Looking Back on 2023

Hello Somas,

I thought I’d take a few lines of your time by sharing a few words on this year. Looking back to this time last year, I was looking forward to spending Christmas with both my parents (although they were divorced they had always remained friends and we were all going to be together) and I was excitedly waiting for the January issue of OmYoga magazine to be published as I was on the front cover! My Dad was always encouraging and supporting me and my business.

This Christmas will be very different since my Dad passed away in June. This has been the most difficult year of my life, watching a strong minded and independent man suffer a severe stroke, he had three months of struggle. His courage is truly inspiring to me and it was a privilege to be with him throughout and in his last days and hours.

Throughout that period and for the rest of the year I was and still am, so grateful for all the support and understanding from my students, clients and colleagues, you are all important to me and keep me inspired to teach and share my passion for Somatics. Somatics is really really important to me, to teach it and share it. My personal practice has been helpful in my grieving process too.

I think that’s why I became so emotional at the end of last Thursday’s class, (it’s now in the library titled “Rewind to Relax”) it felt like another ending (albeit a temporary one, but it felt there was more to it this year) and the reading I shared by Khalil Gibran felt fitting, where for a moment you feel you have to hold your breath and gather yourself for another milestone.

Looking to next year I have some exciting things in my diary working with my teacher Martha Peterson and I am planning retreat days and a longer retreat into the diary, so keep a look out.

I am looking forward to the break and I’ve been getting into the spirit of the season, here’s my lovely Mum and I at Belton House recently.

Sending love to you and wishes for a happy Christmas & healthy New Year.

Liz 💕🙏🏻🎄

Understanding Your Posture Part 3 - Avoiding Hip & Knee Replacements

“When we consider that the human body has almost 800 muscles, and that all of them are well stocked with sensory cells, we can appreciate why our wellbeing depends on sensory information fed back to our brains by our muscles. ”

— Thomas Hanna

In this, the last of this three part blog, I’m hoping you’ll be able to spot the signs of what we refer to in Somatics as the “Trauma Reflex” and how regaining control of this reflex will help you avoid (amongst other things) hip and knee replacements.

Whereas the Green Light Reflex relates to the back of the body, the Red Light the front of the body, the Trauma Reflex relates to the sides, creating a tilt, affecting walking and balance. The muscles in the side of the body, in particular, the waist muscles contract when we swerve to avoid something such as a side-on car collision or a blow, avoidance of being hurt or a fall, when we lose our balance, slip or go over on an ankle.

When the waist muscles contract, not only does this pull the side of the ribcage and shoulder down, but it also hitches up the hip, creating an imbalance in the pelvis; ever been told you have one leg shorter than the other? Could well be that you actually have waist muscles tighter on one side, creating the illusion of a shorter leg.

How does this culminate in hip or knee surgery? If the hip is higher, it compresses and pulls up the femur into the hip socket, causing pain, tightness in the groin and wear and tear on the hip socket, it also keeps the same side knee bent and holds the muscles around the hip and waist tight, restricting movement, it also means that you will weight bear more onto that side and this is compounded when walking as the foot has further to land, further stressing the knee and hip joints.

In addition any pain, breaks or surgery to a leg or foot results in the need to avoid weight bearing on that side and leaning to the opposite side, tighten the waist muscles (and back). Surgery and breaks to an arm, if pinned or strapped can tighten the muscles around the arm and shoulder, pulling the shoulder down, overtime this can limit range of movement, making reaching up and behind impossible one of the contributing factors of a “frozen shoulder”. Everyday actions and habits will also contribute to one hip being higher or a shoulder lower, twisting the body, contributing to neck, shoulder, back, hip and knee pain, you can read more about that how how this can culminate in Scoliosis, you can read more about that in this blog here

How to Regain Control, Improve Posture and Reduce Pain

Do you recognise any of the three reflex pattens in you? I’d be surprised if you did not have an element of one, if not all three to some degree, this is because we are sensory beings. What we do, feel, think, see and hear filters though our nervous system and our muscles contract in response. Repeated enough those muscles will hold tight and become “banked” into the lower part of the brain - the sub cortex, meaning we are no longer in full control of our muscles or movement.

Somatics consists of neuromuscular movements that re-educates your brain to muscle, bringing your muscles back online and in control in the higher part of your brain, the sensory motor cortex. Not by stretching or strengthening (these techniques do not educate your brain to let go of the holding of the tight muscles, in fact they can actually strengthen the pattern of holding - often making you feel more restricted and increase your pain).

In Somatics we use a technique called “Pandiculation” - you begin to ragain control by making your tight muscles tighter than they already are - this sends a strong signal to the sensory motor cortex, like flicking on a light switch, then releasing that contraction slowly which relaxes the muscle followed by a pause to integrate that change. It’s a simple, natural and effective technique.

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In Class This week - The Thighs Have it!

Focusing on releasing the quads, hamstrings, outer hip and IT band, for better balance, stability and and lightness in walking.

Last Weeks’ Class - Looking around with more Ease

This is now in the On-Demand Library and you can access it here

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Did you know?

If you are not a Founder Member and or cannot attend my live online classes you can still access the on-demand library with this membership here.

If you have any questions, feedback or comments, please get int touch - liz@intelligent-movement.co.uk

Liz 💕🙏🏻

UNDERSTANDING YOUR POSTURE PART 2 - THE PHYSICAL SIGNS OF ANXIETY

“It’s wonderful to meditate, but if you meditate with a stiff neck, you’ll never feel peace, but if you have a soft neck, you’ll have peace. ”

— Thomas Hanna

In this second part of understanding your posture, my aim is for you to understand why an increase in anxiety or worry can, amongst other things contribute to tension in the neck . In Somatic Movement Education terms we refer to this as the “Red Light Reflex” it’s also known as the “Startle Reflex”

Because our nervous system is so inextricably linked to our muscles, when we encounter a fearful situation we instinctively tighten the muscles in the front of our bodies. Think of hearing a loud bang or explosion, if we heard this, we would flinch in seconds and a cascade of muscles tighten from our , eyes, jaw, neck, downwards through our torso, all the way down into our feet. But this reflex isn’t just triggered so quickly, it can build up slowly through sustained periods of worry, fear, grief and anxiety. It’s a form of protection that goes back to millennia, something we need but not long term due to the increase in hormones and their snowball effect on our mental & emotional states, breathing, digestion and cognition but also on our posture. In reality, this is how hundreds of thousands of us have habituated this reflex, over time. It contributes to stiffness and pain in the neck, shoulders and back pain. This reflex tightens the abdominal muscles, affecting breathing, digestion and blood pressure.

There is another way we come to adopt this posture, what we do and how we do it. Sitting for a long time, head towards a screen or down toward a device or reading, driving, spending time slouched on the sofa or doubled over in pain and exercises that tone and tighten the abs and pecs, hunching and rounding shoulders, sitting for hours like this tightens abs and hip flexors, a tucked pelvis. The culmination of this reflex creates a rounded stooped posture the one familiar with ageing along with a shuffled walk. I don’t know about you, but that is not how I want to age.   

Problems resulting from a habituated Red light reflex are increased anxiety, back pain (your back muscles are continually working to take the weight of your head. This also creates neck and shoulder tension and pain and additional pressure on knees as they bend. Issues such as TMJ, tinnitus, shallow breathing, abdominal discomfort and respiratory problems. A habituated Red Light Reflex rotates joints inwards, creating misalignments in hips, knees and shoulders. 

Lots of New classes In the Library and No live classes the week of 7th March

As I’m away training there’s no live classes the week of the 7th March, so I’ve added two Zoom recordings, this one which is from last spring, a fun one that explores rolling over and into sitting with ease and last week’s class which is the super simple movements for shoulders and hips for free-er walking. Plus, there is a new class in the Short & Sweet library. And my Beginner’s Series is almost ready. The “pilot” is now in the Courses section and for Founder Members you can access it now. I have lots of tweaking yet to do, so it is not ready to share and promote to newbies. But please feel free to take a look, there are six short classes to follow in there, so you have plenty of classes to explore whilst I am away.

Keep practising and I’ll see your Soma soon.

With love

Liz 🙏🏻💕

Understanding Your posture Part 1 - The Physical Signs of Stress

“People are always amazed to discover that they are doing things they are unaware of. This is because adults proudly hold on to the illusion that they are always conscious of what they are doing.”

— Thomas Hanna

In this first of a three part blog, I’m going to explain how understanding your posture reveals, what is known in Somatics as reflex responses to the ongoing demands to modern day life. Thomas Hanna codified them as the Green, Red and Trauma Reflexes. Once you learn about them, I’m hoping you have a better understanding of how stress is a contributing factor to muscular pain and tension.

In this blog I will explain the Green Light Reflex and it’s association with stress and how chronic stress re-shapes you. The last of this three part blog I’ll explain how the Somatic movements address these reflexes, improving your posture and empower you to being one step ahead of your stress and tension.

Green Light Reflex 

 An habituation of this reflex might initially appear as “good posture” and one you might adopt when you “sit up straight”, it pulls your shoulders back, head forwards and contracts your back muscles. It relates to the “Landau Reflex”, a developmental reflex, where at around 5 months old , babies, when lying on their tummies begin to lift their heads, this action contracts their back muscles and a synergystic response of also tensing neck, shoulder, buttocks and hamstrings. This reflex is an essential part of progressing up to standing and eventually walking. It is a reflex of action, fight and fleeing.

Once we’ve mastered getting up and walking, this reflex is then triggered every time you feel a "call to action". Consider the number of times, you feel under pressure at work, deadlines, to-do lists, running late and the demands of the responsibilities to children or elderly parents, life in general. Consider also the mental impact of what you witness , feel and hear, these last two years, waiting for “whatever next” is a perfect example of how our muscles literally absorb all of our experiences.

This reflex also becomes habituated through physical stress. Any repetitive action where you have to “put your back into it” carry heavy loads, reach up and overhead, or stand up straight like a soldier or dancer creates a tilted pelvis and arched lower back. Misalignments in joints, shoulders and hips that rotate outwards, all contribute to issues such as back, neck and shoulder pain. 

 If habituated, this reflex tightens the back, arching it arched, tensing the shoulders, pulling them back and up and head juts forward, contributing to conditions such as sciatica, lower back pain, neck and shoulder pain, herniated discs and jaw pain. It also keeps your nervous system in the fight and flight mode increasing cortisol and adrenalin, wreaking havoc with your sleep, elevate blood pressure, heart rate and cognition.

This reflex, in our very early life was one for growth, mobility & developmental milestones as well as maturation of the brain, can then become one of hindrance and pain. Somatics offers a simple solution tothi’s and to get you started, this Green Light Reflex, lesson in my on-demand is a good place to begin.

In my next blog, you’ll learn about how long term anxiety and worry trigger what we call the “Red Light Reflex”

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Coming up in class this week

Following on from last week’s class (now in the library here), which was adapted from Thom Hanna’s “Delicate Back” series, we will be continuing with the same theme, and be exploring side-lying movements for the shoulders that increase ease and comfort in the upper back, neck and shoulders. You can join me by booking here.

Thank you for reading.

I look forward to seeing your Soma soon.

Liz 💕🙏🏻

How your Brain Benefits from Somatics

“... movement with attention will change how our brains put it all together. Our human destiny, if we’re to be vital and alive and healthy, is to keep creating those opportunities for change and growth by choosing over and over again, to bring movement and attention to all that we do. ”

— Anat Baniel

It Ain’t What You Do, It’s the Way that You Do It!

Somatics not only teaches you how to regain control over muscles that have become habitually tight (which improves your posture and flexibility) but it is also extremely beneficial for your brain health too. They key to this is not only through the Pandiculation technique but also in the way you move, this comes down to awareness, attentiveness and pace, this stimulates not only the sensory motor cortex, but other areas of your brain too.

Most of our daily movements are habitual, as if we are on auto pilot and the majority of exercise classes likewise; even many Yoga classes have become “Hokey Cokey” style. This way of moving does not produce new neural connections and can keep you not only limited in your movement possibilities but also in your outlook, mental and emotional states too.

In Somatics you are invited to really sense what we are doing, feel your way through the movements, which takes awareness and attentiveness and forms the basis of Pandiculation.

Our brains love variety and challenge (even if we, consciously don’t). We are so used to moving quickly, repetitively or with force that this takes little skill. Slowing down challenges you by requiring more control in your movements, that way, your brain has to co-ordinate and organise your movements and this is what creates the new connections our brains so need to stay alert and nimble.

Do Something Different

Did you know that the primitive and early development movements are what matures our brains? Wiggling, rocking, rolling, learning to crawl, these movements not only stimulate the brain to master being upright and ready for walking they also play an essential part in integrating reflexes that determine our cognition, behaviour and emotions. I learned this through the Rhythmic Movement Method and I will sometimes share these movements in class as they are also an excellent and simple way of releasing stress and anxiety.

The other way to stimulate new neural pathways is to do something different. Our brains thrive of novel movements too, figuring out how to do do something completely different, this requires a slow approach, attention and repetition with awareness. Last week’s class, “Unwinding the Belly is NOW IN THE LIBRARY does just this. It focuses on small, intricate movements to release tension in the abdominal muscles, which when tight restricts your breathing, digestion & elimination and contributes to stooped posture . You can access it here

Coming up in Class This Week

This week I’m going back to my Yoga roots and staying with the “belly” theme and exploring a Yoga pose called “Revolved Belly Pose” It’s a twist and we’ll explore this with a gentle and attentive approach.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and any insights, so please feel free to comment.

Liz 🙏🏻💕

Somatics for Scoliosis

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One of the most striking features of Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA) is that we are unconscious of muscle contraction while it is going on. It is a startling experience to discover that we are actively doing something without knowing it.”

— Thomas Hanna

Scoliosis can be a genetic condition that begins in childhood or develops later in life due to muscular imbalances as a response to injury and avoidance of pain. What happens is a tilt to one side known as a “C” shaped curve or an “S” shaped curve where both the lower and upper spine are curved in the opposite direction. One shoulder can be lower, head tilted as well as the pelvis giving the appearance of one leg shorter than the other. The affects of scoliosis are not just pain, it affects gait and breathing too.

You might expect that the injury would be something dramatic, like a broken leg, but every day occurrences like injections, bee stings and burns trigger what we refer to as the “Trauma Reflex”. Falls, car collisions and surgery all trigger this neuromuscular response of protection and avoidance.

But there is another consideration as to how we come to have a curve in the spine and that is the slow build up of habituation as a result of actions and movements that we make everyday that shorten the waist muscles and ribcage creating the imbalance in our spine, head, shoulders and pelvis.

Notice when you stand do you favour one leg, if so notice if that favoured side’s hip slides up, have a feel of your waist muscles, are they tight on that favoured side? How about when you sit, do you lean onto one buttock more, or do you curl up on the sofa, always the same way? Do you sit one leg crossed over the other? Notice how these sitting habits tighten your waist muscles. Have you balanced a toddler on your hip? This too, if repeated often will cause a tilt in your pelvis and tighten the waist muscles.

When I’m working at my laptop, I catch myself leaning onto one elbow when I’m studying something close up on screen, this not only pulls my ribs down, but pulls the hip up too, tightening my waist muscles. Think about how you sleep too.

What about your sports and hobbies? Consider golf, tennis, I once worked with a client with hip pain, who had been a hurdler at school and University. I could see her right hip was higher and her right waist muscles were shorter and tighter. Even our “handedness” creates repetitive pulls in our ribs and shoulders pulling down on one side. Sewing, painting baking even and the one thing we probably all do too much of is texting and scrolling on our phones, catch yourself the next time you are on your phone are you leaning in some way, is there an imbalance in your shoulders to look at your phone, then consider how many times a day, a week you might do that. This will give you an insight into how, through habituation SMA develops.

The Somatic approach for Scoliosis is to first focus on releasing the muscles in the waist, by the technique of Pandiculation. The waist muscles attach the pelvis to the ribs, if these muscles are tight, the pelvis hikes up on one side and pulls the ribs (and shoulder) down, creating the “C” shape of the spine.

You can learn to release these muscles with me in person or online or join my online group classes.

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New in the On-Demand Library

Last week’s class “Deep Dive into Arch & Flatten and Arch & Curl” which releases tension, stress and anxiety left students with a deep sense of peace and relaxation. It’s a back to basics class and a great place to start if you are new to this practice. You can access it here

This week in Class and News

In class this week we’ll be exploring twisting to untwist. As part of the trauma reflex we can be stuck in a twist, one shoulder being more forward and likewise a twist in the pelvis, we’ll be going deeper into these patterns to release them.

My Beginner’s Series is almost ready. Founder Members will receive free access to this and make use of the step by step instructions for each movements as well as the new six short videos. Please do tell all your friends and family about this course, it will be a good health investment at £30.

Are you Sleeping with the Enemy?

“Sleep is the golden chain that binds health & our bodies together”

— Thomas Dekker

Have you ever wondered why, when you wake up your body feels sore, tense and achey? You might still feel tired, exhausted even after a good night’s sleep? Even after your evening ritual of a bath, stretches, pain relief creams, meds or herbal night-time remedy the tension in your neck or back pain is there when you open your eyes, or it may be keeping you awake.

When there is tension or pain, it normally means that the muscles have learned to become tight through repetitive movement, feeling or thought. Like all learned skills, they become “banked” in the sub cortex of your brain. For our daily tasks this is beneficial, like eating, speaking and walking etc and allows us to move through our day without thinking and relearning these skills. With painful tight muscles or repeated stress this is not the case. Because, just like when you wake up and you do not need to re-learn how to walk to the bathroom, your sub cortex also holds on to those tight hip flexors that became so due to hours of sitting. Just like it learned to hold your back muscles tight, after every time your nervous system felt under pressure. Your brain thinks it is being efficient and helpful. So this is how we can end up living and sleeping with the enemy, but what we want is our brain to be our ally, there for us when we move, to contract our muscles effectively and efficiently when and to relax them afterwards especially when we need to sleep.

So, if you notice you wake with the same tension every morning, give Somatics a try, it will be your ally to combat daily tension, chronic pain and stress.

In Class This Week

I am going back to basics to explore variations on Arch and Flatten and Arch & Curl. Inspired by a class I took recently, it reminded me how effective these "bread and butter movements are for cultivating a more balanced posture, comfort and equanimity.

New in the Library

Is last week’s class “Glorious Glutes” I heard it had helped many students with hip and groin pain to improved balance and gait. Want to give it a go? You can access the class here.

I look forward to seeing your Soma soon

Liz 🙏🏻💕

Feeling Stuck & Sluggish? Then Get Moving!

“Nothing happens until something moves”

— Albert Einstein

Happy New Year Somas!

I love Einstein’s quote and the picture above, because I was feeling, as 2021 came to a close, I was in need of something to happen, you know, that “ants in your pants” kind of feeling?

Do you ever feel like that? I find December is a bit of a no man’s land, especially the week between Christmas and New Year, I feel almost as if I’m waiting for something to happen, waiting for New Year to arrive and to start over again.

Even though I’d been feeling like this I pulled myself out of a sluggish state (a combo of the indulgence of the season & a heavy head cold that left me feeling as if I was underwater for two weeks and had just come up for air… as an aside I am so grateful for my Somatics practice, easing the stiffness that comes with a cold, which is why I recorded the video below. I’d love to know if you found it helpful?

So, getting back to work the week between Christmas and NY, recording classes sprung me back into action, giving me more ideas for the Beginner’s Series and for my business. In essence what I’m trying to share with you is that movement that is mindful and invokes clarity and ease, also re-ignites and inspires.

If you are in need of inspiration, take the class below or the 21 Day Charity Challenge and see what else changes for you and if you know of anyone in need of starting Somatics, my step by step online series will be available mid January, so please share this blog to help them on their way to finding more ease and inspiration.

Coming up Next Week in Class

A Re-boot for the Glutes, these glorious muscles play a key role in our gait in walking, from the moment our heel strikes the ground, to support and stabilising as we momentarily balance on one foot.

Hope to see you in class next week!

Liz 😊🙏🏻

Are you Ready for the 21 Day - "Daily Cat Stretch" Somatic Movement Charity Challenge?

“…if we are intelligently aware of our bodies, and if we use positive countermeasures such as Somatic Exercises to improve our bodily self regulation, the presumed “inevitable effects of ageing” will by and large, not occur. ”

— Thomas Hanna

Charity Challenge - 21 days of The “Daily Cat Stretch”

As mentioned in my previous Blog “Future Proof Your Body with Somatic Movements” The Daily Cat Stretch was an important part of the work of Thomas Hanna. What was Thom trying to convey through this method of movement education? Why was he so passionate about practising this sequence every day? Yes, of course to help maintain mobility and flexibility and lessen the effects of ageing, but deeper than this was his strong belief in self empowerment and autonomy and less reliance on outside therapy or medication and or surgery, especially in the management of chronic muscle pain and tension.

“We are capable of far more than we believe ourselves to be” Thomas Hanna

So, want to take this Charity Challenge to see just how good you can feel with a daily Somatics practice? This challenge will include

• A 30 minute guided video of the eight movements.

• Videos of each movement.

• A longer length video from the Zoom library.

The Daily challenge is to set aside just 30 minutes to practice the “Daily Cat Stretch”. If you are newer to Somatics, set aside more time to go over the videos for each movement, which go into more detail for you. The longer video guides you through this sequence, again in more detail bringing it all together. The 30 minute lesson shows how easily you can practice Somatics daily. Your challenge is, can you do this over 21 consecutive days?

The profits from the challenge will go to Lincoln Community Larder, at a time of year when donations are needed more than ever. Challenge content will be available from the 1st December.

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In Class this Week:- Live Tuesday Class at 10 am & Friday Night Nidra on the 3rd.

Last of my weekly classes until 4th January, Tuesday’s class I’ll be taking you through a fabulous movement called Rope-pull, freeing up the shoulders, ribcage and pelvis.

New in the On-Demand Library

Sensing the Diagonals from last week is now in there, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Look out for new additions too, as there are still some in my archives to make it in there. And of course you’ll still have the Charity Challenge to keep both your mind and body moving intelligently!

Are you Putting up with Your Pain & Tension?

“Ultimately, we become aware of most of what is going on within us mainly through the muscles.”

— Moshe Feldenkrais

Moshe Feldenkrais is most probably the reason why Thom Hanna went on to create his movement education method of Somatics. They both knew that our muscles (and posture) literally reflected all of our life’s experiences and with an increased ability to turn our focus inward (and not just on the pain) we could learn simple ways to alleviate pain, improve movement and be more emotionally and mentally resilient.

The responses from last week’s class, reaffirms to me the importance and efficacy of their work and beliefs. I had responses to say the class had helped with a range of issues, from tight hips, sore knees to high anxiety. And so in response to last week’s class I am recording a shorter class of this which I will then create into a 21 day Daily Cat Stretch challenge. Are you up for this? All profits of this challenge will go to the Lincoln Community Larder, this will be ready to go from 1st December.

I feel we are the lucky ones, to have discovered Somatics and have this amazing practice to help ourselves, but there are many many millions of people who simply put up with their pain and or stress and resign themselves to it, we know it does not have to be that way and that’s why I am committed to keep spreading the Somatic word which is one of the reasons I made my library of classes and classes available online. To encourage newbies, I’m also recording a Beginner’s Series which will be ready in January.

Here’s a recent example from Linda of how my online library of classes has helped her;-

Well, I am delighted that after so long without your classes, I finally signed up and have thoroughly enjoyed some classes from your library. I had forgotten the difference your classes make to my body and although I could tell I have had restricted movement in so many areas for so long, I guess I just put up with it…..I felt like a new woman (well almost lol) after the first one, totally unbelievable!! Nice to be back seeing and hearing your voice...I do hope you are well Liz, you have done an amazing job producing such a service on line, I am sure you had some sleepless nights, but I do hope it is all working really well for you.

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Coming up in This Week’s Class…

After last week’s class, I asked my students which movements they felt really created change for them and some said all and some felt it was from the twisting and rotational movements. The basis of these movements is the diagonal relationships of opposite shoulders and hips and so this is what this week’s class is around and I’ve come up with a side-lying version of the BackLift. Want to try this class? You book your place here

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Don’t Forget - Live Classes Pause for December (apart from Nidra Night on the 3rd).

As everyone gets busier, I’m pausing the live classes for December. All Founder memberships will reduce in price to £25 so that you can still enjoy the library of classes. All passes will be paused too. I’m using this time to record my Beginner’s Series and work with a few clients and taking some time out too. Hoping the weather stays as bright and crisp as today is. 😊🍂🍁.

Nidra Night on the 3rd

Will be my last live class of the year, so do please join me to feel relaxed and ready for the busy week’s ahead.

Stay tuned, Stay Somatic and Keep Practising!

Liz 🙏🏻💕

Future Proof Your Body with Somatic Movements

“from the ashes of the old myth (of aging) a new myth of aging is arising: that life is a continuous process of growth and expansion”

— Thomas Hanna

I’m sure, like me you have people in your life you admire and respect greatly, someone who inspires you. I have many and they all unknowingly support me through this life of mine. Some of these people know me personally and some have no idea I exist! Some of these people have died and the others are thriving.

There is one person in particular I have in mind with respect to this week’s blog and who is living proof of how Somatics benefits you and “Future Proofs” your body and she is Susan Koenig. She is one of Thomas Hanna’s original students. I take her classes as often as I can and her Youtube channel is a great resource for me and my students. Just yesterday I took one of her classes which inspired me greatly and which over the next few weeks, I will adapt and condense to share with you.

What inspires me and I hope you too, is that she eats her own cooking when it comes to Somatics, she embodies it, not just in the way that she moves so well, she has used it to help heal her injuries, she has made it the major part of her life’s work and continues to do so. She still works and evolves how she works, educating herself and others.

I’d love to know who inspires you, please do share your thoughts below

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Coming up in Class This Week: -

So, how do we future proof our bodies? Through Somatics obvs! 😉 😊 . Thomas Hanna created a sequence called “The Daily Cat Stretch”. He created this daily routine to overcome the effects of Sensory Motor Amnesia . These seven movements, release muscle tension in all the main muscles and improve movement in our basic movement patterns. Susan Koenig is living proof of his work and I will be taking you through this sequence and adapting it slightly to ensure it is suitable for all.

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“Not only is it possible to overcome the effects of sensory-motor amnesia, it is also possible to to have a body and a life that are lasting sources of productivity and satisfaction and pride”

— Thomas Hanna

Newly added to the On-Demand Library

Is this class from last week, we explored reaching with more ease and learning the connection of pelvis to hands and arms. You can “future proof your body” and make the most of my on-demand library by joining my monthly membership for just £25 pm which gives you unlimited access to Zoom Collection or add in unlimited live classes for £45 pm (pp) for full membership. And, add code Blog10 to receive a £10 discount off the full membership price.

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Serenity through Simplicity - Friday Night Nidra 3rd December

The last Nidra Night of the year will take you through simple ways to find serenity not just for that evening but learn and take you through the festive season. Suitable for all abilities this two hour class relaxes and restores by combining Somatics, Gentle Yoga, Restorative Yoga & Yoga Nidra (deep guided relaxation). You can gift yourself this practice here for just £20. (Founder Members use code Nidra£5 ).

I look forward to seeing Your Soma soon.

Liz 🙏🏻💕x