Somatic Principles for Yoga Teachers in Norwich
6/7 June 2026
This 20-hour CPD module is designed for yoga and movement teachers who feel called to share a more somatic approach to practice, guided by an understanding of the natural rhythms and language of the body.
This training will explore how to guide a somatic experience for your students through an understanding of the nervous system and embodied anatomy, with particular emphasis on the power of language and cueing in a way that supports each student’s unique process of embodiment.
Somatic language invites students to sense and experience the body from the inside out. It gently moves away from rigid or externally focused alignment cues that prioritise appearance and can leave students questioning whether they are doing something ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Instead, this approach empowers students to discover their own pathways into movement and asana, guided by the innate intelligence and language of their own bodies.
Through this lens, students are supported in developing proprioceptive awareness and a deeper mind-body connection. The body is encouraged to find its own natural alignment, allowing movement to become more effortless, fluid, and organically responsive. This approach can reduce the risk of injury while fostering autonomy, agency, and meaningful choice within practice.
Learn with Marie
Marie Williams has been teaching yoga full-time since 2018 when she completed her 200hr teacher training in India. Since then, her work has evolved through a deep and ongoing exploration of the body that reaches far beyond the purely physical. She has trained across multiple disciplines including yoga, therapeutic movement, and somatics, weaving these threads into her distinctive teaching style and therapeutic work.
Between 2020 and 2023, Marie undertook advanced training with The Minded Institute in London, graduating with a three-year Professional Diploma in Yoga Therapy in January 2023. Since then, she has continued her professional development through further training in Somatic Therapy.
Marie now offers an integrated approach combining yoga and somatic therapy in Norwich and online. She works with individuals seeking support with mental and physical health through a somatic lens — recognising how the body holds experience and continually offers information that can guide healing and change. Alongside one-to-one work, Marie also facilitates therapeutic classes for closed groups with shared needs.
10 Hours in Person + 10 Hours Online
This training will take place at Yantra Studio, Norwich
10 HOURS - In-person + 10 hours - Online
Pre-recorded Classes with Marie: written reflections and class analysis using Marie’s supportive reflection method
Class Planning: creating a class pathway for a themed class, incorporating embodied anatomy and somatic cueing that will support this, using Marie’s class planning method
Informal Assessment: teaching and recording your class to a live group of students in-person or online and following up with a written reflection from which feedback will be given by Marie
Please note: you do not have to complete the assessment if you do not wish to.
Please note. All assessments must be completed by the end of the year i.e Dec 31 2026
Saturday 6th June - 1-6pm
Sunday 7th June- 1-6pm
Investment: Early Bird £200 if paid in full before 31 March 2026
Full price £250
Why a Somatic Approach?
When students can better sense what is happening within their own body, they can release a huge amount of tension and feel more safe, supporting their nervous system and capacity to respond and receive the practices, to open, soften and expand. Students become better equipped to make decisions about their practice based on what is most supportive for them in the moment, and develop a greater capacity to respect their body and boundaries.
When students are guided in this way, their practice becomes more intuitive and authentic, they feel empowered to explore movement with curiosity and confidence, knowing that their experience is valid and valuable. This creates a sense of freedom to explore their inner terrain within the practice, extending beyond the physical to sensing into emotional and energetic states as well. Students may find that by tapping into their body’s sensations and being fully present in the moment, they can release tension, including stuck emotions as a result of stress and trauma, and they can safely experience a more profound sense of connection.
In this course, you will learn how to guide your students through an embodied process of movement and asana by using somatic language that encourages sensing, feeling, listening, exploring, and tuning in to the body’s subtle cues and internal wisdom.
We will explore practical techniques for curating classes and sequences that support this process and students' understanding, making this an accessible practice to ALL students, with a focus on somatic language, embodied anatomy, organic movement, and applying somatic principles in asana and alignment. Teachers will leave with practical skills and techniques that can be seamlessly integrated into their existing classes, creating more intuitive, body-aware, and engaging experiences for their students that deeply enhances their connection to self.
By the end of the course, you will understand how to cultivate a somatic approach to teaching that fosters body awareness, promotes mindful movement, and deepens the connection between body, mind, and heart. Teachers will leave feeling ready to explore somatic-based cues, language, sequences, themes and practices that encourage self-awareness and foster presence within their classes, providing a more holistic and empowering experience for their students.
Please Note: to receive the full 20 hour certification, all of the additional requirements will need to be completed. Recorded classes can be sent to Marie. In-person classes can be held at Yantra as free community classes and Marie will attend.
Two in-person days at Yantra Studio exploring:
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what is somatics and how this approach supports and fits into our teaching, classes, and benefits our students’ practice?
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what is embodiment and how do we facilitate this?
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how to create a class pathway that supports the embodiment process and the nervous system, incorporating breath, movement, and stillness into sequencing?
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how to integrate this awareness into movement and apply somatic principles to asana, encouraging free movement exploration, release of tension, and natural alignment?
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how to create a class theme or focus that supports embodiment and guides the class pathway.
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how to guide these practices using language that speaks to and guides the body into movement, and supports natural alignment, inviting students into a somatic experience of yoga asana.
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Pre-recorded Classes with Marie: written reflections and class analysis using Marie’s supportive reflection method
Class Planning: creating a class pathway for a themed class, incorporating embodied anatomy and somatic cueing that will support this, using Marie’s class planning method
Informal Assessment: teaching and recording your class to a live group of students in-person or online and following up with a written reflection. Classes will be reviewed by Marie and feedback will be given
About your Trainer: Marie Williams
Marie is a Norwich based teacher who you might have seen teaching at Yantra Studio.
She is a qualified Yoga Therapist, offering somatic therapy to help individuals process and heal from stress, trauma, ill health and suffering; sharing somatic tools that help educate, empower, resource and regulate someone during the therapeutic process of recovery and interpersonal healing.
A snapshot of Marie’s Teaching journey
1000HR+ Qualified Yoga Teacher (YAP)
Professional Yoga Therapist (BCYT)
Somatic Trauma Therapy Certification (Embody Lab)
Body-Mind Centering (Online Courses)
200HR Yoga Teacher Training Certificate
300HR Advanced TT: Somatic Yoga w. Authentic Flow
50HR Yin & Functional Yoga w. Bernie Clark
30HR Prana Mandala Vinyasa w. Shiva Rea
20 HR Myofascial Release w. Evy Ferraro
20HR Yin Yoga & Myofascial Release Immersion
20HR Anatomy for Yoga Teachers w. Tom Myers
10HR Women’s Yoga Therapy with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli
10HR Chair Yoga w. Jivana Heyman
10HR Pranayama & Meditation Immersion