“The most important thing for you to remember is that Somatic Exercises change your muscular system by changing your central nervous system.” T. Hanna
Essential Somatics® Movement Education
What is Somatic Movement?
Somatic Movements feel like a moving meditation. Focus on your inner experience as you move and expand your internal awareness. This is your body-mind or body-brain working together and engaging you in an active learning process. Slow and gentle conscious movements foster neuromuscular change. By moving slowly, you begin to notice your patterns of holding that can cause chronic pain, stiffness, lack of mobility and even sleep issues. Somatic Movements restore and increase range of motion, beginning in the centre of the body and moving outwards. This new length in the muscles can effect posture and alignment in surprisingly positive ways.
Somatic Movement helps you re-educate yourself about your body and how it moves. Somatic Movement involves gently and mindfully recreating reflex patterns that we get stuck in, so that we can learn to release them. We all have “blind spots” in our body-brains and by practicing the Somatic Movements, we begin to shed light on these dark areas, gaining personal insight into our habitual holding patterns that contribute to our chronic issues. Through these movements you will begin to notice what tension your body is holding on to and how to release it.
Habitual tension, coined by Thomas Hanna as Sensory Motor Amnesia, is a result of life circumstances including chronic stress, repetitive movements or postures, injuries and surgeries, as well as emotional trauma. Through practicing the Somatic Movements, we establish a new level of self awareness and re-train the communication between the brain and the muscles, restoring coordinated movement, increasing mobility and relieving pain.
“I have had two hip replacements and this is the best realignment, recalibration I have received in the five years of living a bionic hip life. In gratitude,” Yvonne Kipp, Cortes Island
Pandiculation is the nervous system’s natural way of waking up the sensory-motor system. An example is how a baby, small child, cat or dog takes time for a juicy stretch after sleeping and laying down. This voluntary contract-release-rest method resets your muscles, readying you for efficient movement. Pandiculation aids in restoring conscious control over the body, helping muscles that were unconsciously held tight to relax, and those that weren’t accessible to awaken. As Thomas Hanna discovered, pandiculation is the most efficient and effective way to release chronic tension, relieve muscle soreness and pain, and restore full voluntary muscular control. This is the essential element to reclaiming self-sensing, self-regulating and sensory motor intelligence.
Essential Somatics® Movement is a self-care modality based in the tradition of Hanna Somatics. Training your body-mind connection and getting to know your habits is a key ingredient to a life free of tension. Essential Somatics guides you in relearning more functional and efficient ways of moving, and of being still. By educating yourself on the root causes of discomfort in your body, you will gain the tools to manage and unwind these patterns. With this personal insight, you will find the ability lies in YOU to eliminate pain, be balanced, relaxed and restore freedom of movement.
“It’s not just muscles, it’s a proprioceptive system. It’s not just a proprioceptive system, it’s the very quality of life.” – Thomas Hanna, Ph.D
“Hi Namchi, I just finished the recording of the Somatics class. I love it. I feel so peaceful and calm. I’m so glad you are doing this. Thanks so much.” – Jen
Benefits of Somatic Movements:
* Restores and increases motion
* Can reduce pain
* Calms the nervous system
* Can promote better sleep
* Releases imprint of trauma both emotional and physical.
* Offers self-care techniques that you will use for a lifetime.
* Increases proprioception—the aspect of intelligence that is about sensation and control.
* Appropriate for adults of all ages and fitness levels. Children and teens can explore.
* Can be done sitting & standing if floor work is inaccessible
Somatics help relieve:
- Chronic back pain
- Neck and shoulder pain
- Hip joint pain
- Frozen shoulder
- Tension headaches
- TMJ
- Herniated discs
- Leg length discrepancy
- Piriformis syndrome
- Whiplash
- Scoliosis
- Knee and foot pain
- Plantar fasciitis
“The body is not a thing, it is a living process.” T. Hanna