What is somatics and how does it relate to " Stress".   
    Somatics is an approach to health care that is all about movement.  You
    may not know, but yoga, tai chi, chi gong and more recently pilates are also  
    somatic activities. What all these activities have in common, is an exploration
    of movement to help one function more efficiently. 
    Somatics as a therapy is an exploration of movement coupled with retraining
    the brain to recover lost voluntary control of muscles. The cornerstone of
    somatics is the sensory motor system and the effects of SMA
    ( sensory motor amnesia ).  Now, this all sounds very complex and on some
    levels it is.  However, the practice of somatics just requires your awareness 
    and this can lead to some beautiful discoveries and self empowerment.  The
    practice of this work is about finding joy.  Movement is the joy we take for
    granted until something happens and we are mired in frustration and fear.
    Somatics is about discovering how to return to happiness and efficient
    movement without fear and pain.  Pain is distracting and can lead to all
    sorts of unhappy scenerios.   There is also the possibility that we can
    hunker down with our pain and begin to identify with our disability.  Its far
    better to be reuniting with the fluidity of our life experience than mired in self
    compassion.
    So, lets look at some of the nuts and bolts of somatics as it might apply
    to you.  First, lets look at the area between your hips and your ribs.  This
    is referred to as the " somatic core".  This is the place where most of your
    stress of " always on the go"  and " fear, anxiety, depression..etc " is
    located.  This  is  a huge discovery,  And it is fixable!     In fact, alot of
    congestion,  from headaches to hemmorrhoids and lots in between may
    be due to the loss of voluntary muscle action in the somatic core!  The
    first lessons of movement in this area are related to the actions of the
    muscles in the front of the body (abdominals), and the muscles in the
    back of the body ( low back extensor muscles ).  Add breath work
    to this ( your diaphragm ) and you have the beginnings of profound
    relief! The learning part of your brain is intimately tied to this work. And, what
    it loves to do is learn!  So, the more you practice what you learn the more the
    brain reintegrates with movement that has been lost.  Function and joy return!
    And,  a new sense of self awareness comes into play allowing you to manage
    your own well being!  Thanks for reading and please fee free to contact
    me for groups sessions or personal training in somatics .    Pf  
 

 Welcome to Pf's blog!
     What I'd like to discuss is this concept of sensory motor amnesia. I'm
talking about a learning loss of how certain muscle groups respond and
how to restore their function.
      During our daily lives our sensory motor systems are continually responding
to stresses and trauma with specific muscular reflexes.  When these reflexes
are continually triggered and habituated day after day, or trauma from accidents or
stress are involved, involuntary muscle contractions can take place creating situations
whereby we can't relax.
     What do I mean by involuntary?  The learning part of your brain called the cortex is
responsible for all voluntary movement of the body.  It performs this important function
thru the sensory motor system of the body.   It is thru this system that we evolve from
helpless babies to masters of our universe.!  It distinquishes us from every other species
on the planet.  However, life can throw curveballs that can upset this delicate balance.
When this happens, we can lose some of that voluntary control to the older reptilian brain.
That part of our brain is there to protect us from danger.  So needless to say it has some
very important functions of its own. Sometimes things get mixed up however, and muscle
action is taken over there resulting in involuntary contraction and loss of functionality .
     Case in point,  low back pain.  Low back pain is generally the result of people being
called into action all the time day after day.  However, posture and trauma can also play
significant roles in low back pain. In Hanna Somatics the more general response is
referred to as the Green light reflex.  We initiated this reflex around 6mos of age
when we could lift our heads and begin to crawl. Fast forward to adulthood,
the alarm goes off, we are struggling in traffic to get to work, the boss wants you in his
office now and so on. The low back will tend to tighten on any of these attention getters.
Bring your awareness with you the next time any of these things arise, and check out
your response to them.
     While we are on the subject of awareness,  lets take a little test.  Make a fist and see
how long you can hold that fist.  30 sec.. 2min.. 5 min.. 10 min.. how about 24hrs / 7days a week!  
When muscles have become involuntarily contracted on some level this is the situation. 
It takes a lot of energy to maintain those contractions,  plus there is a  consistent buildup
of lactic acid.  Add daily stress to this and look what we can have.  Chronic pain, low energy,
mental and emotional stress, decreased functionality,  misalignment in moving with
gravity and potential congestion bearing down on the integrity of the body's systems.
     Hanna Somatics is about  helping individuals with sensory motor amnesia take control
of their bodies and regain lost function thru brain / body awareness training.  This is accomplished
by having a person become an active participant in the therapy sessions.  That person becomes
actively responsible for their own healing.  Additionally that person will receive specific somatic
movements to maintain the treatment and chart their own progress.
     Thanks for checking in and I hope it was worth your time.

    
                                                                  Pf


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