somatic principles shift the focus from achieving an external shape to experiencing movement from within. This fosters a more intuitive, exploratory approach to yoga, where each posture is adapted to your unique needs rather than imposed from the outside.
5. Rewiring Habitual Movement Patterns for Long-Term Change
Repetitive stress, daily posture habits, and even emotional patterns can lead to unconscious muscle holding. Pandiculation helps undo these deeply ingrained patterns, allowing for smoother transitions between poses and a more effortless flow in practice.
6. Deepening Relaxation and Nervous System Regulation
Somatic movement activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting deep relaxation. Integrating it into yoga can enhance the effects of restorative postures, Savasana, and meditation, leaving you feeling grounded and at ease.
By incorporating somatics and pandiculation into your yoga practice, you cultivate a more embodied experience—one where movement feels fluid, tension melts away, and each posture becomes an exploration of comfort and ease. Would you like suggestions on specific exercises to integrate into your practice? 😊
Stretching vs. Pandiculation: Understanding the Difference
Both stretching and pandiculation involve movement and muscle engagement, but they function differently and serve distinct purposes in movement practices like yoga and somatics.
How is it Different from Stretching?
Pandiculation | Stretching |
Engages the nervous system by contracting, releasing, and lengthening | Passively lengthens muscles without neuromuscular re-education |
Provides lasting tension relief by resetting muscle tone | Can temporarily override the nervous system, leading to short-lived effects |
Uses active movement and awareness | Often passive or externally applied (e.g., pulling on a muscle) |
Re-teaches muscles how to relax naturally | May trigger the stretch reflex, causing muscles to re-tighten |
The Key Difference
While stretching focuses on externally lengthening muscles, pandiculation works internally to rewire the nervous system, providing more effective and lasting tension release and mobility improvements.
Incorporating Pandiculation into Yoga
Integrating somatic principles like pandiculation into yoga can help you release habitual tension and experience greater ease in movement. Below are exercises that blend yoga postures with somatic release techniques.
Pandiculation-Inspired Yoga Exercises
1. Somatic Cat-Cow (Spinal Pandiculation)
Begin in the Tabletop position.
Inhale, and engage back muscles as you lift the chest and tailbone (Cow Pose).
Exhale, slowly release into Cat Pose, emphasizing the gradual unwinding of tension.
Move mindfully, focusing on sensation rather than form.
2. Shoulder Shrug & Release
Inhale, lift shoulders toward ears, contracting upper trapezius.
Pause to notice the engagement.
Exhale, and release shoulders down slowly with full awareness.
Repeat 3-5 times, feeling the progressive softening.
3. Supine Twist with Resistance & Release
Lie on your back, knees bent.
Slowly lower your knees to one side while gently resisting the movement.
Pause, then exhale to release fully into the twist.
Repeat on the other side.
4. Gentle Psoas Release (Somatic Hip Opener)
Lie on your back, and bring one knee to the chest while engaging the hip flexors.
Hold the contraction briefly.
Slowly release the leg back down, sensing the lengthening.
Repeat on the other side.
5. Yawning Side Stretch (Full-Body Pandiculation)
Stand or sit comfortably.
Inhale, reach one arm up, actively contracting the side body.
Exhale, and release slowly into a side bend, allowing full relaxation.
Repeat on both sides.
Tips for Somatic Yoga Integration
Slow, mindful movement rather than passive stretching.
Feel the sensation of release after contraction.
Allow the muscles to let go to soften the nervous system’s response.
Emphasise awareness over range of motion; the goal is to retrain movement patterns, not force flexibility.
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