S
MARASA
RESIDENTIAL COURSE
The Soma Residential course provides personalized programs which trains one on all the aspect of our curriculum. Here, we will go through all the theoretical and fundamental aspects to provide a deep understanding of the body and its needs. We will be structuring one’s workouts, regulating one’s diet and introducing lifestyle changes. These Courses vary in terms of the depth of curriculum taught and the in-house training offers the ability to focus on the demands of this course.
We would ideally recommend a 30 day course as that helps one create a long lasting habit
pattern to get into the rhythm and connect the dots to take personalized learning to be put into
action. However, if one is self-driven to become more healthy & strong, there is still much to gain from the 20 day course.
A TYPICAL DAY
The day begins with cold exposure, breath-work & the morning workout of the day. We mostly make meals together thereafter. Food preparation and intake requires close observation and note-taking as that is one metric that one has easy control over. We advise walks after each meal and that is followed by some rest & recuperation.
After some rest, we gather for a theory class in the afternoon followed by an optional shorter workout. Then another meal prep and walk. Quite often we would be head to the sauna sometime in the evening and then go to bed early.
Throughout the day, there is a lot of information dispensed and hence, a period of a month helps
assimilate all the knowledge and give thought into how to translate it to the environment back
home.
In this growth phase, we cater to the needs of the body and to your goals by providing the right stimulus at the right rate. Based on interest of the participant, theory classes help bring better understanding to our structured curriculum and the need for their application in life.
The course is challenging and one will go through the adaptation to various stressors and
grow from them.
ASSOCIATED ACTIVITIES & FACILITIES
Sauna
(Thrice a week)
Cold Showers
(Every day)
Or Cold Immersion Baths
(Thrice a week)
Access to home Gym & Gym Membership
(For the duration of your stay)
Swimming
(Once or twice a week, based on COVID regulations & workout plans)
1 Hike with some boulder challenges
Full use of a physical Library
& a massive collection of curated E-books
Room with Attached Bathroom
(Maybe on twin sharing basis based on the number of clients)
WiFi
Laundry Service
A kitchenette with a stove, utensils, & fridge space
(You will have the opportunity to cook your own meals)
(We strictly only provide Low Carb + High Fat meals and raw-materials)
2 Sessions of Physical Training per day
(One intense & one relaxed/optional)
3 theory sessions per week
RESIDENTIAL COURSE OPTIONS
SOMA 10-DAY COURSE [INTRODUCTION]
10 Days is the minimum duration course. In ten days, one can understand the perspective that we hold in our teachings and lay out a foundation on how to move forward. This would entail building on a basic level of foundational exercises, form corrections, making dietary and lifestyle changes.
One would not be able to see results in ten days as it is too short a time to make significant progress in one's biology. However, if you are someone who has the mental tenor and determination, you could proceed further on your own after the ten days and gain from the practices & reap results. Knowing the science, understanding deeper connections between mind, body, and action would take more than this duration. If you'd like to know the 'Why' behind every food choice, exercise, & lifestyle change, we suggest a longer course.
SOMA 20-DAY COURSE
The 20-day course would entail building on a basic level of foundational exercises, form corrections, making dietary and lifestyle changes. One may begin to see results based on one's history & biology.
By this time, the pains of exercise and the adaptation of changes in diet settle down and one can start to notice changes in their system. The theoretical classes help connect the dots & Important tools of carefully measuring longer term progress are introduced.
In a twenty-day course, we have enough time to meaningfully get into blood-work analysis and make course corrections based on other metrics.
SOMA LEVEL-1 [30 DAYS]
The thirty-day course is what we recommend if one has the time, inclination and commitment to build a deep foundation of long-term health. The course is designed to set one up for the long run.
With a thorough understanding of all the basics of nutrition, exercise and lifestyle, the practitioner leaves with a user-specific actionable plan. They gain the ability to personalize their own workout plan, diet & lifestyle design based on their particular needs/goals and their life circumstance.
After due adaptation and understanding of the benefits of fasting, the practitioner has the option to undergo a 3-Day fast under careful supervision. This is a crucial piece of the puzzle and comes highly recommended - provided it is done under an observant and controlled environment like the one we offer.
The 30-Day Soma Level-1 is an intense, systematic program of a complete overhaul of the human body. It takes a lot of perseverance, consistency and commitment. However, the results are immense and measurably so.
Who are these programs for?
All our programs comprise of a complex intertwining of lifestyle changes, diet, exercise, & mental techniques. If you are looking for recommendations that brings positive & measurable change in your life, and if you're ready to put in time and work to make it happen, these programs are for you. Since these changes could be somewhat drastic compared to present day standards of everyday living, our clients have found it much easier to adapt the learnings to their daily lives after applying it in one of our residential courses.
What if I have already done an online course?
If you have done an online course, there is much more to gain from a residential course. Some students are unable to fully implement the learning of the Online-Course with life as usual. In our Residential-Course environment, with case specific focus & attention, we revisit the fundamental principles and apply all that was learnt in the online course.
Along with that, one also experiences 6-days/week of physical training, hot and cold exposure and while going deeper into subjects previously covered. The end result is a quantifiable lifestyle + workout program + diet that is highly individualized. Every query that comes along the way of following your new lifestyle gets addressed right there in the moment and long term strategies are planned to continue this way forward.
What can I expect to learn?
The learning process in the any of our residential courses is intense. It requires a great deal of perseverance and situational awareness. For the earnest student, a whole world of learning awaits.
Continue reading to learn about some of the core outcomes.
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A complete analysis of where the practitioner stands - In terms of physical fitness; strength, endurance, range of motion; in terms of mental health, will power, frame of reference, focus & reward circuitry; in terms of biological markers; vitamin & mineral panel analysis, Lipoprotein & Triglyceride levels, muscle mass, BMI, & hormonal panel. The objective of this step is to meet you where you are and take things forward from there. To set a starting point that the future sets of measurements will stand against.
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Physical Fitness - Over the period of the course, we will develop a 6-day workout routine that consists of Strength Training, Flexibility + Dynamic Balance, and Endurance. These three are the fundamental pillars to effective overall fitness & again, these are customized to throw practitioner's history. Beginners start a lifelong journey in a balanced manner, while advanced practitioners take their learnings to the next level. Breathwork, pain tolerance, fatigue resilience are also part of the course in the Physical Fitness department. By the end of it, we'll come up with a comprehensive Workout Routine that incorporates conditions specific to the participant, while working on the fundamental areas of physical fitness alongside.
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Fixing the diet - A big part of good performance is a good fuel processing system. And the body works best with Anabolic & reparative fuels. In order to make good decisions at the dinner table, one needs to be equipped with the knowledge of nutrition. This is a foundational part of the Somarasa philosophy. The Diet module contains - A quantitative and qualitative analysis of Macros, Micros, Timing, Bioavailabilities, Reparative capacities & the pitfalls of all the major foods and food types available in the market today. By the end of it, one will have the knowledge of self-analysis - a capacity to experiment and decide which foods work for your goals and which are derailing your progress. By the end of the course, based on all the data that we collect and analyse together, we'll come up with a comprehensive diet program to follow for the months to come.
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Stress Management - Not all stress is bad. Some is required and essential for growth. Stress beyond what we can handle is called Distress. And stress that's beneficial to the person is called Eustress or Hormetic Stress. It comes from the same philosophy as the old adage 'Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger’. In the program, we will learn how to bring in beneficial levels of stress in our lives so that we're stronger & more capable in handling the harsh spikes in our lives. We will also learn about herbal, mental, & physical tools to be able to handle the unavoidable distresses better.
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Mental Fortitude - Not all stresses can be managed by herbal remedies, or by fixing the diet. Some stressors are inevitable and cause damage to us. Even when we lose all our powers over the world, one power will always remain - The Power to Choose our Reactions to the World. This is the very essence of a healthy mind; a powerful and positive outlook on life, an unshakable mind that's well grounded & yet fluid and adaptive - the very meaning of mental fortitude. The course includes a thorough introduction of practices that increase the power of the mind. Will power, focus, operating philosophy, core values & virtues - all of these have the potential to be improved and upgraded as we proceed through life. The course contains techniques to make the above happen.
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Lifestyle & Long term behaviour - The behaviours of a single day, repeated for a lifetime, ultimately defines who we are. This module covers Sleep, Sun Exposure, Timing of Feeding, Fasting, Interventions to cut out damaging habits, and Body + Face Posturing. All of these are elements highly researched or practiced from ancient times. What we do on a consistent basis leads to our well being or destruction. Lifestyle design is a crucial part of the Soma System and by the end of the course, the practitioner will be equipped with the knowledge of the path to be followed for the long run.
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Operating Philosophy - All the strength and fitness in the world is meaningless when a sense of purpose is absent. And this purpose is something one has to create on their own. It is the work of a lifetime & takes a lot of discipline and consistency. To aid to this process of self-actualization, the study of Philosophy offers a great array of tools. Self Discipline, Power of Will, Mental Endurance, and an undying spirit are some of the greatest assets one could carry within them for a lifetime of virtuous living.
All in all, the Soma Residential Courses offer the full spectrum of all our learnings; scientific & ancient, compiled into an engulfing duration of deep & lasting learning.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
For someone who had never entered a gym, especially because of a preconceived notion that 'you need to be fit to be able to use a gym', busting that myth and recognizing that 'starting small and progressing to one's capacity' is the mantra was the biggest takeaway. Of course, to start at a home gym, to get the basics like the form and the grip right made it a comfortable learning experience. The home gym made it possible to stay focused and spend quality time in building the muscle memory. I especially liked the diversity of the program, exposing one to various exercise forms and what impact it can drive, while still following the Pareto principle. The diversity kept me intrigued each morning, and boosted my morale tiny little bit at the end of the day.
The diet was great in terms of nutritional value. To set goals and daily calorie targets at the start of the course makes it easier to tell your body what to expect and when(IF). The tracker really helped to frequently review the impact of a certain meal, to workout meal combinations, decide on when to supplement with whey protein and analyze the bodily changes holistically - exercise and diet. The diversity of the menu was good and again, gave me insights into cooking according to one's diet plan.
I believe the deepest impact of the course is on the mental strength. Without this aspect addressed, I consider it futile to attempt any of the aspects of the course, be it the cold and hot exposures, the dead lift or the hip thrust, and of course, the fasts. Every aspect of every activity was definitely hitting the mental strength, sometimes explicitly, otherwise subtle. Be it singing during ice immersion, doing a 45 minute meditation in sauna, progressing close to body weight dead lift or giving up on a junk food craving, everything was only possible because of the mental fortitude. The key driver to make all of these possible during the course was the lead by example aspect of enabling the client. When I see you do it, I believe I can do it. And to know that you know what you are suggesting, makes you believe that you are under safe supervision and it is absolutely okay to try, fail, and try again. I personally believe your mental strength rubbed off on me.
The benefits of having attended the online course before the residential course was best felt in the theory classes. Along with a revision of the details from the online course, to go a level deeper, be it on exercise science, nutrition or lifestyle cemented the understanding of the recommendations from the belief system that Somarasa lives by. The residential course advantage was that discussions and clarifications were not limited to the class schedule and any such follow-up discussions busted few more myths and opened up more aspects for discussions. I am grateful that all my questions were answered without any assumptions around what may be obvious. I thoroughly enjoyed these discussions.
The biggest gain from the course would definitely be the mindset change, of challenging the accepted normal with research based evidence. .
In the 30 day duration, I was able to see measurable changes and that is a significant milestone to be able to look forward from.
Nanaiah Bayavanda
Residential Course, Dec 2020