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