Somatics is a new form of slow, gentle exercises which maintains good physical and mental health. Sylvia Thompson reports
A new form of slow, gentle exercises which promotes a relaxed, flexible body and a balanced state of mind is now being taught in Dublin.
Called somatics, it is the brainchild of the late Dr Thomas Hanna, an American philosopher who developed the exercises to give people renewed control of muscles, damaged over time.
His wife, Eleanor Criswell Hanna, a yoga teacher, now trains chiropractors, physical therapists, massage therapists and other health professionals to become somatic educators.
Brian Ingle, a Dublin-born teacher of the easy-to-learn somatic exercises, is so convinced of the value of somatics that he describes it as the medicine of the future.
"The beautiful thing about somatics is that you can learn a series of movements which will systematically help release physical and emotional trauma from the body which has been held in various muscle groups," says Ingle.
He defines this physical holding of trauma in the body as sensory motor amnesia.
"This occurs when you no longer can use or feel a muscle because it has shortened or tightened over time following the body's reaction to physical or emotional stress," he says.
Ingle, who has been working as an osteopath and yoga teacher in India for the past 10 years, is now about to embark on training in somatics at the Hanna Somatic Education Centre, Novato, California, US.
Before attending this course, he will lead introductory workshops to somatics in Dublin and plans to return to his native Dublin every summer to teach somatics.
According to Ingle, somatics teaches people to re-develop unused muscles through reawakening the neural pathways between the muscles and the central nervous system.
This is done through a systematic series of exercises taught over a course of eight lessons, each focusing on a different muscle group (ie, the muscles in the back, the stomach, the waist, the trunk rotation, the hip joints and legs, the neck and shoulders) and then applying this new body awareness to improve your breathing and walking.
Advocates of somatics believe that by regularly practising the series of exercises (which only takes about 15 minutes to complete), individuals can find relief from chronic muscle tension or pain, reduce work-related physical stress, eliminate pain or other dysfunction resulting from trauma, injury or an accident and avoid or reverse stiffness, pain and many other problems associated with aging.
"Somatics gives people back the responsibility for their own health by allowing them to access their body intelligence and giving them the spiritual benefits of peace and awareness," says Ingle.
Linda Southgate, a yoga teacher and member of Yoga Therapy Ireland, incorporates some somatic exercises into her yoga classes.
"They are useful to get deeply into various muscle groups of the body as they are precise, cat-like movements which you do with the breath.
"Really, they are a form of gentle stretches done in a very relaxed way which help in warm-up exercises and body awareness," she explains.
As a practised self-discipline, Southgate believes that somatics - like pilates - tends to focus more on the physical while yoga and t'ai chi place stronger emphasis on the spiritual dimension as well as the physical. That said, she does see how it can be used as a therapy in and of itself.
Cathy Pearson (31) has learned somatics at classes and also had bodywork treatment based on the principles of somatics to help alleviate whiplash from a car accident.
"I had physiotherapy, chiropractic and massage but the somatic treatment was the most effective because the approach is about re-educating the brain to let the muscles know that it's okay to relax now," she says.
Pearson now practises yoga and incorporates somatic exercises into her yoga practise.
"I've got to keep up the exercises so that I can keep my muscles loose but I'd say I'm 95 per cent recovered now," she adds.
Ingle believes somatics will take off in Ireland because "right now, people are interested in feeling good in their bodies".
"It's both a treatment approach and a preventative healthcare strategy," he says.
Brian Ingle will run a two-day workshop in Somatics at Scoil Caitríona, 59 Lower Baggot St, Dublin on May 15th and May 16th. Cost €150. Tel: 087 2788391 or email somayoga2002@yahoo.co.uk for further details.
See also www.somaticsed.com