SOMATICS

The word Somatics covers a whole breadth of movement, breathwork and meditation practices that teach us to focus on and experience our Soma (body) from the inside out. Somatics is a movement modality developed by Thomas Hannah to teach the body to find its natural equilibrium.

I teach Somatic Movement as a standalone therapeutic practice to help release and relax tight muscles so that the body can experience improved functional movement. I also combine yoga and Somatic Movement to enable the body to lengthen and strengthen in a balanced way. You do not have to be able to do yoga to do Somatics.

My journey to Somatics

For many years I suffered with debilitating back, shoulder and neck pain with a need for repeated visits to the chiropractor, physio or osteopath. As you can imagine, the costs began to spiral as I routinely found that I had to keep going back for treatment because the same pain would return, no matter how carefully I exercised. This prompted a growing need in me to find a way that I could ease pain myself whenever I had a flare-up and eventually build a stronger body.

After trying an array of different therapies, I discovered Somatics. I was attracted to the simplicity and focus of the movements and the profound effects they immediately had on my body. I began to notice improvements in my posture, my walking, the awareness of my body, my breathing and more. Until one day, the frequent pain I’d been having was just not there any more! I have the odd flare-up when I’ve overdone my exercise, but they really are few and far between. Somatics has not only given me a new lease of life, but it has also given me the tools to self-manage tension in my body. I wanted to share these tools and the freedom they create, so I became a Somatics teacher.

Somatic Movement Sessions

Somatic Movement sessions are generally run as six week courses either in groups or on a 1-2-1 basis. During the six weeks you will learn where your body moves freely and where it does not. The timeframe can be extended at no extra cost depending upon whether you need more time to get to grips with the movements or if your schedule doesn’t allow for six consecutive weeks.

You will be given the tools (Somatic Movements and/or breath work) to help address these imbalances in your body. The Somatic movements provided are combined in a way to best suit what your body needs at the time. For the best results, you will need to have the motivation to practice the movements given to you on a regular basis.

Some of the conditions that can benefit from Somatics are:

• Back pain
• Neck and shoulder pain
• Hip pain
• Headaches
• Poor posture
• Chronic pain/tension.