Learning to Move Better to Feel Better

Did you know that from birth to age two, infants begin to explore and discover the world around them and gain knowledge from their senses and motor movements? They call this the "sensorimotor" stage of development.

Obviously I'm well past that stage of my life but I'm not beyond learning how to move better to feel better. As we age I'm sure you can relate to the aches and pains that may come with overuse, repetitive movements, injuries and stress. We often see the return of niggling discomfort in the areas of decades-old sprains and strains that creep back into our bodies and settle in for the long haul.

Although I've taught movement for over 24 years, I am not immune to the side effects of overuse from teaching too many classes. I developed issues including plantar fasciitis, tendonitis, hip bursitis, herniated discs, and more. For more than 10 years, I had a massage every 12 days. I was unable to endure more than 30 minutes of bodywork due to the sensitivity and discomfort in my body. During the summers, I would take a break from teaching but not from my continued efforts to reduce my ongoing issues.

When I discovered Essential Somatics (the lineage of Hanna Somatics) in 2013, it shifted how I dealt with the on-going discomfort in my body. It was a game changer for me. I had participated in a three day somatic workshop, and noted by day 3 my stressed posture had completely softened. My RMT remarked that my shirt was not “wrinkling in front of my shoulders” when I showed up for my regular appointment. He would gauge my stress levels whenever he saw my posture, which I later learned was typical of the Red Light Reflex. I felt much more open across my chest, stood a bit taller and my breathing was freer. There had been such a tangible result and interestingly, there had been no “hands-on” in the workshop. The shift happened through the movements and technique of “pandiculation” that somatics uses.

Looking back, I had been struggling with the same issues, week after week, year after year and although I’d get short-term relief, I always ended up back at square one. That shifted with somatics. My exposure to this gentle practice shifted my professional work and in 2016 I began training to be a Clinical Somatic Educator. Most notably I had weaned off my bi-weekly massages to 3 times in a period of 12 months. My “team” now consisted mostly of me, myself and I.

“Somatics” is the field of movement education that teaches you how to move well. It addresses the connection between the body and the mind and improves your ability to be aware of how you feel in your body. It's a modality of neuromuscular movement re-education that goes right to the root cause of most chronic muscular pain ---- the brain. It is the only method of pain relief and sensory-motor training that targets the condition of Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA).

By learning to develop my ability to sense and realize the motor control of muscles—my brain learned to relax my muscles to find more ease and efficiency in my movement. I began moving from the "inside out" and finding with "more brain" (conscious awareness), I have more gain (in my physical wellness).

Over decades of teaching yoga, I saw hundreds of clients who wore their shoulders on their ears, and essentially were unaware of this ongoing posture they were presenting. Their brain had set this position as their “norm” and they were dealing with on-going neck and shoulder tension. Many of us are unable to connect the dots between our habitual patterns of movement and our physical discomfort.

If you've got chronic muscular tension, pain or bi-product ailments from muscles that have forgotten they can relax, you may want to give somatics practice a try. Although it’s a wonderful experience to get down on the floor to do a somatics practice, it’s not necessary to practice somatics. The movements can be adapted to seated postures and in cases of extreme pain or discomfort, the technique of motor planning (imagining) can be effective.

If any of this sounds familiar or you are curious to learn more, please reach out and we can discuss how somatics can increase your mobility and decrease your pain levels to enjoy what your life has to offer.