FEEL MORE GROUNDED, STEADY AND
AT HOME IN YOUR BODY WITH SOMATIC YOGA
Feeling scattered, depleted or pulled in too many directions?
Inspired by the Earth phase of the Chinese Medicine Five Element cycle, this 4-week online somatic yoga series invites you to slow down and reconnect with your body. Through somatic flow, somatic yin yoga and QiGong, we'll investigate what grounding and support can actually feel like in your own body.
The Earth element: grounding, nourishment & finding your centre
The Earth phase comes at a particular point in the Chinese Medicine's Five Element cycle, associated with the season of Late Summer and times of transition. The Five Element map offers a rich framework for exploring our relationship with nourishment, digestion, stability and centre in times of change. Earth asks us to consider:
What supports me? What nourishes? What helps me feel at home in myself?
This time of the year favors getting more grounded in your routines,
so I invite you to make a commitment and join:
SOMATIC FLOW on Mondays at 6pm (CET)
and/or
SOMATIC YIN & QI GONG on Wednesdays at 7pm (CET)
You can choose one or let them support each other
Livestream & recordings for 3 months
Somatic Flow: somatics, functional strength and mobility, embodied movement
MONDAYS 6pm (CET), September 7 - 28, livestream & recordings for 3 months
Mondays are an invitation to move, explore and build strength with awareness. These slow, fluid Somatic Flow classes combine somatic movement with mobility, coordination and functional strength exercises. You'll work with the body as an integrated whole rather than isolated muscles or "correct" poses, developing strength that is responsive, adaptable and useful in everyday life.
SOMATIC YIN & QIGONG: slowing down, listening and connecting
WEDNESDAYS 7pm (CET), September 9 - 30, livestream & recordings for 3 months
Wednesdays are a creative blend of slow, reflective, felt-sense based practices of Yin yoga, somatics and QiGong with acupressure, poetry and self-inquiry. Rather than simply trying to stretch further, we'll explore sensation, breath, gravity and support, developing the ability to listen to the body and building capacity to meet what arises.
What you'll experience in this somatic yoga series?
Over four weeks, we'll explore practices that help you:
Over four weeks, we'll explore practices that help you:
- feel more grounded and connected to your body
- build functional strength and stability without pushing or exhausting yourself
- release habitual tension and explore greater freedom of movement
- develop a more responsive relationship with your nervous system
- slow down enough to notice what you actually need
- cultivate steadiness, support and a sense of inner centre
- translate abstract Chinese Medicine concepts into tangible bodily experience through simple practices that explore: feet, gravity, weigth, balance, the belly, the center, touch, support.
- explore the Earth element through movement, felt sense, seasonal awareness and potent self-inquiry questions
Finding your centre within change
Being grounded doesn't mean being calm all the time, nor does being centred mean becoming fixed or unmoving. Life moves, changes and asks things of us. The somatic approach works with both activation and rest, effort and ease, challenge and steadiness. The centering and nervous system regulation practices are not intended for one to deliver you to a state of permanent calm, but cultivate the capacity to respond to life and return to steadiness.
Being grounded doesn't mean being calm all the time, nor does being centred mean becoming fixed or unmoving. Life moves, changes and asks things of us. The somatic approach works with both activation and rest, effort and ease, challenge and steadiness. The centering and nervous system regulation practices are not intended for one to deliver you to a state of permanent calm, but cultivate the capacity to respond to life and return to steadiness.
BOOK THE EARTH ELEMENT SOMATIC YOGA SERIES IN SEPTEMBER:
Sliding scale pricing based on trust and collective care: 80€ - 180€
Full series means livestreams on Mondays 6pm CET and Wednesdays 7pm CET (September 7 - 30)
8 livestreams with access to recordings for 3 months
Full series means livestreams on Mondays 6pm CET and Wednesdays 7pm CET (September 7 - 30)
8 livestreams with access to recordings for 3 months
Sliding scale pricing based on trust and collective care: 40€ - 75€
Somatic Flow livestreams on Mondays 6pm CET (September 7 - 28)
4 livestreams with access to recordings for 3 months
Somatic Flow livestreams on Mondays 6pm CET (September 7 - 28)
4 livestreams with access to recordings for 3 months
Sliding scale pricing based on trust and collective care: 40€ - 75€
Somatic Yin and QiGong livestreams on Wednesdays 7pm CET (September 9 - 30)
4 livestreams with access to recordings for 3 months
Somatic Yin and QiGong livestreams on Wednesdays 7pm CET (September 9 - 30)
4 livestreams with access to recordings for 3 months
Can't commit to the whole series?
All sessions in this series are also open to drop-ins either for the livestream or to receive the recording.
Everyone who signs up will receive access to the class recording for 7 days.
|
Is this somatic yoga series for you?
This series is for you if you:
|
|
This series is inspired by the Chinese Medicine Five Element theory with elemental themes weaved through all the sessions.
Here's some musing for orientation:
EARTH element/phase key words are body, matter, gravity, balance, steadiness, support, nurturing, being grounded, holding ones center, maturity, abundance... In Chinese medicine Earth represents the season of Late Summer and transition times between seasons, in our bodies it corresponds to Spleen and Stomach meridian channels and is linked not only to our body's ability to digest food but our overall capacity to be nourished by life, ability to think clearly, metabolise our past experiences.
Here's some musing for orientation:
EARTH element/phase key words are body, matter, gravity, balance, steadiness, support, nurturing, being grounded, holding ones center, maturity, abundance... In Chinese medicine Earth represents the season of Late Summer and transition times between seasons, in our bodies it corresponds to Spleen and Stomach meridian channels and is linked not only to our body's ability to digest food but our overall capacity to be nourished by life, ability to think clearly, metabolise our past experiences.
If you are new to Liina's teachings, below she answers a few questions that describe what is at the center of her methodology and what she incorporates into her classes:
What is somatics?
Somatics is a mindful movement approach that emphasizes internal body awareness and self-sensing.
It is not a style of yoga, anything you do or practice can be done with internal awareness.
It encourages a shift from external performance to internal experience, fostering a deeper connection between mind and body.
Somatic approach supports nervous system regulation, enhances mobility, helps to release tension and build strength through attentive, deliberate movement.
It is not a style of yoga, anything you do or practice can be done with internal awareness.
It encourages a shift from external performance to internal experience, fostering a deeper connection between mind and body.
Somatic approach supports nervous system regulation, enhances mobility, helps to release tension and build strength through attentive, deliberate movement.
What are 5 elements/phases?
The five elements, or phases, known as Wu Xing in Chinese philosophy, offer a way of seeing the world as an ever-changing dance of energies. Rather than fixed substances, they are movements of transformation—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—each reflecting patterns found both in nature and within ourselves. They align with the seasons, organs, emotions, and spiritual qualities, reminding us that we are not separate from the cycles of growth, ripening, decline, and renewal that shape the natural world. Earth offers us nourishment and stability, a grounded center from which we can digest not only food but also experiences. Metal, the element of autumn, teaches us how to refine, to let go, and to discern what is essential, much like the trees release their leaves in preparation for winter’s stillness. Water carries the wisdom of depth and rest, reminding us of the power found in silence and yielding. Wood brings the energy of springtime growth, vision, and direction, while Fire embodies summer’s warmth, joy, and connection. Moving through these phases, we learn that balance is not a static state but a continuous, relational process. By embodying the five elements in our practice and daily life, we can attune more deeply to the rhythms of the seasons and the wisdom of change itself.
In yoga and somatic movement, there are numerous creative ways to explore, stimulate and embody the five phases - either through the channel network of Chinese medicine, where each element is expressed in specific meridians and acupoints or through breath, posture, and felt sense - inviting us to embody the grounding of Earth, the release of Metal, the yielding of Water, the expansion of Wood, and the radiance of Fire.
In yoga and somatic movement, there are numerous creative ways to explore, stimulate and embody the five phases - either through the channel network of Chinese medicine, where each element is expressed in specific meridians and acupoints or through breath, posture, and felt sense - inviting us to embody the grounding of Earth, the release of Metal, the yielding of Water, the expansion of Wood, and the radiance of Fire.
What does it mean to practice with the season?
Our bodies are not separate from the natural world around us. Just as the landscape, light and temperature change with the seasons, our energy, needs and ways of moving through the world can change too. The Chinese Medicine Five Element cycle offers a beautiful framework for exploring these seasonal shifts and the qualities they invite us to cultivate. In this series, we turn towards the Earth phase — a time of grounding, nourishment, trust, transition and returning to centre. Through somatic yoga, we explore what these qualities mean not as ideas, but as something we can actually sense and experience in our own bodies.
What is functional strength?
Functional strength is about building the kind of strength that supports how you move through daily life—lifting, twisting, reaching, stabilizing—not just how you perform in a workout. In the FLOW sessions, we approach strength not as something to push for, but something we cultivate with attention, breath, and alignment. Movements are slow, precise, and connected to somatic awareness—meaning you’re not just going through the motions, but tuning in to how the body moves and responds.
Through this lens, strength becomes more than muscular—it becomes coordinated, responsive, and intelligent. You learn how to move from your center, distribute effort efficiently, and build resilience in a way that feels supportive, not depleting. This kind of strength carries over into your everyday movements, helping you feel more grounded, capable, and at home in your body.
Through this lens, strength becomes more than muscular—it becomes coordinated, responsive, and intelligent. You learn how to move from your center, distribute effort efficiently, and build resilience in a way that feels supportive, not depleting. This kind of strength carries over into your everyday movements, helping you feel more grounded, capable, and at home in your body.
Why the fascia approach?
Fascia is the body’s three dimensional connective tissue network - it weaves through muscles, joints, and organs, creating structure, support, and fluid communication throughout the body. A fascia-informed approach works with the body as a whole system, rather than isolating parts. In this series, we move in ways that respect the natural spirals, tension lines, and elasticity of the fascial web. This means incorporating slow, spiraling, multi-directional movement, subtle resistance, and yielding - inviting not just stretch, but responsiveness and connection.
In both the FLOW and YIN sessions, this approach helps unlock habitual holding patterns, improve mobility, and bring more fluidity into strength work. Rather than forcing change, we’re inviting adaptability - building a body that is not just strong, but responsive, resilient, and connected from the inside out.
In both the FLOW and YIN sessions, this approach helps unlock habitual holding patterns, improve mobility, and bring more fluidity into strength work. Rather than forcing change, we’re inviting adaptability - building a body that is not just strong, but responsive, resilient, and connected from the inside out.
What does nervous system have to do with it all?
Everything we do - how we move, breathe, respond to stress, rest, and recover - is guided by the nervous system. It is very important to not just emphasize finding calm, but have an approach that builds range: the ability to move between activation and rest with flexibility and choice. A well-regulated system isn’t one that’s always relaxed - it’s one that can respond appropriately to life’s demands, then return to a place of steadiness. In this series, we work with the nervous system by layering movement with awareness and engage the nervous system's different branches through tempo, breath, pauses, pacing and balancing familiarity with novelty. In the FLOW sessions, we explore effort with clarity and control; in YIN we slow down and listen. This supports your system in developing a broader window of tolerance - so strength isn’t just muscular, but also nervous system-based. You build the capacity to meet challenge without collapse or overload, and to return to center with more ease.
BOOK THE EARTH ELEMENT SOMATIC YOGA SERIES IN SEPTEMBER:
Can't commit to the whole series?
All sessions in this series are also open to drop-ins either for the livestream or to receive the recording.
Everyone who signs up will receive access to the class recording for 7 days.
What people say...
Throughout the series I noticed your turn to strength and must say: I love it. For me it was a wonderful mixture of activation, exploring my own border, mindfulness and feeling my muscles the day after practice. You offered so many little movements and sequences that I was able to do easily, but then through repetition I really felt the muscles that were targeted much more and how much strength it required to repeat the movement. This strength part didn’t take away any of the contemplative and mindful quality of the practice. I think in contrast it actually contributed to it, because one really needs to negotiate personal limits. (Julia)
First of All - huge like an ocean - thank you for those sessions I could participate with you in a live online mode. It was a treasure. Thank you for your constant, beautiful, human-friendly approach to practice, your high-end quality and just your spirit. You are a true inspiration to me how to work, how to trust the Whole, how to take time to tell, share, explain sometimes very subtle things to others. I am looking forward to more opportunities to work with you. (Paulina)
From the very first video i watched, i have loved the granular way in which you guide and teach. I think of each instruction like a granule, i can use them alone or i can build something more complex with them. I loved the fluidity and ease. Occasionally, i am freaked out, well more like pleasantly surprised that you are reading my mind, great anticipation. I hope you love what you do, i certainly do. (Eli)