Polarity Somatic Yoga is a practice that engages the whole person; physically, mentally, emotionally and most of all energetically, in a conscious exploration of embodiment.

Each practice ranges from gentle or subtle to vigorous, depending on what you need, and is taught from a trauma informed lens. Guided movement meditations and thoughtful supportive cuing to music is offered throughout, in a way that is adaptable for any physical "limitations" (or invitations, as I like to call them).

The aim of this practice is threefold:

1. To befriend and inhabit our body with as much agency and self-awareness as possible.

2. To process the energy of our mind, emotions, and life that are stored in and affecting our physical experience and our overall health and well-being

3. To organize and optimize our energy, and therefor our health, in a holistic exploratory way, while deeply listening to and honoring the intelligence of our bodymind organism

These sessions and classes are offered in-person, online and on-demand. Group practice is especially potent offering co-regulation of the nervous system and the amplification of our intentions.

In each class/session we will explore the sacred terrain of the body/mind/energy matrix through various combinations of adaptive Yoga Asana, guided visualization, free/intuitive movement, various exercises rooted in Cranioscral and Polarity Therapy and a variety of other somatic practices.

Who is this suitable for?

• Both experienced movers and beginners, (especially individuals who may feel resistance to or are uncomfortable attending standard yoga or movement classes)

• Mature young adults all the way through to elders (at this time group classes are not curated for children)

• People recovering from injuries or chronic illness who are open to engaging the imagination and using mindfulness as a tool to enhance presence, embodiment and healing

• Sensitive individuals who are looking for support with nervous system regulation

• Yoga, meditation, healing arts practitioners or anyone interested in learning holistic energetic embodiment practices to enhance overall health and wellness

• While this work most often seems to resonate with those who are female identifying, non-binary individuals and all genders are welcome to participate in this safe and inclusive space.

  
  

Polarity Therapy

Polarity is a holistic healing system and embodied energy medicine modality incorporating physical bodywork, energetic nutrition, somatic coaching, yoga, sound healing and more. Within this healing modality the chakras (and their correlating elements), and all of the bodies energetic patterns are influenced by and influencing our life, health, emotions, injuries, compensations, illnesses and overall wellness.

Everything affects everything else and there is nothing that isn't related.

The aim of Polarity Therapy is to help the client process the energy of their life however it is showing up. Energy is the underlying organizational force that precedes everything else. By changing how our energy is flowing (or not flowing optimally), we can change our lives on any and every level.

Energy can get "blocked our stuck" but the body is always seeking homeostasis in the most intelligent way. Through simple energy exercises we learn to trust that our inherent nature is to experience balance, wellness and vitality.

Craniosacral and Polarity Therapy offer a myriad of jumping off points to explore from. We engage these modalities through transmission, through various physical, written or verbal exercises, gentle hands-on connections, as well as philosophically and experientially.

Our body is as vast and sacred a terrain as the whole of the universe. When we venture inwards with this awareness we become somanauts; courageous explorers tapping into the infinite potential of the body/mind/energy matrix.

Somatics

The word Soma is a Greek word for "body". the term somatics in reference to the healing arts, encompasses many different modalities and approaches. Somatic Psychotherapy works with the mind and emotions in relation to the body.

Certain forms of bodywork are considered somatic therapies because they focus on healing the body while honoring its connection to the mind/emotions

Somatic Movement Therapies focus on fine tuning and rehabilitating the body/mind instrument through conscious observation and client engagement.

My Embodied Flow Yoga training offered many access points into Somatics through the work of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen's Body-Mind Centering, Internal Family Systems, and exploring how we inhabit and interact with space, sound, expression, developmental movement patterns and the endless possibilities we have to re-pattern and rewire.

I have been endlessly inspired by various movement practices and philosophies and am always voraciously seeking new avenues and outlets. Yet one consistency I have found between so many somatic practices across the board is that they all recognize the intelligence of the body as a resource that cannot be separated from our mind or emotions. It is this kind of holism that inspires me most of all.

Thankfully, Somatic Therapies have been growing in popularity due in part to all the current research pertaining to the nervous system and the bodies response to trauma (both big T and little t). We all experience trauma in some way, shape, or form, (even vicariously) and the world is catching on to how this actually does shape our form.

In Polarity Therapy we recognize that all things happen on a continuum, therefor growth and expansion requires tension and contraction. The more efficiently we can process the energy of our lives through our bodies, toning our nervous systems, honing our inner perceptions, the more fully we can inhabit ourselves authentically and joyously.

How does Yoga fit into this?

Many people hear the word Yoga and think it is only available for gymnasts or "already flexible people".

In actuality Yoga is a spiritual path to union with the self and the divine. There are many paths to Yoga or divine union, and physical postures practiced as a form of meditative movement (historically offering physical preparations for seated meditation) are only one small part of a vast philosophical system.

The style of Yoga you will experience in Polarity Somatic Yoga involves adaptive or accessible asana, which are physical postures intended to organize the energy system, tone the nervous system, and help the circulation of life energy throughout the body and being. In addition there may be some simple breath work or pranayama, mudra or hand/ finger positions, mantra or chanting, sounding and guided meditation.

What does adaptive or accessible Yoga asana mean?

Adaptive or accessible Yoga encourages the student to personalize the practice offering variations on traditional postures that cater to the unique energetic needs of the student which change day to day, moment to moment.

The intention behind adapting postures can be physical in a rehabilitative or strengthening way to increase flexibility and muscle tone safely, without pushing or straining (which is a natural byproduct of this practice regardless), but the main focus or intention behind adapting postures in Polarity Somatic Yoga, is more on the nuances of the inner experience than attaining external physical shapes.

In these classes we aim to amplify the subtle awarenesses that bubble up, feeling our emotions and sensations, honing the inner felt sense experience of each posture. By paying attention to these inner perceptions we are enhancing interoception, nervous system regulation, and energy circulation. This is all about the journey, as opposed to the destination or final shape the posture makes. We don't strive for external alignment, instead paying attention to our inner alignment. We are heightening our internal awareness of the transitions between postures, the sensations and noticings that arise within them, and even letting go of static postures altogether, allowing for the creativity and innate intelligence of the body and energy to take over.

For the majority of my childhood and into my early 20's I felt quite disconnected from my own body. Because I suffered from childhood asthma I couldn't participate in sports or other physical activities. Thankfully I had my own children relatively young, because pregnancy and motherhood proved to be a profound rite of passage that brought me into my body. For the past 24 years I have been voraciously exploring this concept of what it means to inhabit the body.

Once I discovered that I could inhabit my body from the inside out with agency, I became obsessed (in a good way) with exploring my physicality. I ran marathons, did weight lifting, aerobics, 5Rhythms dance and every kind of yoga I could find. I became a Craniosacral, Polarity and massage therapist, BodyMind Bridge hypnotherapist, Transformational life coach with a focus on somatic coaching, and spent all day every day working with clients bodies and discussing their relationships to and within their bodies.

For me, the world of Hatha Yoga proved time and again, to be the most effective way I could find to feel into my physicality in a connective and conscious way.

I found endless fascination with how the many shapes of Yoga asana or physical postures could elicit such a variety of feelings and transformations. It calmed my anxious, ADD-type tendencies and allowed me to focus with presence and ease.

I incorporated Yoga into my Somatic Psychology studies at the Evergreen State College in 2009 which led me to discover The Bandha Room. This led into a 15 year immersion in Ashtanga yoga, where I honed my personal practice under the instruction of Vivian Bedford (a Level II Authorized Ashtanga Teacher who studied under Sri K Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Jois of Mysore India). I will be forever grateful for this lineage.

In 2023-24 I embarked on several unique Yoga teacher trainings for the purpose of rounding out my passion for developing a practice or movement modality that I could share in community that would honor all the various elements that proved so profound to me over the years in an accessible, sustainable, innovative way that could be self directive.

My interest in facilitating a yoga inspired movement practice is to support and remind people how to go inward and listen. To empower them to practice autonomy and authority over their own body and instincts. To build trust in and hone their inner felt-senses with a spirit of exploration, curiosity and even fun.

In this way, we get to leave space for the innate intelligence of the body to unwind, unfurl, speak without being edited or judged. To find the postures, movements, sounds, and expressions that hold the most potency and potential in an intuitive and individualized way.

In July of 2023 I completed the 200 hour Breath for Change Yoga Teacher Training and Social Emotional Learning certification where I learned a great deal about how to teach to many bodies and ages in an inclusive way both in person and online in yoga and wellness workshop formats.

In 2024 I completed the 300 hour Embodied Flow™ yoga teacher training in Bali, Indonesia, which included a 30 hour training with Yoga for Humankind offering an "integrative, transformational and embodied approach to trauma-informed yoga".

In the words of my fellow embodiment pioneer, Tara Judelle, who created Embodied Flow™ in 2014 after many decades of similar explorations, this was, "the first school to bring the Somatic landscape of Body Mind Centering ®, the non-dual technology of Tantra, and the laboratory of free movement into the container of yoga".

After decades of 5Rhythms and other free movement dance explorations, a dedicated personal yoga practice, a thriving private practice in bodywork and energy medicine (and many years of teacher trainings and teaching said modalities in addition to a 500 hour RYT certification,) I am thrilled to be brining all these modalities together. Polarity Somatic Yoga, to me, feels like a co-creative laboratory for exploration and discovery involving both teacher and student as both teacher and student.

I still enjoy weaving aspects of Ashtanga Yoga's Primary Series into my own personal practice alongside other intuitive, non-repetitive movement practices. It can be difficult to navigate these two at times, but I am dedicated to learning how to strive less and explore more.

In the past (and even still) I have loved both free intuitive movement equally as much as I love practicing Ashtanga Yoga in a structured way. But I have never felt called to teach traditional or structured yoga.

As a body and energy worker first and foremost, I feel passionate about facilitating exploration, introspection, and healing through movement both for others as well as myself. I care deeply about inclusivity, accessibility, and holding a conscious container where we can all practice being more compassionate with and honoring of ourselves as well as one another.

When we come together in this way, we cultivate fascination with our own energetic ecology and the ways we are interconnected communally, yet uniquely.

No two bodies move the same or need the same movement medicine. Which is why I don't feel particularly called to tell anyone what to do or how to do it. I do not give adjustments, or compare one person's way to another's. We cannot really even compare ourselves to who we were last year, last week or five minutes ago.

To engage in this kind of practice is to become less concerned about how the final posture looks and more interested in what is real about how it feels right now.

As individuals, we are each the only rightful authority over our body and energy. As such, each class is a co-creation. We become a living laboratory of embodiment, using various movement modalities and our own higher intelligence to discover how we can be moved.

It is my wish that this practice inspire conscious, playful adventure and curiosity. May we forge new relationships with ourselves, our bodies and one another as we heal, and grow together, in wholeness.

Who is this practice appropriate for?

In this practice there are no modifications, only variations.There are no right or wrong ways to make a shape with your body. There is no destination or hierarchical culmination to these shapes or practices. There are no levels. You are the authority over your own body and how vigorously or gently you engage in the practice. Beginners, elders, and anyone with physical "limitations" (or invitations, as I like to call them) are welcome.

If there is a posture you cannot do, you are invited to engage your imagination. This is just as effective if not more so, than attempting to push yourself beyond your limits. Any individual who is willing and able to take responsibility for their own healing process of any gender, shape, size, fitness or ability level is welcome.

*For those who plan to come in person: we are not wheelchair accessible currently and we do have stairs.

Is it a workout? Do you need prior yoga experience?

No experience necessary. It certainly can be a workout if that is what you need but it is definitely intended to be just as much, if not more, of a work in.

This is a safe space for anyone who would like to cultivate a deeper relationship with their body/mind/soul/energy through movement and/or imagining the movements.

Do you need any props or equipment?

I recommend you wear comfortable clothing, have a yoga mat and any props you may want but nothing is required. You may also want to bring a pen or colored pencils and a journal. I will provide a workbook for you to print before your first zoom class. I will provide these items when you come in person.

Exclusions?

At this time our in-person classes are for adults only. Although these classes are trauma informed, we are not offering trauma therapy so we ask that each individual makes sure they have adequate support and are capable of being responsible for themselves and for co-creating the safety of our shared container. If you have special needs mentally, emotionally, psychically or physically, please reach out to me about in-person classes.

We also offer zoom classes which are open to anyone.

I do apologize, but at this time we are currently not wheelchair accessible and there are stairs leading to the restroom.

When and where will classes be held?

There will soon be weekly zoom and in-person classes held at the Elevation Hive School of Energy Medicine in our 30 foot dome teaching space in Olympia, WA. There will also be on-demand video classes soon. These are not yet scheduled but in-person classes are free for the entire month of May.

Register with the button below!

More questions?

Reach out to me at amandalux@elevationhive.com or use the purple message sender at the bottom of any page