What is Somatics?
Hanna Somatics is a powerful mind-body modality that enables one to reverse chronic pain and tension by relearning how to release chronically contracted muscles by accessing the source of the imbalance – the BRAIN.
The human body senses itself most directly through movement. Muscles that do not move are not sensed. There must be movement to stimulate the sensory nerves within the muscles and joints. When a muscle has lost it’s ability to sense itself the brain can no longer send clear command signals to the motor nerves that cause our muscles to move. This condition is called Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA) Sensory Motor Amnesia is a habitual forgetfulness that occurs when we loose conscious control over how our body functions and moves. As a result certain muscle groups can remain in a state of contraction for years simply because they have forgotten how to contract and relax at will.
Most people are unaware that muscles have no will of their own. Muscles rely solely on a signal or message from the brain in order to contract. When not in use a healthy muscle returns to its resting length and releases the contraction. But, when, through injury, misuse or habitual use patterns muscles stay contracted it is because the brain is signaling the muscle to do so. Through a guided process of self-sensing while voluntarily contracting then relaxing a muscle one can reprogram the brain and thereby change the motor or muscle response to return to itʼs natural state of rest and ease.
After this resetting of muscle length has occurred it may be necessary to reinforce the change through repeating a movement sequence until the new pattern has become well established.
Lisa Cary is one of the best movement educators I have ever had the privilege knowing. Lisa’s teaching is concise, thorough, well planned and beautifully embodied!! Her work is simultaneously stimulating, safe and encouraging! She is a first rate practitioner who knows her material inside and out. Her mastery allows her to teach in a confident and calm manner while being available and attentive to her students and her clients process. I could not rate her skills more highly. In my view, she is an excellent holistic practitioner and her integrity shines though in all her offerings.
With much aloha and gratitude,
Elizabeth Ann Sutcliffe MA,LMT
How Does Somatics Work?
Once a movement has been learned it is stored within the sub – cortex of the brain. Even if you haven’t ridden a bicycle in 30 years you can still get on a bike today and ride it because you once learned how to and your sub – cortex has a stored map of that pattern in your brain. Most of our stored, learned patterns serve us very well.
Can you imagine if you had to think about how to lift a coffee cup to your mouth or how to bend down and pick something up each time you needed to? But what about the learned patterns that don’t serve us? We’ve all experienced sitting at a computer and slumping. When we habitually repeat a pattern of slumping over time it results in chronic neck, shoulder and mid back pain. In order to change an involuntary, chronically contracted muscle one must relearn a new pattern by using the frontal cortex of the brain. Through accessing the brains frontal cortex we can intentionally reset the habitually contracted muscles back to resting length so that your body remembers where the “off switch” is when muscles are not in use.
It is important to know that pain is a result of sustained muscle contraction. This contraction is being signaled by the brain to the muscle. A muscle that is contracted at 10% will be very tired and firm. 20% contraction and it will result in a muscle that is tired, very firm and sore. 40% contraction defines a muscle spasm and it will feel tired, hard, weak and quite painful.
As your practitioner I will guide you through a series of passive and active movement sequences. As you explore these movements you will become aware of your own habitual way of moving and the substitutions you have adapted to “get the job done”. When we discover these areas of “amnesia” you will be asked to make a specific voluntary contraction followed by a slow controlled release so as to remind the brain-body how to return to it’s natural, relaxed state of rest. As we begin to re-awaken what has temporarily been placed “on hold” in your body you will begin to reclaim freedom, aliveness and a restoration to pain free motion.
The single greatest cause of pain is chronic and habitual dysfunctional movement patterns.
Through years of repetition we become imprisoned by our own engrained habits. The longer we live and move repeating stressful patterns of movement the more automatic they become.
Life is Movement. Our brain is truly miraculous in its ability to learn new patterns.
The moment we bring our awareness to any movement new connections are made within the brains organization of the sequencing of thousands of muscle fibers and brain cells. Our capacity for change is only as limited as our willingness to learn. We can return to what we once inherently knew… how to move freely and without pain.
Hi Lisa,
I just wanted to drop you a quick line to compliment you once more on your class. I greatly appreciate how you captured what is really important and arranged in a logical and practical way. It really was excellent. You are very gifted in how you see the body and clarify movement. If you are ever interested in training teachers please keep me in mind.
Grace and Peace,
Sue
Conditions and Symptoms
From a Somatic perspective, body symptoms are the result of an imbalance within the structure and function of the whole body. The body is an interconnected web and when misalignment occurs movements become adaptive and compensatory.
The problem lies in the subcortex brain which stores all learned habits, those which serve us and those which cause us pain. With neuromuscular re-patterning the proper signals that govern the body’s balanced function can be restored utilizing the brain’s frontal cortex. In a crude sense it’s similar to upgrading your computer’s operating system if there has been a virus.
Pain conditions that are effectively worked with, to name a few, are:
| Backpain | Joint pain | Scoliosis |
| Whiplash | Kyphosis Lordosis | Shallow breathing |
| Bursitis | Neck & shoulder pain | Shoulder pain |
| Carpal Tunnel Syndrome | Osteoarthritis | Shin splints |
| Disc problems | Piriformis Syndrome | Spasms & cramps |
| Headaches | Plantar fasciitis | Temporomandibular Joint |
| Insomnia | Rotator cuff injuries | Disorder |
| Sciatica | Tendonitis |
Hi Lisa,
You are awesome! The exercises and moves you choose for yesterday’s class completely solved my shoulder issues!! It’s been hurting for over 2 weeks and now I have complete range of motion. Mahalo for being so perceptive, caring and for sharing your mana’o (knowledge)!
Christine
