Somatic Psychology of Yoga (October 2024)

For thousands of years yoga and related meditative traditions have offered the tools to master our deeply conditioned minds; describing how we can become content, compassionate, and resilient. Now neuroscience helps us understand how yoga addresses every aspect of mind and body, and why the practice of yoga is so powerful and necessary in our search for worldly and spiritual fulfillment. Embracing embodiment is the key to equanimity, and the secret power of yoga.

Drawing from the hatha yoga tradition, the Yoga Sutra, and decades of immersion in the oral tradition, Sandra and Dr. Carrie will share yoga’s wisdom and practices in a modern frame to help you find the most effective approaches to a balanced and happy life.

Module #1: Embodiment—Cultivating a Balanced Nervous System

with Dr. Carrie Demers

This week introduces you to your neurology: how your brain and nervous system work to help you stay alive, and thrive! We’ll explore the autonomic nervous system, the polyvagal theory, and our deeply embedded instinct to survive. Using diaphragmatic breathing and yogic practices to undo habitual stress patterns, we’ll practice shifting from tension to ease, from fear to calm, and from isolation to connection. This shift supports health on every level (body, emotions, and mind), and  is the foundation for a meditative mind – and it leads nicely to the introspective work in Week #2.

Tuesday, October 22, 7:00—8:30 pm | Lecture 1: The Biology of the Nervous System

• Overview of autonomic nervous system function, and how it regulates the body and mind
• The Stress Response and Polyvagal Theory : the good, the bad and the ugly! 
• How the habit of diaphragmatic breathing is the foundation for health 

[Practice] Breath training: sandbag, crocodile, tension/relaxation

Thursday, October 27, 7:00—8:30 pm | Lecture 2: The Neurology of the Mind

• The “negativity bias” and the pull toward survival mentality
• Understanding and managing our Triune Brains 
• Harnessing  Neuroplasticity to change unhelpful thought patterns
• Working with the vagus nerve and digestion to enhance mental clarity and joy

[Practice] Agni sara/mulabandha; contemplation exercise

Saturday, October 26, 10:00 am—12:00 pm | Lecture 3: Embodiment as the Foundation for Health, Creativity and Growth

• How nervous system regulation allows for learning, memory, and creativity
• Applying polyvagal theory to real life:  repatterning neural circuits 
• Somatic/body awareness leads to greater emotional regulation 

[Practice] Breath-aligned movement; systematic relaxation; seated breath awareness; nadi shodhana

Module #2: The Mindful Body—Somatic Intelligence and Presence of Mind

with Sandra Anderson

Our minds are conditioned to protect and nurture us, and to automate repeated actions. This is an excellent adaptation, and allows efficiency and a high level of organization. The problem is that this autopilot capacity can devolve into a callous state that dulls our response to the world, and robs us of the freshness and delight in life. It is possible to clear the mind of its calcified tendencies. 

But how? The answer lies in working with all aspects of mind:  the autopilot instinctive urges, the  higher decision making functions, selfing (making of self-identity), and the interaction of these aspects of mind that result in emotions, behaviors, and actions. 

Tuesday, October 29, 7:00—8:30 pm | Lecture 1: Yoga and Identity—The Making of Ego

• Experiential and narrative identity, and their relationship to the nervous system and mind
• Seven “possessors:” how our various identities control us and shape our lives
• How asmita gives rise to attachments, hatred, and fear
• Finding freedom from distorted, stiff, and self-defeating identities which frame our experiences in the world

[Practice] Traditional sankalpa contemplation

Thursday, October 31, 7:00—8:30 pm | Lecture 2: Interoception and Emotional Intelligence 

• How we get disconnected from the visceral body and our inner intelligence
• Learn to read the internal landscape, process gut level experiences, and regulate emotions 
• Work with yoga to cultivate proprioception, breath awareness to cultivate interoception, and interoception to cultivate pranic awareness
• How pranic awareness can facilitate deep healing,  and transform physical and mental dysfunction

[Practice] Interoception in movement and stillness, breath awareness, aharana pranayama 

Saturday, November 2, 10:00 am—12:00 pm | Lecture 3: Training the Unconscious Mind

• Identifying and attenuating wayward tendencies 
• Yoga’s prescription for cultivating behavioral changes and reset less desirable mental inclinations
• How meditation and hatha yoga can integrate somatic awareness and the thinking mind; and why this is important
• Developing present moment awareness and empowering your mind’s executive function

[Practice] Nadi shodhana, systematic muscle relaxation, breath training

Module #3: The Embodied Mind—Cultivating Stability and Equanimity

with Sandra Anderson & Dr. Carrie Demers

We can approach the mind from the modern point of view—neurology, biology, and psychology; and we can approach the mind from the yogic point of view—the intuitive understanding of sages refined down through the ages by experiences of thousands of practitioners. Both can help us understand how to best use the powerful tools of yoga to recognize and address our obstacles and unfold the delightful and powerful potentials of the embodied mind.

Tuesday, November 5, 7:00—8:30 pm | Lecture 1: Cultivating Steadiness in Body and Mind

• Neuroplasticity—What kind of mind are you creating?
• Vritti samskara chakra, the wheel of karma, and what happens in the brain and nervous system under the influence of instincts, and vasanas
• Integration: all three primary centers (gut, heart, brain) are clear, receptive, free of resistance (attachment and aversion), and fully connected to inner and outer reality

Thursday, November 7, 7:00—8:30 pm | Lecture 2: The Four Attitudes—Cultivating Equanimity Beyond the Tyranny of Fear and Attachment

• Cultivating positive emotions—the power of gratitude, compassion, and kindness to change our physiology and our future
• Building a foundation for self-understanding, discriminating behavior, and inner stability with yoga
• Awaken intelligence, intuition, creativity, and the meditative mind

Saturday, November 9, 10:00 am—12:00 pm | Lecture 3: Yoga’s Superpower: Integration of Body, Mind, and Awareness

• The flowering of spiritual life: preparing the field
• How and why meditation can integrate somatic awareness and the thinking mind
• Cultivating intention, discrimination, and joyful mental discipline 
• Active vairagya—the art of inner balance and meditation

[Practice] Breath training and asana for pranic awareness, nadi shodhana, aharana, samikarana, meditation

All times listed are in U.S. Eastern Time. Subject to minor changes.