Meet Sarah
I'm Sarah Atkinson, founder of Soft Smile Somatics. I believe we each carry a quiet wisdom that can become difficult to hear beneath the layers of everyday life.
The invitation is simply to slow down, become curious, and reconnect with yourself through experiences that are both grounded and imaginative. Sometimes that means rest. Other times it looks like movement, music, reflection, conversation, or creative exploration. Whatever the path, the invitation is the same: to make space for what has been there all along.
I love bringing together worlds that don’t often meet—science and philosophy, structure and spontaneity, stillness and play, careful observation and quiet intuition. Rather than asking you to become someone new, I create experiences that help you listen more deeply to your own experience and discover what naturally begins to emerge.
The answers aren’t mine to give. They unfold through the relationships you cultivate with yourself, with others, and with life itself.
We’ll explore through somatic practices, yoga therapy, movement, sound, reflection, and creative expression—different pathways that invite you to listen, experiment, and discover what feels most true.
Some experiences are deeply restorative. Others are playful, expressive, or quietly unexpected. We’ll breathe, notice, move, reflect, experiment, and occasionally surprise ourselves. Because different experiences illuminate different parts of who we are.
You might find yourself resting more deeply than you have in months. Moving in ways that feel surprisingly freeing. Writing something you didn’t know you needed to say. Laughing. Crying. Seeing an old pattern from a completely new perspective. There is room here for both quiet reflection and playful exploration—for science and imagination, structure and spontaneity, because each has something to teach us.
Come exactly as you are. We’ll explore from there.
My journey with yoga began with a simple invitation from my first teacher—one that has stayed with me ever since:
Honor your body.
Over time, yoga became much more than a physical practice. It opened the door to meditation, yogic philosophy, somatic practices, music, creative writing, and other forms of embodied expression. Although each had its own roots, they all seemed to point toward the same place: a deeper relationship with myself and others.
Years later, after spending much of my career in healthcare research and large organizations, I found myself disconnected from the creativity, steadiness, and curiosity that had always mattered to me. Returning to these practices reminded me that this work isn’t only about reducing stress. It’s also about creating space to reconnect with parts of ourselves that have quietly been there all along.
That understanding continues to shape everything I create today—from yoga therapy and restorative practices to expressive workshops and longer programs exploring creativity, identity, intuition, and purposeful living.
Today, my work continues to be shaped by both study and practice. As I complete advanced training as a Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT track) through The Mindfulness Center and pursue a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, I’ve become increasingly interested in the meeting place between contemplative practice, psychology, and neuroscience.
My work is informed by advanced study in Yoga Nidra, somatic practices, mindfulness meditation, trauma-informed approaches, counseling and psychology, and evidence-informed approaches to yoga for anxiety, depression, PTSD, and collective and ancestral trauma. Before entering this field, I studied psychology and pursued graduate work in creative writing—two interests that continue to shape both how I think and how I teach.
My years in healthcare research taught me to ask careful questions, look for patterns, and appreciate both scientific evidence and the complexity of human experience. That same curiosity continues to shape the way I teach and the way I work with people. Equally important, my teachers have shaped not only what I know, but how I think. Through yoga therapy mentors such as Deborah Norris and Steffany Moonaz, I’ve learned to evaluate mind-body research critically, ask thoughtful questions, and appreciate both the strengths and limitations of scientific evidence. That perspective continues to inform the way I integrate research, clinical insight, and embodied practice.
My philosophical perspective has been especially influenced by teachers of the tantric yoga tradition, particularly Tara Cindy Sherman, whose teachings continue to deepen my appreciation for yoga as an embodied path of inquiry—one that invites us to know ourselves more fully through direct experience. While my own path continues to evolve, these teachings continue to shape how I understand presence, relationship, and the unfolding nature of being human.
I remain deeply inspired by contemporary research, the rich philosophical traditions of yoga, and the teachers whose guidance continues to deepen my own understanding.
If this way of working resonates with you, I'd love to welcome you.
Values that guide the way
Protect What Lights You Up
I'm here to support you — you don't have to carry it all.
Respect the Whole Person
I honor the full, complex humanity you bring with you — your body, your voice, your experiences, and your story
Create Possibility
I believe imagination isn’t a luxury — it’s the spark that opens new paths for healing and growth.
Honor Tradition, Intuition & Evidence
My practices draw from ancient wisdom, inner knowing, and modern research — holding all three in thoughtful balance.
Embody Self-Expression
You are invited to show up as you are, not as who you are expected to be.
Sprinkle a Touch of Whimsy
I take your mind-body needs seriously. And I take fun seriously, too. Expect lightness and play woven into the work.