Yoga for release in South Goa
Let go of what you are carrying.
Release gathers classes about letting go: long yin holds, somatic movement, shaking and dance-based practices, breathwork and expressive formats. They make space to soften tension, move without choreography and sometimes feel things. The tone is permission rather than performance.
No classes scheduled in the next two weeks.
What Release does for you
You get to put something down for an hour. Long holds let tight places soften slowly, while shaking, dancing or a strong exhale give built-up energy somewhere to go. Many people describe feeling lighter, looser and more like themselves afterward. Sometimes a laugh or a few tears show up, and that is allowed.
It suits you if
- you feel like you are carrying the week in your shoulders and jaw
- you want to move without choreography
- structured classes feel too controlled for you
- you are open to the occasional emotional moment
Read the full guide to ReleaseWhat a class is like, your first time, history and the words you will hear
What a class is like
Formats vary. A yin or somatic class is slow and floor-based, with long holds and gentle exploration. A shaking or dance-based class might include unstructured movement, bouncing, sound and dancing with your eyes closed. A breathwork class usually has you lying down and breathing in a guided pattern, often with music. Facilitators tend to invite you to make noise, move as you like or rest, and there is a long rest at the end. Some classes close with a sharing circle, which is always optional.
Your first time
- Wear loose, comfortable clothes you can roll around in.
- Bring water and a warm layer for the rest at the end.
- Tell the facilitator if you prefer no hands-on assists, and take any break you need.
Good to know
- Intense breathwork with fast or forceful breathing is not for everyone: check with a doctor first if you are pregnant or have epilepsy, a heart condition or high blood pressure.
- Some formats invite sound, touch or sharing; you can always say no, and a good facilitator asks before touching.
- If difficult memories or strong emotions come up often, consider support from a therapist alongside class.
Where it comes from
Letting go is an old theme in contemplative practice. The Yoga Sutras pair steady practice (abhyasa) with non-attachment (vairagya), and Buddhist teaching centers on loosening the grip of craving. The more physical sense of release, softening held tension in the body, comes mostly from 20th-century bodywork and somatics.
Around 1970 the philosopher Thomas Hanna coined the word somatics for approaches that work with the body as experienced from the inside, among them the Feldenkrais Method and the Alexander Technique. In the late 1970s Gabrielle Roth created 5Rhythms in California, a moving meditation that runs through flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical and stillness, and ecstatic dance formats followed. Breathwork styles such as Holotropic Breathwork, developed by Stanislav and Christina Grof in the 1970s, added intense breathing to the mix.
The popular idea that particular emotions are stored in particular muscles, often the hips, is repeated in many classes but is not established. In Berlin, release formats sit close to the city's dance culture: shaking, ecstatic dance and somatic classes often run in lofts and community spaces, many on weekend afternoons.
Words you will hear
- Vairagya
- Non-attachment: the practice of loosening your grip on things.
- Somatics
- Approaches that explore movement by how it feels from the inside, not how it looks.
- Shaking
- Letting the body tremble or bounce loosely for a few minutes.
- Simhasana
- Lion's breath: a forceful exhale with the mouth open and tongue out, often with a laugh.
- Sharing circle
- An optional round at the end where people can say a few words.