Somatic Gentle Yoga
at Revolution Community Yoga in Acton, Massachusetts
Somatic Gentle Yoga
w/ Erica Taylor in the RCY Loft
Register with regular class passes
UPCOMING CLASSES:
Monday, February 9th @ 9:15 – 10:15am • {REGISTER}
Monday, February 16th @ 9:15 – 10:15am • {REGISTER}
Somatic Gentle Yoga
This class integrates slow, gentle, inquiry-based movement, breath awareness, and yoga nidra guided relaxation for a full body reawakening experience.
The body is a walking repository of all the experiences you’ve had in your life, everything from injuries sustained to the way you sit at your desk to the impact of interactions you’ve had with those around you. Over time, these experiences can create imbalances, discomfort and compensations in the body.
Somatic yoga is a gentle yet powerful practice designed to bring us closer to the teacher within our own body. We direct our awareness to sensations in the body as we are moving, attempting to let go of controlling the experience. Reawakening our capacity to learn directly from the body itself, we can find more freedom as we repattern and restore the natural movement capability of the body.
Practically speaking, somatic yoga is primarily a verbally guided practice that contains inquiry-based movements. Many of the movements are slow and gentle, and at times you may find yourself in a traditional yoga pose as well. Much of the practice is done lying down on the floor, although sometimes we sit, stand or walk. We explore the impact of the breath and these playful, intuitive, therapeutic movements, movements that often produce a deeper release than any traditional stretching. Class always begins and ends with a guided relaxation to help you receive the full effects of your practice.
This practice is inspired by the work of Don Stapleton’s Self-Awakening Yoga, as well as the practices of Feldenkrais, Somatics, and yoga therapeutics by Harvey Deutch, and yoga nidra by Amrit Yoga.
Dress in cozy clothes that allow for freedom of movement. This is a chance to reconnect with the teacher within your own body, entering a safe space for inquiry and letting go.
Erica Taylor, Yoga Instructor
Yoga has guided me through so many life stages: athletics, two pregnancies, work stresses, injuries, emotional rollercoasters, etc. That’s part of what I love about this practice, that it can shapeshift and become exactly what you need in a particular moment. Whatever is happening in your life, it is all welcome. You are welcome.
My wish for your yoga practice is that it enables you to come home to yourself, to find alignment in all ways. And may that alignment be a springboard for you to take strength and lightness in body and being off the mat into your life. Together, we can discover how yoga can meet you at this moment in your personal journey, and help you walk forward with more clarity and ease.
Erica completed her 500 hour teacher training in 2009 at the Nosara Yoga Institute with Don and Amba Stapleton. Their emphasis on yoga being an inquiry into the self, that the guru lies within, greatly influences her teaching today. Her studies have woven in and out of modalities, curious about how other practitioners view the body. She became the program manager of an Experiential Yoga Anatomy course to train other yoga teachers on the multi-dimensional being. She completed Yoga Therapeutics Teacher Training with Harvey Deutch, refining techniques that combine physical therapy and yoga, incorporating therapy balls, wall ropes, and creativity to inspire alignment of the self.
Passionate about supporting the mama community, she began studying perinatal yoga in 2011 and earned her RPYT (Prenatal Yoga Teacher) in 2015 with Mama Tree, led by Jane Austin. She also completed Pelvic Floor Teacher Training and Well Woman Yoga Therapy training.
In addition to yoga, she is a certified acupressure practitioner through the McKinnon Institute, and loves helping clients find ease through a blend of yoga and acupressure. She is also a personal trainer through the NSCA, a Fitness for Golf Professional by Titleist, and trained in pranassage, a yoga and bodywork combination.
A yoga student for 20 years and a teacher for over 17 years, Erica’s classes are uplifting and playful, yet rooted in functional movement and the great inquiry of the self. She continues to draw inspiration from her loved ones, students, and life experiences. When not on the mat, she can often be found with her kids, her camera, and nature!