This paper primarily presents a general review of the theoretical literature pertaining to “somatic awareness,” which is assumed to be a potential healing element of yoga. Somatic awareness is a devised concept indicating the process of non-judgmental self-awareness for subtle bodily sensations and felt senses. It remains meaningful to define somatic awareness on a theoretical basis. This paper therefore provides an overview of current research in various areas related to somatics, body awareness, mindfulness, bodyworks, and therapeutic approaches involving yoga. To make the review more purpose-directed, this paper starts with a review of studies for soma and soma intelligence perceived from the first-person perspective as well as awareness of bodily sensations and felt senses. This discussion leads to the primary explanation of somatic awareness as the adaptive aspect of body awareness. This paper also delivers basic perspectives on soma from yoga philosophy and yoga physiology. Through the review, this paper verifies a concept of ‘somatic awareness’ implied in therapeutic approaches of yoga, which generally utilizes breathing and self-awareness, such as Viniyoga, mindfulness yoga, and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Understanding this mind-body linking concept of somatic awareness and its adaptive aspects in yoga therapy, this paper explores the main arguments from neurophysiology, focusing on the brain reactions and influences arising from the somatic awareness process while practicing yoga and meditation. With its review of current research, this paper verifies the effective integration and interaction of bottom-up and top-down processes of self-regulation taking place in the triune brain structure. It therefore offers a better theoretical understanding of the self-regulating and healing effects of somatic awareness-based yoga and its application in diverse fields.

This dissertation investigates the way dancers experience the “personality of soma” while practicing. The purpose of this dissertation was to study the interrelationship between the personality of soma and the creation of unique dances. This study included dancers learning original movements and the entire process of practicing. The author used practice-based research and other academic resources for the study. First, major terms, such as “soma,” “somatic learning,” and “personality of soma” were defined based on other academic sources. The discussion of the concepts of soma and somatic learning is primarily based on the somatics of Thomas Hanna. The personality of soma discussion is based mainly on the concepts that Karol Wojtyla suggested from a theological perspective: origin solitude, origin nakedness, and origin unity. Practice-based research informed analysis of the entire process of constructing the piece, creating choreography, practicing, and performing. Somatic data was derived from the researcher’s first-person observation, and dancers were employed as the subjects of analysis. Experiencing the personality of soma consists of four stages: recognition, awareness, unity, and openness to soma. First, the experience of silence caused the dancers to recognize their soma and discover the potential within them. Second, the experience of origin solitude allowed the dancers to discover creativity and autonomy within their soma through an exploration of autonomous movement. Third, the experience of origin unity provided a chance to realize that soma has its own way of conducting communication and personal interaction. Fourth, undergoing the origin nakedness stage, the dancers learned how to dance their unique moves without the eyes of others, a perspective that they had internalized. The researcher who participated in the study gained self-esteem and recovered the personality of soma. They also created unique dance through a development of their own dance moves. By conducting this study, the researcher experienced transitions from passive, memorization-based learning to active learning, which allowed the utilization of somatic sensations.

This article reports on changes in health-related parameters, including muscular strength, cardiac-pulmonary endurance, flexibility, equilibrant and coordination, elderly citizens who completed a seven month movement educational program based on somatic disciplines for body-mind integration. The study included 5 participants (1 male, 4 females; age range 70-86) and was conducted over seven months (November 2013 to June 2014) at a senior welfare center in Seoul, Korea. Pre-program data collection consisted of a questionnaire on somatotype, body composition analysis, and examination of physical strength. The somatic movement program included meditation, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Pilates, the Feldenkrais Method, etc., and each participant attended class for two hours twice a week. The program comprised to sections of 20 and 14 classes respectively. After each section, body composition and physical strength were analyzed (1st exam: March 27, 2014 ; 2nd exam: June 3, 2014). The results of this study were as follows: First, the participants lost weight and body fat noticeably through somatic disciplines. Second, it seems that there is a significant interrelationship between somatotype and health elements. Indeed, the participants improved on some specific aspects of health elements more than others which depends on the participants’ somatotype. For example, leg and arm muscle functions were improved more for participants with mesomorph than those with ectomorph. The observed outcomes were attributed to the participants’ attitude of immersing in classes, mindfulness, intimate relations between teacher/peers, and awareness of their own soma in daily lives.

Human beings think, study, and develop creativity and character somatically. However, at present, many people are pressured and stressed; as a result, they have lost this sense. The purpose of this study is to explore the principles and develop a program of movement education based on somatics through the analysis of literature on somatics as a practice plan for the recovery of the vitality of soma. First, the principles of movement education based on somatics are as follows: The goals of education are atony, awareness, awakeness, and abundance. The contents of education are soma and movement responding to temporal, spatial, and relational factors. The methods of education are composed of verbal methods leading to first-person experience, including description, comparison, explanation, and questions, and non-verbal methods leading to second-person experience, including touch. Second, the program of movement education based on somatics was as follows: The “Soma 4A program” was developed to reflect the principles described above. Specially, three programs were actualized with a focus on characteristics like totality, verticality and confrontation, balance and horizontality, and movement. Finally, we recommend implementing and evaluating this program, developing various programs, expanding movement education based on somatics, and connecting this to dance education. We hope that this study will represent a small steppingstone in movement research–based somatics, and that it will help dancers and ordinary person to understand the soma through the provision of valuable data.

The intent of this study is to explore what soma in dance is, how dancers can communization in dance, and what communication in dance is. This research will explore the contents of “Somatics”, which have been studied for soma in culture and dance research through a literature review. By doing so, I want to study what the soma is and how to communicate specifically in the dance. In addition, the research method is based on the experience of the direct soma of the dancer, which was also used as an auxiliary research method. This study is only one study exploring the way communication is done in soma dance. This study can be a small reference in terms of widening the horizon of communication rather than defining the problem of communication in all dance performances as one standard.

Following the drastic increase of elderly population, Parkinson's disease has become the second-fastest growing disease after dementia. Parkinson's disease is a chronic degenerative disorder of the cranial nerve system caused by the lack of dopamine, which controls body movement. The disease is a physical impediment that affects daily life of patients and it may progress to dementia. At present, Parkinson's disease cannot be completely cured and the patients depend on medical remedy, surgical therapy, and physiotherapy. However, the existing medical treatment has produced several side effects. As a result, movement therapy, which relieves physical disorder and restricts the progress of the disease without causing side effects, is receiving increased amount of attention these days. This study focused on the movement therapy program aimed at the improvement of physical impediment caused by the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and analyzed the existing domestic and international studies. The purpose of this study was to highlight the importance of the movement therapy for the Parkinson's disease and propose efficient methodology. This paper also introduces efficient and practical movement therapy programs that can be easily applied in clinics. The literature review on the application cases of the movement therapy program for patients with Parkinson's disease proved that Feldenkrais method was the most efficient method of relieving physical impediment among early-stage patients. Clinical studies have already proved multilateral movement therapy effects of the Feldenkrais method in diverse fields. This study introduced Feldenkrais method as a prevention and treatment scheme of the Parkinson's disease and proposed the potential design of the movement therapy program based on the Feldenkrais method.

This study aims to understand Somatic Experiencing® which is a trauma healing technique through the senses of the body, and how humans are neurophysiologically connected to the autonomic nervous system in the process of recognizing the senses and react to survival. I examine whether it has an emotional release and how the trauma can be healed through the senses of the body. To this end, I investigate the survival and defensive behavior of wild animals, which is the core concept of Peter Levin's trauma healing, and discuss in terms of neurophysiology. As a result, I identify the physical implications of somatic experience based on neurophysiology. First, trauma is something that can be experienced willingly and is a natural and normal part of life. Second, for trauma healing, the intervention of the brain's neocortex is important. Through neocortical intervention, it is possible to focus on the body sensations and integrate the three-layered brain structure. Third, activation of the vagus nerve, which is closely related to our emotional response and social relationship, plays an important role in bringing about stabilization.

This study aimed to find the somatic movement principles inherent in KoukSunDo by analyzing systematically personal experiences, which KoukSundo training methods had treated at the individual level with a focus on self-awareness and self-feeling only on self-awareness and self-feeling at the individual level through the body and mind training methods of KoukSunDo and the somatic materialization(embodiment) processes based on the "BRACED," which is the fundamental principle of somatic movements. Conducting a research on the training of KoukSunDo according to this principle of somatic movements will be significant to establish the practices of KoukSunDo as an academic area and thus increase their values.

The study analyzed the Naegijeonsinhaeng method in the training stages of KoukSunDo to analyze the principles of somatic movements inherent in it. These principles include the Breathe principle inherent in Danjeon Breathing; the Relax principle inherent in Simpyeonghwagi as a peaceful state of mind; the Align, Connect principle connecting the mind and harmonizing the mind and the body through the alignment of the body; the Expect principle sending energy to each and every Jangbu; and the Dance principle moving like a big crane dancing leisurely. These findings suggest that the principles of somatic movements are inherent in the movements of KoukSunDo, which is a unique body and mind training method to the Korean people.

The findings of the study will contribute to the wide spread of body and mind training methods of KoukSunDo unique to the Korean people as somatic practice around the world like yoga and qigong.