Short Course Somatic Movement Education

This course is designed for practitioners looking to enhance the Somatic dimension of their work with clients. Somatics is a mindful technique, which facilitates greater mind-body integration, ease of movement and freedom in the body.

In this course, you will learn a series of Somatic Movement sequences. You will learn how to prescribe the most appropriate Somatic exercises with a distinct somatic approach to teaching exercise. There will be focus on exercises for specific injuries where the use of Somatic Movement and an understanding of Neurophysiological concepts can target the release and re-education of inappropriate movement patterns.

This Somatic Movement Education Unit explores the neuromuscular responses to emotional states and the knowledge and joy that emerge from the body’s renewed awareness of itself. Chronic muscle contraction patterns created by past experiences are unconsciously retained. Thomas Hanna named this tendency sensory-motor amnesia (SMA). Somatics enables the individual to use the brain to overcome SMA and the negative effects of stress, trauma and aging. It empowers us to hear more clearly the wisdom of our bodies.

Somatic movement approaches are particularly effective for rehabilitation, balance, and coordination, especially with elderly clients 
or those who have experienced interruption to functional movement patterns through overuse or injury. The course will also demonstrate how useful Somatic movement is for addressing motor cortex dysfunction.