This study was intended to introduce the modulation of somatic experience in Korean academic societies, which was one of the core concept of Soma Theory of Thomas Hanna. Although Somatics was introduced in Korea by several scholars and practitioners during recent decades, the concept of experiential modulations has remained vague on account of its difficulty. This study aims to eliminate the vagueness, tracing Hanna’s academic and professional background of his Soma Theory. For this study I visited Novato Institute to see Eleanor Criswell and other colleagues twice and I had chances to discuss with the Somatic Educators the vague area of Hanna’s theory. The first texts for the cross-analysis used in this study included his books, training manuals, and articles mainly written by Hanna and his colleagues in the magazine-journal ‘Somatics,’collected in Novato Institute and Myong Ji University Library. As a result, this study clarified three modes of somatic experience, in the first-person, second-person, and third-person experience, and the modulation of somatic experience. At the same time this study was able to find their relationships to the transformation of our material-based age and the significant position and role of Somatics raised by Hanna in the mobile revolution Era.

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.

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.