About The Founder
Daphne Chua is a somatic specialist, movement educator, therapist and facilitator, and the developer of Embodied Systems Intelligence (ESI), a framework for nervous system literacy that extends from the individual body to the groups and systems we belong to.
Daphne Chua
Daphne is the founder of Somatic Therapy Asia. Through ESI, she offers a way of perceiving the autonomic states of our own bodies and, from there, the states of the collective we are a part of. The framework draws on nearly two decades of clinical, facilitation and movement practice, preceded by twelve years within corporate organisations, and together these have given her a lasting attention to how bodies are held, and shaped, by the systems around them.
ESI rests on four pillars, working together rather than in sequence:
- Tracking States, sensing physiological shifts as they happen.
- Offering Ground, recognising one’s own state as part of every relationship.
- Reading Across Scale, following the patterns that recur from a body to the collective, and back again.
- Holding Complexity, staying with a living tension rather than resolving it before it is ready.
Daphne holds this as a literacy to be sensed, felt, researched and shared, rather than a toolkit or technique to be acquired.
The framework grew out of the rich clinical ground Daphne has worked in. Her work in movement rehabilitation, neuromotor recovery, chronic pain and complex trauma built a physiology-first way of understanding the complexity and interconnection of the body-mind. ESI extends this understanding into a literacy that can be carried from the individual to the collective. The clinical practice continues alongside the systems work, and remains what it is tested against.
The Journey
Daphne’s path began in the corporate world. During the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, she traded her business suit for a leap into the unknown. In the years of travel that followed she found in yoga a practice, a way of sharing what she loved, and a lifelong study in the intricacies of being human. That study widened into therapeutic bodywork, embodied anatomy, somatic education and the physiology of the nervous system, shaped by teachers and pioneers including Richard Freeman, Donna Farhi, Tom Myers of Anatomy Trains, Emilie Conrad of Continuum Movement, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen of Body-Mind Centering® and Nancy Stark Smith of Contact Improvisation, among many others.
She has lived and worked in Asia, Europe and Australia, with people of different ethnicities, genders and ages, across social, economic and cultural spectrums and in varied ecosystems. As an Asian practitioner educated in Western-influenced clinical somatics, and raised among Eastern philosophies in a post-colonial region where both are present and neither is truly native, she kept meeting the same patterns in settings that shared no common vocabulary. Much of what the wellness world offered was aimed at self-improvement and individual regulation, at a time when so much of what people carry is systemic, cultural and generational, and ESI offers instead an embodiment literacy that is relational, moving from self to other and to the collective.
ESI grew from her clinical experience and her research into complexity frameworks, to give these patterns a language that could be studied and shared.
Competencies
ESI is a distillation of Daphne’s practice across a wide range of somatic and therapeutic modalities:
- Movement and embodiment: Body-Mind Centering®, Feldenkrais, Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement, Yoga Therapy and developmental coaching.
- Bodywork: remedial bodywork ranging from Traditional Thai Yoga Massage to visceral and fascia release, Chi Nei Tsang, Tai Chi Massage and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy.
Daphne’s facilitation begins with experience, as a form of embodied wisdom, and is grounded in physiology, neuroscience and clinical evidence. ESI is explicit about where the work moves past established ground, and it holds models such as Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal framework as one map among others to research, explore and discern.
Daphne is a Somatic Movement Educator trained in Body-Mind Centering®, a registered yoga therapist with AAYT, a trauma-informed developmental coach, an Anusara Inspired™ teacher, and an E-RYT500 Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP). She began training yoga teachers in 2012 and has run her own embodiment and therapeutic training modules internationally since 2014.
Daphne brings ESI to healthcare practitioners and bodyworkers, educators, coaches and organisational developers, humanitarian and community workers, and artists and dancers, through workshops, long-form trainings, talks, seminars and mentorship, offered as a complement to structural change rather than a replacement for it. She continues to work one-on-one in clinical settings with people navigating injury, chronic conditions and trauma, and facilitates in both English and Chinese.
What people say about Daphne & her work
“Daphne’s love of the human body, somatics, and yoga are clear and contagious! I learn something new every time I take a class with Daphne and have so much fun exploring my body and movement. I appreciate Daphne for
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helping me listen to the felt sense of connectedness in my body. I’m grateful for the space Daphne holds for me to remember that I am already perfectly whole.”[/read]
“I finished 80 hours embodiment and bodywork immersion with Daphne in July 2019. What I’ve observed, in my own body and what I’ve learned, the knowledge in my head is still very much simmering even though it’s been 6
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months since the immersion ended. What I know is that my heart is so full and so alive. I am deeply grateful to be able to meet and train with Daphne and to spend a special week with 6 other ladies. Daphne teaches with authenticity, kindness and love. She possesses immense understanding and knowledge about human anatomy and she makes it so fun to learn such a seemingly dry topic. She taught me how to look at my body, my being and my movement in a radically different way. She taught me how movement can be so unique and embodiment is very much an ongoing, lively interaction between what is inside us and that surrounds us. She made it safe for me to venture into bodywork when I came from a space of hesitance towards touch therapy. I am looking forward to more time learning with and from Daphne, a fellow wild spirited sister!”[/read]
“I’ve finished Daphne’s 100hr embodiment training half a year ago, and I’m still feeling the profound changes in my on-the-mat and off-the-mat practice until today! Her inquiry-based approach on deep sensing
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and awareness is such a contemporary and important approach rising above the many yoga schools that are constantly popping up today. The 2 weeks of her YTT training offered so much more than just cognitive and experiential knowledge of anatomy and asanas, but transformed my deepest sense of awareness in my body. I left feeling like a newborn who never tasted the true feeling of motion, and of being alive and conscious in and of my body. I keep walking, moving and dancing with a sense of pleasure and joy brought about by the awareness and perception of my body as fluid, gentle and a well integrated unit. Keeping in mind Daphne’s first and last question “What is embodiment to you?” and constantly developing new answers to it 🙂
I can’t wait for her next training and I highly recommend her to everybody who’s interested in sculpting their yoga from within!”
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Thuy Le - Vietnam
I’ve just finished the 80-hour-embodiment and bodywork TT by Daphne. And I’m so grateful to have the chance to meeting her and fellow classmates who are so friendly, authentic, and talented… We shared with deep listening, we danced, moved and laughed like a child, we cried with each other…
Every class is meaningful and interesting – one in which Daphne and Lucy created many effective ways to transmit knowledge and wisdom. I never knew that studying anatomy can be so creative and applicable with a practice like that.
I have learnt one very important aspect of the human body that is fascia. It radically changes my perspective in how to improve body and mind wellness, awareness. It’s so important to remind ourselves to be BEING rather than DOING again and again…
Daphne held her classes with respect, rituals, peace – which inspires me greatly on my yoga journey of self-practicing, self-studying and sharing.
Thuy Le, Yoga Teacher and Studio Owner, Vietnam
Lana Yang - Cambodia
“My heart is filling with gratitude to be able to experience the Therapy & Bodywork 50-hour teacher training in Luang Prabang with Daphne. The training allowed us to dive deep into “Movement, Inquiry and Embodiment”. A subtle yet profound pathway to make space for our body and mind – harvesting these innate energy and qualities, and move in synergy with our body. Thank you Daphne!”
Lana Yang, Yoga Teacher, Cambodia
Tiffany Sim - Malaysia
“I am so glad to join my first teacher training with Daphne. She is a marvellous teacher and has deep profound knowledge about the history, philosophy, culture, spirituality of yoga and movement. I would definitely like to join her teacher training again next year!”
Tiffany Sim, Engineer, Malaysia
Lori Kelley - UK
“Daphne saved my back!
I met Daphne when she was supporting a training I was attending in February. Daphne came to my rescue on day 3 of a 15 day training. Unfortunately due to a recent injury to my SI joint (3 months prior) and an ill-timed adjustment by another trainer, my still fragile sacroiliac joint had again been over stretched. Daphne, seeing my distress and pain, offered to help, she was so gentle, supportive and understanding of my situation. She took the time to explore the injury and provide a “gentle” massage which with her advice, suggestions and hands that seemed to magically find and soothe the injured area provided me the opportunity to finish my training with little discomfort. Daphne is a natural in the heart of yoga, she clearly loves what she does and in turn gives confidence and support to those that train with her.”
Lori Kelley, Independent Sonographer, UK
Anna Lisicka - Singapore
“I joined Daphne’s Trauma-Informed Somatic Therapy & Bodywork Training in April 2023. This experience was a profound exploration of our shared human experience through embodiment, somatic touch, and self-inquiry. The program seamlessly wove together the Somatic approach and Polyvagal Theory with my beloved Yoga. It also provided a nurturing space for questions, group discussions, and self-reflection, fostering diverse viewpoints and insights.
Somatic movement and somatic touch have seamlessly integrated into my daily life, enriching both my personal and professional journey. If you’re considering diving into the realms of Somatics, I wholeheartedly recommend Daphne’s training. It has been an immersive and transformative experience for me, one that I believe can profoundly benefit anyone seeking to enhance their personal and professional practice.”
Anna Lisicka, Yoga & Ayurveda Teacher, Singapore
Geoff Nichols - Australia
“Daphne’s embodiment and immersion retreat had me seeing the true state of my humanity – a difficult time, yet arriving at a return to central love. If you are seeking truth in your existence you will find what you are looking for in the realm created by Daphne’s course.”
Geoff Nichols, Poet, Australia
Yoko Yamoto - Japan
“My experience from the immersion was eye-opening. Over the past years, I knew that I was not doing something right, but could not figure out what it was. Daphne identified the specific misalignments in my body and guide me into finding them. She articulated very well in how bodies are supposed to move, what habits to maintain to keep the body healthy. I can already feel that my musculoskeletal structure changing and my joints are better aligned. Before the course, I used my body parts to do Yoga, trying to fit my body into the asanas. Now I am using Yoga to keep my body aligned, with healthier and better positioning for the different part of my body. I have had many issues with tilted pubic bones, twisted spine, knee pain and feet pain, but they are now better with the right exercises. They also brought me a positive effects for non-yoga activities. I enjoy occasional social dancing, and when I went to a practice, I can feel that my posture has improved, and my body and legs are not as tired and aching as before. I believe that continuous practice, awareness and mindfulness are the key. All the best and thanks again for your insights and dedication.”
Yoko Yamoto, NGO worker, Japan
Cheryl Cheong - Singapore
“Daphne is extremely knowledgeable on anatomy, and also helped elevate my understanding of yoga therapy with new perspectives that are rooted in physiology. She taught many useful techniques to help release and relax the body, which I still use today in my teaching. Highly rated!”
Cheryl Cheong, Yoga Teacher, Singapore
Eunice Lim - Singapore
“I took up Daphne’s June 2021’s run of Trauma-informed Somatic Therapy & Bodywork Training. The science and material behind the course was tremendously real for me, as I decided to take up the course at a juncture where I was desperately trying to build back my nervous system capacity after being in “shut-down” mode for over a-year-and-a-half. The practices and safe space provided during the course (and thereafter) have been really helpful and restorative both mentally and physically. Beyond the science, Daphne is really compassionate and down-to-earth as a teacher, and a human being. Daphne’s knowledge on anatomy and the mind-body connect is vast, and she manages to facilitate the course in a really fun and interactive manner. In essence, I can describe the course in 3 words: real, warm, and great fun!!
I truly encourage anyone who is interested in the course to sign up for it, regardless whether you’re experiencing health conditions or not! We could always do with more self-awareness and healthy nervous system functioning, to better show up both for ourself and others!”
Eunice Lim, Psychology Graduate, Singapore
Natalia Rachel - Singapore
“I can’t get enough of Daphne! I recently completed her 100 hour embodiment and bodywork Teacher training in Chiang Mai. Daphne brings something completely new to the table in her yoga offering. Her knowledge of anatomy, developmental patterns and somatic movement is incredible. For me, experiencing yoga from this embodiment approach was illuminating and refreshing. Her self inquiry style of teaching supports students to dive deep into their own bodymind to experience and embody their learning process; rather than being told what to do or how to feel. It’s an empowering approach. Daphne is full of humility and authenticity. I really connected to her teachings and she held the space for a diverse group so beautifully. I encourage anyone (yogi or non yogi like me) to delve into some exploration with Daphne and unlock new layers of bodymind awareness. Thank you Daphne! I have taken away so much from your thoughtfully crafted immersion”
Natalia Rachel, Therapist, Singapore
Lucie Krobová - Czech Rep
“SHE is like an older sister to me, the same blood kind. Sharing the same fire within that sparks when something geeky pops up on the horizon of (spiral) movement, (spiral) body or (spiral) philosophy. Always happy to share, always happy to play and to explore. Up for being crazy…or curious? Crazily curious! Just like me….
Yet She is so knowledgeable and compassionate. With huge wisdom of experience and openness to not knowing, dedicated to learn and seek the truth. She’s my teacher, my inspiration and my mentor. Supporting me and sharing honest feedback to constructively aid my growth. 🙏
I’m full of gratitude and love for you Daphne! Thank you for inviting me to share my crazy curiosity with your students. Assisting you on #movingfromwithin19 has been a huge milestone for me as a facilitator and unforgettable experience as a human.”
Lucie Krobová, Yoga & dance teacher & assistant facilitator
Shanon Fox - Thailand
“I acquired a great deal of knowledge in a great location! Daphne is extremely knowledgeable, and she is great about sharing this knowledge in a fun and easy to grasp way. It was the perfect length of time and the training was taught with a positive and dynamic energy. I would love to learn more from her in the future! And the location – Mala Dara – was gorgeous! Thanks Daphne for including me in the training! Look forward to seeing what comes up next!”
Shanon Fox, Yoga Teacher, Thailand
Candice Goh - Singapore
“Daphne is a nurturing, thoughtful, and embodied therapist and mentor. Her devotion and passion for this field of work reflect in her nourishing touch and supportive teachings.
As a therapist/bodyworker, Daphne’s gentle guidance, intuition, and knowledge of both western and eastern philosophy have helped me to uncover patterns of trauma and emotional holding, building resilience and spaciousness in my body for my nervous system to thrive. These therapeutic sessions forged lasting connections with my body and offered a healthy resource of self-paced techniques to balance the body and mind.
As a mentor, her teachings are deeply intentional and delivered in dynamic forms to explore the living body in theory and movement. Her years of clinical studies, field practice, and personal transformation offer depth and breadth to the learning journey. Daphne tends to teach both to the unconscious and the conscious. When learned unconsciously, the teachings will reveal in the circumstances of my own life.
I’ve most recently attended the Trauma-Informed Somatic Therapy & Bodywork Training in November 2022 and found it to be profoundly impactful for both my personal growth and within my professional field. As a bodyworker myself, the knowledge that transpired in the training keeps unfolding new discoveries of our body in relationship with the nervous system. I gained a clearer understanding of an individual’s body-mind states through movements, group discussions, and partner work. With Daphne’s facilitation and comprehensive feedback, it was an organic way to study the human body through somatic applications.
The generosity of Daphne’s work is a true gift and reminder for me to always remain open and curious about the wonders of our living body.”
Candice Goh, Bodywork Therapist, Singapore