The body in its heaviness longs for the lightness of breath and the lightness of breath longs for grounding of the human body. Our ancient ancestors told stories about the sacredness of the breath, and in fact many of the world religions, mystical traditions and indigenous cultures equate the moving, living breath with the soul of who we are. The breath is the essence of who we are. We cannot meet our emotional and spiritual needs with the material world. We have lost our breath and we can see it in the ways that we desperately seek satisfaction outside of ourselves; through alcohol, drugs, food, caffeine, sex, work, busyness, and relationships. If we do not know the power of the breath of life, that is invisible, intangible and subtle in its power, we will seek it outside of ourselves in what we can see. Human beings have the capacity for such greatness in relationship to themselves and to the non-human world. But in order to live into this greatness, we must turn inward to face what lives within us; both the darkness and the light.

Soma- where body meets soul is a school that is dedicated the integration of body and breath. It was founded in 2006 by Jenny Finn in response to a calling deep within her. Soma values the inner life, and offers experiences that foster the student’s ability to connect to the support of the breath of life that we are immersed in through the breathing body. The way in which we educate is no longer sufficient for us to be able to creatively and wholly face the ecological challenges that we face today. We need schools that are devoted to the interior life, where students can explore freely what lives within them, as well as examine how this inner exploration affects their relationships to the world around them. Soma offers experiential classes where the student is invited to deepen into his or her interior life and build relationship with body and breath. As Stephen Sterling, author of Sustainable Education: Revisioning Learning and Change, writes "This new century might yet be the age of relation." Soma pedagogy is based in this understanding of relationship and that relationship first and foremost begins within each being. The breath fundamentally keeps us in relationship to our bodies and all that they experience and connects us to all life that we are immersed in.

The student will find that Soma classes include all or some of the following practices in its educational offerings to cultivate relationship with the interior life:

~ Creative Expression (art, ritual, dance, writing, poetry, story-telling, and music)
~ Heart Centered Meditation
~ Embodiment Practices (Yoga, Qi Gong)
~ Breathing Practice and Meditation
~ Exploration of the non-human world

The breathing body connects us with the moment and it is from this place of presence that we can begin to hear an inner voice that is creative and brave. This voice within invites us to embrace the whole of our humanity and the beautiful truth of who we are. The relationship with the larger Earth body, and all life that we live with, begins within each heart. It is our privilege, and therefore responsibility, to embrace the act of awakening.


To view the work of Soma please click on a video below.

Those of us who do not inhabit our flesh, who do not have the deep satisfaction that our bodies can give, are always banging at the door of ourselves.  ~ Stanley Keleman