Somatic Movement Education relieves pain by teaching people how to ease the stress caused by muscular tension, writes RUTH O'CONNOR
HAVING STRUGGLED with back pain for years I am constantly seeking a treatment that can alleviate it and help prevent its recurrence. Somatic Movement Education (SME) intrigued me. Based on neuro-muscular retraining, the technique was developed by Thomas Hanna in California and is available in Ireland through Tanya Fitzpatrick and Lisa Peterson of Align.
I have never been in an accident nor do I suffer from any chronic ailment. My pain, like that of many others, comes from bad posture and not enough exercise. And this is the lazy nub of my point – if it’s possible to achieve better posture, less pain and to look taller with some hands-on work and a mere 15 minutes of exercise a day, I’m on it.
According to Tanya Fitzpatrick, SME is an effective way to achieve long-lasting, sustainable relief from pain brought on by injury, stress and bad posture. The hands-on method and exercise help clients regain control of their muscles, re-training the brain to recognise when the body is in a relaxed or natural state and when it is in a stressed or contracted state.
Fitzpatrick is a yoga teacher and Somatic Movement educator. She has trained and worked with world-renowned yoga teacher Donna Farhi. “Somatics trains your brain to change your body. By using awareness and specifically designed movements, we teach you how to sense and recognise muscular tension and contraction patterns in your body that you are no longer aware of, because they have become habituated over time. With SME you learn how to release these habitual patterns of tension,” says Fitzpatrick.
During our sessions Fitzpatrick is friendly and efficient and, while the therapy can be seen as holistic, there is none of the hocus-pocus sometimes associated with “alternative” therapies. Indeed, she is keen to stress that this is a therapy very much grounded in science.
“Somatics is not an ‘alternative’ or ‘complementary’ approach to health – it is an up-to-date science based on neuro-muscular re-patterning, applied in a straightforward, transparent way.”
Fitzpatrick says that many of her clients don’t know what is causing the pain and put it down to what she calls “the myth of ageing”. “This habituated state of forgetfulness whereby we forget how to relax our muscles is called sensory motor amnesia,” says Fitzpatrick.
“Since it occurs within the central nervous system, we are not aware of it and begin to think we are getting older and this is not strictly true. We just have forgotten how to relax our muscles. The good news is it can be avoided. You can unlearn what has been learned and you can remember what has been forgotten.”
Over the course of three private sessions, Fitzpatrick assesses my stance when sitting and standing. I lie on the therapist’s table while she gently rotates my legs freeing them up in the pelvis. She identifies me disconcertingly as a “tail tucker”, meaning my pelvis is rotated forwards causing the curve of my spine to be higher than it should be. We do some tilt and arch exercises, so I can recognise the correct and incorrect means of holding my spine.
Fitzpatrick also works on my stiff shoulders – a common problem area, particularly for office workers. Using gentle manipulation and encouraging me to rotate my shoulders gently, my arms and shoulders go back into a relaxed state and lie further back on the table than before. By the end of the second session my back, shoulders and head are in a stressless, restful position.
Later I feel a new awareness of my body and its position. I am more aware when I catch myself slumping in my chair or when standing and utilise Fitzpatrick’s tips to correct my stance.
The noticeable change after the sessions is not in being totally pain free but in discovering a new kind of body awareness, not in some abstract way, rather in noticing how I am standing in a less than optimal way and realising what I can do to correct that.
Another striking difference is that I appear taller and slimmer – the result of holding the correct stance, working my core tummy muscles and standing properly upright with shoulders back.
Session three involves some breath work to alleviate stress. Fitzpatrick explains that I am breathing only within my chest (thoracic breathing), resulting in the shallow breathing which can “trick” the body into believing it is under stress.
She tells me to breathe with my diaphragm taking deep regular breaths, all the while becoming conscious of how the lungs, chest cavity, diaphragm, stomach, ribs and even shoulders are moving. I am amazed at the depth of the breaths I can take and at a new conscious awareness of my breathing.
By the end of the third session my shoulders, back and pelvis are relaxed and flattened, perfectly positioned on the table and at rest. When I stand up I feel more planted, like my feet are truly baring the weight of my body properly for the first time in a very long time. It sounds like a cliche, but I actually feel more grounded.
SME: What is it?
What is it? A method of rehabilitation for pain relief which encompasses mind-body training, classes and hands-on work.
What is it used for? Increased sports performance, rehabilitation from injury, to enhance balance, co-ordination and flexibility, to improve posture and aid post-surgical recovery.
What are the short-term benefits? It releases chronic pain and frees up immediate tension.
What are the long-term benefits? Greater mobility and ease in the body resulting in less pain.
How does it differ from other therapies? Simple self-care exercises can be used daily to counteract the strains of poor posture.
Where is SME available? Through Tanya Fitzpatrick and Lisa Petersen, tel: 086-3280193, alignsomatics.com.
What does it cost? A private session with Align costs €70, with most clients requiring three to five sessions. Group classes from €15 per person.
