September 26, 2009

Hello,

Somatic education is a particular interest of mine. I have done Feldenkrais, Hanna Somatics, Body-Mind Centering, and Continuum, to name a few. I credit this somatic work as ending years of chronic lower back pain.

My Web site has articles about various forms of somatics. I also recommend the site Gravity Werks, where you can get downloadable Hanna Somatic Education lessons. Here's another article.

Somatic Education As a Way to End Pain, Speed Recovery, and Reduce Injuries

Everyone's initial reaction to insult and injury is the same: we tighten up. Some of us, however, release that reaction quickly; others of us retain it -- and suffer the effects mis-labeled as "aging" or "injury." This "tightening up" reaction is the secret origin of the loss of agility and the lengthening of recovery time that accompany aging and that bring many athletes' sports careers to a premature close.

What these effects have in common are habituated muscular tension, restricted movement, and chronic muscle fatigue.

What makes these effects mysterious is that people commonly think that if "nothing was broken," the injury wasn't "serious"; they ignore pain and changes of movement. Thus, people don't connect their injuries (and the neuromuscular protective reflexes triggered by injuries and stress) to gradual and cumulative functional changes in performance.

These functional changes persist because brain-conditioning doesn't diminish with age; as a form of learning, brain conditioning (residual "muscle memory" of injuries) tends to accumulate as we become "set in our ways" in reflexive muscular tension patterns. "Injuries" don't heal because they are not injuries; they are habituated reflex patterns that often outlive therapy or surgeries.

When muscles go into reflexive contraction from injuries, they generate metabolic waste products (lactic acid and others) on an ongoing basis, slowing recovery. Reflexive muscular contraction often becomes habituated. Habituated muscular contraction blocks circulation, slowing tissue regeneration. Habituated muscular muscular contractions lengthen recovery times.

So, to recover from athletic exertion and injuries, two things are necessary: to erase the conditioning affecting our brain and muscular system and to reclaim control of our own bodies. To do so is possible for nearly anyone, once they are shown how.

As part of a general, pre-warmup conditioning regimen, somatic exercises are functional exercises that improve movement and recovery time. Patterned movement maneuvers refresh bodily awareness and improve muscular responsiveness and coordination. Athletes can enhance their performance and reduce the likelihood of future injury.

Brain conditioning is a large part of aging. That is a large part of why pain and stiffness persists and gets worse, whatever part genetics may play. With somatic education, older athletes can improve their mobility, balance, and recovery times to younger standards. Improvements consistent with age-reversals of ten to twenty years are common.

Somatic education helps prevent sport and overuse injuries, reduces post-surgical pain, and speeds recovery. To clear up multiple old injures, clients typically need four to eight sessions of clinical somatic education for a definitive outcome. After that, new injuries can be cleared up more quickly, and self-maintenance (somatic exercises) can reduce the likelihood of future injury.

The approach has been used successfully in both hospital settings and private practices. Click here to see a self-treatment program to end back pain.

About the Author

Lawrence Gold is a long-time practitioner of clinical (Hanna method) somatic education who has presented at the New Mexico Council on Aging conference (2003) and at Esalen Institute. His articles have appeared in the American Journal of Pain Management (January, 1996, Vol. 6, no. 1, pg. 30) and The Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients (November, 1994, #136, pg. 1186). Lawrence Gold's blog.

More Somatic Resources

Gravity Werks
Somatics Educational Resources
Somatics on the Web
Somatics (in both English and German)