Is Qigong a Somatic Movement Practice?

You may have heard of the somatics within the study of human movement and bodywork, however did you know that Qigong is one of the origins of somatic movement practice? At circa 5,000 years old Qigong was originally called Dao Yin pre circa 1960's, and is a health preservation practice that combines slow movement, stillness, a well aligned posture, and breath work.

Somatics comes from the Greek word "Soma", meaning the "living body".  Somatic education focuses on a holistic approach to supporting physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing. To aid nervous system health by helping to unwind habitual patterns and release trauma stored within the body. Professionals in the field of somatic re-education work with individuals through movement, body work, voice work, or talking therapy.

What is a Somatic Movement Practice?

A somatic movement practice is a body-centred approach to movement that focuses on slow movements, internal awareness, body sensations, felt sense, and the mind-body connection. Unlike traditional exercise, mobility, or dance, which emphasise external movements, somatic practices help us explore our inner state by feeling into our muscles, fascia, organs, bones, nervous system, and breath. Somatic practices help us cultivate embodied awareness, releasing deeply held tension, gently unbinding stored trauma, and softening emotions - all through mindful, conscious and compassionate movement.

Key Features of Somatic Movement Practices:

• Internal Awareness – Paying gentle attention to body sensations and body feedback rather than just performing a movement, choreography, or technique.
• Slow & Intentional Movements – Self exploration to repattern habitual postures and movements through mindful practice.
• Nervous System Re-Education – Sensing, feeling into and learning to release chronic physical tension, improving movement efficiency.
• Restorative & Therapeutic – Pain and fatigue management, down regulation and self regulation of the stress response.
• Whole Body Movement – Integrating movement, alignment, breath, awareness, and intention.
• Mind-Body Connection – Developing an understanding of how the mind and body are connected.
• Childlike Heart & Playfulness – Engaging the right brain through imagination, visualisation, curiosity, openness, sensitivity, subtlety and childlike wonder.
• State Shifting - Bringing you back into your body as a form of deep self re-connection.

When is Qigong Not a Somatic Practice?

• When it is purely choreography focused.
• When it becomes about collecting forms and routines.
• When it is left-brain led, process oriented, anticipatory, or results driven.
• Telling or forcing your body to do something, to make a shape, to force an angle, to become something.
• When it is focused on outcome over experience, e.g. rushing through the movements to get the routine done, striving for shape perfection, or working towards a specific goal e.g. number of repetitions.
• Going passed your physical baseline, over doing a movement, going too far for how your body feels in that moment.
• Mimicking the range of motion and shapes of your teacher, peer or the person in front of you in class.

* Caveat: of course, we need to learn the movements using our left brain first, but it’s easy to get stuck in the choreography mindset and be caught up purely in external appearance.

When is Qigong a Somatic Practice?

• When it is an exploration of felt sense rather than external form.
• When observing and exploring the muscles, fascia, organs, bones, nervous system, and breath by listening inwardly with our feeling side of the brain.
• When it is about playing with the mind-body-breath connection, rather than just mechanics.
• When it invites right-brain play;  imagination, visualisation, curiosity, wonder, and open-ended exploration.
• Feeling into the interactions of "what is" and "what if".
• Listening to the body and being responsive and adaptive.
• When fostering conscious relaxation.
• When exploring state shifting and playfulness.
• When there is no judgment, no forced result, no anticipated outcome, just gentle presence.
• When you ask the body what it needs and what it feels like,
• Being in your body for the sake of being in your body.