I remember reading Thomas Hanna's book in my late teens and doing the exercises for years with amazing results. I felt like I'd found a revolutionary cure at the time... Now I'm in my mid-thirties dealing with neck and shoulder stiffness/injuries, and decided to look online to discover new material about somatics. I'm so excited to get back into this practice with your videos and book Martha. Thank you so much for popularizing it again for a new generation!
What a wonderful story! Thomas Hanna's work is a game-changer for so many people. I know it was for me, which is why my vision is to popularize it again and make it a household word. I'm thrilled that you want to get back into it. Come to one of our in-person Fundamentals Courses (essentialsomatics.com/essential-somatics-fundamentals-course/) or find a certified ES-trained Clinical Somatic Educator near you (essentialsomatics.com/clinical-somatics-practitioners/). Tom Hanna asked his students to evolve his work, improve upon it, and take it out into the world. That's what I think we're doing at Essential Somatics, so come learn with us! And thank you so much for your very kind words. Best, Martha
Great video. I’m curious if it’s best to perform pandiculation exercises before or after strength training? Which would be more beneficial. Perhaps both?
It's best to pandiculate both before and after any kind of strength training. This movement practice PREPARES you to move in any activity. Think of it this way: Animals in the wild pandiculate about 40 times a day. Why? So they can always be connected to their sensory motor nervous system. For animals pandiculation is a reflex. For us we need to remind ourselves to let go of tension. Animals will always pandiculate before they go off to play and before they lie down to rest. When you pandiculate you are preparing your muscles for movement and then de-activating them and reducing any excess tension after you work out. Hopefully that makes sense.
Nice explanation, but it's not clear whether you are recommending head pattern number 2 at all times, as a general recommendation? When is head pattern number 1 (full flexion or full extension), advisable? Never? This seems like an important issue. Could you clarify please? If head pattern number 2 is what's recommended, that seems to lead to the conclusion that living in a startle response or a stuck green light reflex is a good thing, but that contradicts the basic premise of this whole work, doesn't it?
The answer is that it depends on which movement you're doing. You want to be able to do BOTH head patterns and allow the head/neck to follow the spine. The point of Somatic Movements (as taught by Essential Somatics, in the tradition of Thomas Hanna's work), you're specifically addressing sensory motor amnesia, which presents within the 3 stress reflexes. If you're stuck with forward head posture and you want to get your head back in line with your spine so you don't have neck pain, and the movement that helps you get there is the Flower - but you're having trouble allowing your head to move with your pelvis into and out of the red light reflex (chin up, pelvis up, center inward/shortened), then you've got something to learn. If you want to release neck pain that comes from an overly arched back, it's important to be able to allow your head/neck to go along with your spine in full flexion and full extension. You want choices. Your brain is going to reflexively take you into the red light, green light, and trauma reflexes at certain points in your life. You may even find yourself slouching at the wheel after a day of driving in heavy traffic, so you need strategies to restore optimum posture, alignment, and function. The key is being able to FEEL those full body patterns and VOLUNTARILY come out of them. You can only do that when you and your brain are in control of them, and the way to do that is through learning the Somatic Movements. Let me know if that helps your understanding and answers the question.
@@EssentialSomatics Hi Martha, Thanks for your careful attention to my question. Your clarification helps, but I wonder if I was clear in my question. There are three stress reflexes, but there's also the fully arched and the fully flexed positions, correct? Is this correct?: Green Light reflex: back arched, front of neck activated. Red Light reflex: belly and front of body activated, back of neck activated. Fully arched: back of body and back of neck both activated; fully flexed: front of body and front of neck activated. So my question is where do the fully arched and fully flexed positions come in? Should one practice going into them and pandiculating out of them, just as one does with the stress reflexes? And what's the ideal state? Pandiculating out of the "dark vise" of green and red light reflexes AND the fully flexed and fully arched positions? So that one can find one's own neutral and flexibly go into certain degrees of any and all of the four positions as intuitively needed? Sorry for the complicated description!
Can you recommend a therapist in NY, I tried somatics before but it always hurts my neck and never got rid of my twisted pelvis that affects my entire body. I injured my self years ago . I’ve recently had surgery because I have bilateral hip impingement and some arthritis even though I’m 29. I want to try this again but with a practitioner . Can somatic movement help someone whose had surgery for hip impingement . I’m all twisted with functional scoliosis , knee pain , and neck pain. This seems to be the answer but I don’t know how to tailor this to my self .
Yes, Clinical Somatics can help with everything you describe. I am two suggestions for practitioners and it's best if you email info@essentialsomatics.com so I can share their contact details with you. NY is a big place, so indicate exactly where you are located. One of our lead faculty lives in NJ and has an office in NYC. Another practitioner-in-training is in Brooklyn. I would recommend Gena Rho (the aforementioned practitioner - emergesomatics.com) because she has more experience. She's excellent. Many people can get a lot out of learning the movements on their own, yet MOST people need the help of a skilled Certified Clinical Somatic Educator who can work hands-on and focus on YOUR issues in particular. Hands-on clinical sessions confer more rapid results and offer you the chance to have someone watch and guide you. I hope this helps!
Thank you, very helpful. How many hours per day can a 65-year old woman with various muskoloskeletal problems practice the somatic exercises? She's very motivated and feels good doing the exercises, there's no strain involved. What is the maximum (hours per day) and what would be the minimum? Thank you for general guidelines!
I really can't accurately answer this question as I don't know this woman, nor her history or way of moving. I would say to everyone that more is not necessarily better. Remember that you are educating yourself and preparing your body to move well. I do two practices a day (AM & PM) and pandiculate whenever I'm feeling tight, even while standing or sitting. I always recommend working with a skilled practitioner who can confer more informed guidance to someone with various muskuloskeletal issues. They can work with this person through clinical lessons and somatic movements and tailor a practice that suits them. You can find our practitioners on our website here: essentialsomatics.com/clinical-somatics-practitioners/ I hope this helps!
Wow. Everyone should watch your videos. Thank you Martha!
You're so welcome! I'm glad they're helping you.
I remember reading Thomas Hanna's book in my late teens and doing the exercises for years with amazing results. I felt like I'd found a revolutionary cure at the time... Now I'm in my mid-thirties dealing with neck and shoulder stiffness/injuries, and decided to look online to discover new material about somatics. I'm so excited to get back into this practice with your videos and book Martha. Thank you so much for popularizing it again for a new generation!
What a wonderful story! Thomas Hanna's work is a game-changer for so many people. I know it was for me, which is why my vision is to popularize it again and make it a household word.
I'm thrilled that you want to get back into it. Come to one of our in-person Fundamentals Courses (essentialsomatics.com/essential-somatics-fundamentals-course/) or find a certified ES-trained Clinical Somatic Educator near you (essentialsomatics.com/clinical-somatics-practitioners/). Tom Hanna asked his students to evolve his work, improve upon it, and take it out into the world. That's what I think we're doing at Essential Somatics, so come learn with us! And thank you so much for your very kind words.
Best,
Martha
This was very helpful yet simple. Thank you. I've been struggling with this.
You're very welcome!
Excellent explanation!
Thank you!
Very helpful!
Excellent! I'm so glad I can help.
Great video. I’m curious if it’s best to perform pandiculation exercises before or after strength training? Which would be more beneficial. Perhaps both?
It's best to pandiculate both before and after any kind of strength training. This movement practice PREPARES you to move in any activity.
Think of it this way:
Animals in the wild pandiculate about 40 times a day. Why? So they can always be connected to their sensory motor nervous system. For animals pandiculation is a reflex. For us we need to remind ourselves to let go of tension.
Animals will always pandiculate before they go off to play and before they lie down to rest. When you pandiculate you are preparing your muscles for movement and then de-activating them and reducing any excess tension after you work out.
Hopefully that makes sense.
Excellent, thanks for the clear explanation, 😊
You're welcome! This is a missing link for a lot of people in their practice.
Very helpful! Thank you💚
You're very welcome!
Thank you!
You're very welcome!
Nice explanation, but it's not clear whether you are recommending head pattern number 2 at all times, as a general recommendation? When is head pattern number 1 (full flexion or full extension), advisable? Never? This seems like an important issue. Could you clarify please? If head pattern number 2 is what's recommended, that seems to lead to the conclusion that living in a startle response or a stuck green light reflex is a good thing, but that contradicts the basic premise of this whole work, doesn't it?
The answer is that it depends on which movement you're doing. You want to be able to do BOTH head patterns and allow the head/neck to follow the spine. The point of Somatic Movements (as taught by Essential Somatics, in the tradition of Thomas Hanna's work), you're specifically addressing sensory motor amnesia, which presents within the 3 stress reflexes.
If you're stuck with forward head posture and you want to get your head back in line with your spine so you don't have neck pain, and the movement that helps you get there is the Flower - but you're having trouble allowing your head to move with your pelvis into and out of the red light reflex (chin up, pelvis up, center inward/shortened), then you've got something to learn.
If you want to release neck pain that comes from an overly arched back, it's important to be able to allow your head/neck to go along with your spine in full flexion and full extension.
You want choices. Your brain is going to reflexively take you into the red light, green light, and trauma reflexes at certain points in your life. You may even find yourself slouching at the wheel after a day of driving in heavy traffic, so you need strategies to restore optimum posture, alignment, and function. The key is being able to FEEL those full body patterns and VOLUNTARILY come out of them. You can only do that when you and your brain are in control of them, and the way to do that is through learning the Somatic Movements.
Let me know if that helps your understanding and answers the question.
@@EssentialSomatics Hi Martha, Thanks for your careful attention to my question. Your clarification helps, but I wonder if I was clear in my question. There are three stress reflexes, but there's also the fully arched and the fully flexed positions, correct? Is this correct?: Green Light reflex: back arched, front of neck activated. Red Light reflex: belly and front of body activated, back of neck activated. Fully arched: back of body and back of neck both activated; fully flexed: front of body and front of neck activated. So my question is where do the fully arched and fully flexed positions come in? Should one practice going into them and pandiculating out of them, just as one does with the stress reflexes? And what's the ideal state? Pandiculating out of the "dark vise" of green and red light reflexes AND the fully flexed and fully arched positions? So that one can find one's own neutral and flexibly go into certain degrees of any and all of the four positions as intuitively needed? Sorry for the complicated description!
Can you recommend a therapist in NY, I tried somatics before but it always hurts my neck and never got rid of my twisted pelvis that affects my entire body. I injured my self years ago . I’ve recently had surgery because I have bilateral hip impingement and some arthritis even though I’m 29. I want to try this again but with a practitioner . Can somatic movement help someone whose had surgery for hip impingement . I’m all twisted with functional scoliosis , knee pain , and neck pain. This seems to be the answer but I don’t know how to tailor this to my self .
Yes, Clinical Somatics can help with everything you describe. I am two suggestions for practitioners and it's best if you email info@essentialsomatics.com so I can share their contact details with you. NY is a big place, so indicate exactly where you are located.
One of our lead faculty lives in NJ and has an office in NYC. Another practitioner-in-training is in Brooklyn. I would recommend Gena Rho (the aforementioned practitioner - emergesomatics.com) because she has more experience. She's excellent.
Many people can get a lot out of learning the movements on their own, yet MOST people need the help of a skilled Certified Clinical Somatic Educator who can work hands-on and focus on YOUR issues in particular. Hands-on clinical sessions confer more rapid results and offer you the chance to have someone watch and guide you. I hope this helps!
Thank you, very helpful.
How many hours per day can a 65-year old woman with various muskoloskeletal problems practice the somatic exercises?
She's very motivated and feels good doing the exercises, there's no strain involved.
What is the maximum (hours per day) and what would be the minimum?
Thank you for general guidelines!
I really can't accurately answer this question as I don't know this woman, nor her history or way of moving.
I would say to everyone that more is not necessarily better. Remember that you are educating yourself and preparing your body to move well. I do two practices a day (AM & PM) and pandiculate whenever I'm feeling tight, even while standing or sitting.
I always recommend working with a skilled practitioner who can confer more informed guidance to someone with various muskuloskeletal issues. They can work with this person through clinical lessons and somatic movements and tailor a practice that suits them. You can find our practitioners on our website here: essentialsomatics.com/clinical-somatics-practitioners/
I hope this helps!
Outstanding.
Thank you!