Thomas Hanna, a philosopher and movement educator, was the first to use the term somatics, which is now used as an umbrella concept for mind-body approaches that emphasize embodied awareness, self-sensing, movement, expression, and self-regulation. He also developed Hanna Somatic Education (HSE), a movement-based educational approach influenced by the Feldenkrais Method and the Alexander Technique. He was also deeply influenced by the burgeoning research into stress reactivity spearheaded by Hans Selye.
From this foundation he moved in his own direction of explicitly exploring 3 primary reflexive stress postures of the body and how to work with releasing them when they become chronic and lead to contraction and pain.
His term Sensory Motor Amnesia describes a “forgetting” that happens, an habituation of muscle contraction and a loss of the capacity to voluntarily release tension.
Somatics operates at the interface between the brain, nervous and myofascial systems via neuro-muscular re-education.
The movements, called pandiculations, train the brain to let go of sensory motor amnesia – habitual contraction patterns – and to restore voluntary control. These specialized set of movement patterns are unlike regular exercise as they targeting the brain’s motor cortex to affect change.
Pandiculations come naturally to us- they are that yawn, stiffen and expand impulse we have we wake up or get up from sitting too long. Hanna designed voluntary self-pandiculations based on this pattern.
It is effective for pain due to tight tense muscles and to address specific issues such as:
- Ongoing lower back and neck pain
- fibromyalgia
- idiopathic Scoliosis
- piriformis syndrome
- plantar fasciitis
- postural kyphosis
- sciatica
- TMJ disorders and many more
Clinical somatics or Hanna somatics also supplements all movement practices (e.g. yoga, running, dance) – bringing freedom of movement, fluidity…etc ( still to tighten this writing up)
