Kelly Cooper

Somatic Illumination

A woman smiling in a field of tall grass near the beach with the ocean and sky in the background.

Welcome to my homepage-

I’m a Trauma-Informed Senior Yoga Teacher, Somatic Movement Guide, Sauna Ritual Guide & Keeper and a facilitator with over 20 years of personal & professional experience.

My work supports nervous system capacity, self-trust, and embodied resilience, helping you meet life with more ease and choice.

Through somatic yoga and body-based practices, I create spaces to slow down, listen inward, and reconnect with inner wisdom. I love co-creating environments where authenticity, gentle growth, and heart-centred connection can unfold—at a pace that honours your body and boundaries.

What my clients say-

  • Person in warm coat standing on snow-covered mountain, overlooking a snowy landscape.

    My sessions with Kelly have been absolutely brilliant. I’ve got in touch with some deep rooted emotional difficulties that I was not able to feel or be present to, with talking therapy. Not only did these things arise but I was finally able to be present and process them. Some of these traumas have been hiding away and were so deep rooted. I feel so free now that they have been seen. I am so grateful that kelly is offering this work. It’s really worked so well for me, Lexi, 2023

    Somatic 1:1

  • Mountain range at sunrise with a clear sky.

    Yoga and somatics with Kelly is my perfect start to the weekend. The gentle flow of yoga with great detail to movements and attention to all areas of the body is accompanied by calming music and a gentle encouragement of words . It helps release all those stresses built up in the week and leaves you floating.

    Beth

  • People practicing yoga in a studio with mats, focusing on a tattooed individual in a stretching pose.

    I have been going to Kelly’s Saturday morning classes for about 6 years now. I honestly don’t think I could get through the week without it as a busy working mum. Kelly is very responsive to the group’s needs and adapts her classes on a weekly basis. I highly recommend!

    Clare, somatic yoga

  • Branches with blossoms and green foliage reflected in a rippling water surface.

    I had somatic therapy sessions with Kelly over the span of a few months and the results were remarkable! Kelly uses a combination of somatic inquiry and and a specific way of processing emotions which gently bring long-held trauma and repressed feelings to the surface; once they are seen for what they truly are they can be released, and what a difference this makes to the daily experience of life! Not only do I feel better but I'm also able to use this method by myself now so I can process unwanted emotions whenever they arise. Kelly was amazing: very warm and caring but also very insightful, with an uncanny instinct for my blind spots and unconscious defense mechanisms. Definitely someone you want by your side on the roller-coaster adventure of self-improvement and discovery!

    Oana B

  • Thank you so so much for all your support and guidance through such a challenging time I am taking away so many skills and practices I can use on myself and also with my son to help with reducing tensions and releasing anger and other emotions Meg 1:1 July 2025

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  • Landscape view of mountains and a calm lake with a wooden building in the foreground.

    Thank you so much for helping me get in touch with my body and heart. I felt for long time being in defensive default mode not knowing that I was still carrying my childhood traumas added to the daily stressors from work , family and relationship. Throughout our 6 sessions I managed to have more compassion and understanding to my feeling , acknowledging anger , frustration or grieve as normal feeling, observing these without judgement. and noticing where these are actually showing in my body. We could release a lot of these , the most important ones in my opinion. I continue my daily exercises that you kindly recorded for me. Thank you so very much for being such a wonderful person. Kind regards, Naoual

    Naoual - Somatic 1:1

  • Scenic lake and mountain landscape under cloudy sky.

    Kelly skilfully provided me with a grounding and containing space to engage in somatic therapy. I am a psychologist and therefore work primarily using a ‘talking therapy’ framework. Kelly’s work differs from this framework and instead she encouraged me to identify how an emotion was showing up in my body. This meant that I had to let go of my tendency to overthink and analyse which was hard at first but became easier with Kelly’s guidance. The approach has been fundamental in the positive changes/shifts that I have witnessed following my time with Kelly. Above all, she is a warm and an extremely knowledgeable trauma informed practitioner. I highly recommend her, and I feel grateful to have worked alongside her

    Sara - Somatic 1:1

“The feminine comes to us in nature. Go outside. Look at the amazing waves of green, of lilacs, of blue mountains. We are in the presence of the manifestation right here. And she's reaching for you.”

― Stephen Cope, Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

Moon and sun