About Somatics

Somatic movement is the practice of moving into the body, feeling how it feels to move, how one part is connected to the next, how to move in ways that feel good, to break out of our habitual movement patterns to find something better. This is in relation to movement and hopefully carries into the rest of life. That we move in a way that is connected, whole, pleasurable and free. Maybe that even influences how we live our life, how we see our patterns and how maybe change feels more possible. We explore movement in the classes and build pathways to feeling the body and living IN the body. In our culture we live so much in the mind, tortured by thought so it is radical to live a life from the body. Also more pleasurable , more simple, less tiring. And there is so much information about ourselves in the body, so to have more access to our own amazing, intelligent system whose wisdom have evolved over eons, that is a life changer. The body holds so many answers to what we need in any given moment and this can be a first step in tuning into this.

In terms of pain in the body somatic movement is about easing pain in the body, improving balance and posture. ‘Soma’ means the living body, that is the mind and body as one functioning unit. Somatic Education is a neuromuscular system that speaks to the mind and body to relay the pathways between the brain and the muscle. For many of us, we have muscles that for one reason or another are habitually contracted causing back pain, joint pain and stiffness restricting activities. The brain is sending messages, often constantly, to those muscles asking them to contract. This can be because of fear and apprehension, stress, trauma, injury or simply our daily habits of driving cars or sitting at computers. Somatic movement education, slow and with awareness, speaks to the muscles and the neurons that control them to teach them where the contraction is (as we move into it), how that feels and also where the release is (as we move out of the contraction). It is a learning process that teaches the soma where the resting level of the muscles can be. As a result, the soma can function in this relaxed state and move more easily and efficiently through life. With these muscular holdings released pain can also release and movement throughout the body can be in comfort.

The somatic movements, whether in a clinical one on one or class situation are slow and gentle. The student plays an active part in their learning and hence is deeply aware of the movements and how they translate through the body. It is a system that encourages curiosity and engages students so deeply in their experience that it can awaken within them a desire to know themselves more deeply. It is a movement meditation. There is no right or wrong because it is about how it feels from the inside, about the students first person experience and what is possible for the student. As a result, somatic movement gives students a sense of voluntary control over their muscles. It improves muscular differentiation by releasing the muscles stuck in chronic engagement and consequently improves balance and coordination, posture, ease of breathing, flexibility, range of movement and mastery over one’s movement. This work draws from the lineage of the late somatic pioneers Thomas Hanna and Moshe Feldenkrais.

In essence somatic movement empowers students to self-heal finding their vitality as they move through their life with less pain, more ease, and more freedom from life’s traumas.

Movement Lessons

The lessons are taught lying down, front, side or back. The movements are slow and carried out with great ease. Somatic movement is easeful and without pain or tension. The guidance brings the student to a place of deep awareness as they explore the sensations though their whole self. The lessons involve slow, simple movements that take place on the floor with the comfort of yoga mats and blankets to ensure a sense of relaxation so that the nervous system can come into a resting state. There is a deep sense of awareness within these movements throughout the class to explore the body to find ease and comfort. With this awareness, the contracted muscles begin to release, reducing pain and bring a greater pleasure into the movements of daily life.

The Somatic Experience

How does it feel? Good question and I can only speak for me because it feels different for all of us, because we are all different. I can tell you how it looks and how it feels for me.

For me it feels like kindness in motion. It is a time where, no matter what, I move with such softness, with no intention of achieving anything but instead just a curious mind to discover how it feels, to find something new and when I really move slowly, there is so much to discover.

My first experience of it was such a revelation. My body had never moved in this way. I had never listened to it in this way. I had never felt it in this way. I had never felt so integrated. During the following days of an intensive weekend I was aware of things in a way like never before. I remember my skin feeling so alive, that I could feel every hair on my arm as they were being blown, one by one by the light breeze. I was Slowly Awakening.

Who is this for?

Most people who come to me are suffering with pain from emotional or physical trauma or pain that has developed over time from posture and habitual tendencies. This can be anything from back pain, joint pain or aquired brain injuries and Chronic fatigue. There is always room for improved movement and to find more ease.

Due to its gentle and slow nature this can include people recovering from surgery or injury where movement is encouraged in a way that is using the muscles and skeleton in the most efficient way. It gives the student time to sense what they are doing and therefore observe how it could be done in a way that is most integrated or in sync with the whole body.

It is also for people who need to find a way to quieten the mind and slow down. It is meditation in movement. It is learning a new language, the language of the body, of yourself. It makes spending time in the body easier and therefor less time in the mind. It brings about living more in the body. And as a result can really change the whole experience of being alive.

And quiet simply it is for anybody. Anybody who likes to move, anybody who would like to move more easily, with a bigger range of movement. Anybody who likes pleasant sensation, because we only move with comfort and ease.

Chronic Pain

 Somatic Education can help:

  • Lower back pain

  • Neck and shoulder pain

  • Frozen shoulder

  • Repetitive Strain injury

  • Tennis elbow

  • General stiffness and restricted movement

  • Sciatica

  • Sacro-iliac strain

  • Scoliosis

  • Slipped disc

  • Osteoarthritis

  • Plantar Fasciitis

  • Posture issues

  • Sports injuries

  • Joint pain

How?

Somatic movement rehabilitates the body by triggering your bodies innate intellegence, teaching it to release chronically tight muscles that have been holding the body in pain and restricting movement. It engages the brain and the neurons to re-educate the system to soften the muscles and reset the resting level of these muscles and consequently to move out of pain. This improves functional movement. Somatics increases the range of movement in a pain free and easeful way. From the clinical lessons and movement lessons the student will leave with movements to take home and practice, making somatic education an empowering, self-healing journey towards comfort, ease, health and vitality.