Somatic Movement & Integration
Through gentle, intentional movement and Clinical Somatic Education, we explore how learned patterns of muscular tension and movement influence the way your body feels and functions.
With a trauma-informed, individualized approach, we work toward greater body awareness, improved movement control, and more comfort and ease in everyday life.
Understanding the Brain–Body Connection
Developed through the pioneering work of Dr. Thomas Hanna, Clinical Somatic Education explores how the brain and nervous system influence muscular tension, posture, and movement.
Some patterns of chronic muscular tension are learned, and through greater awareness and intentional movement, we may be able to change how we experience and control them.
Hanna’s approach is built around four interconnected concepts.
Sensory Motor Amnesia
Over time, stress, injuries, and repetitive movement can contribute to habitual muscular tension. Thomas Hanna called the reduced awareness and voluntary control of these patterns Sensory-Motor Amnesia (SMA).
Clinical Somatic Education helps you recognize these patterns and explore greater awareness and control of your muscles.
Pandiculation
Unlike passive stretching, pandiculation uses gentle, intentional muscle contractions followed by a slow, controlled release.
This process helps you explore how to reduce unnecessary muscular tension through greater sensory awareness and voluntary control.
Somatic Perspective
Somatic education shifts the focus from how your body looks or moves on the outside to how movement feels from within.
By paying attention to sensation, effort, and movement, you learn to recognize habitual patterns and explore more comfortable ways of moving.
Three Reflex Patterns
Thomas Hanna described three neuromuscular response patterns that may contribute to habitual tension:
- Red Light Reflex: A protective, startle-related response associated with contraction along the front of the body.
- Green Light Reflex: An action-oriented response associated with contraction along the back of the body.
- Trauma Reflex: An asymmetrical muscular response that may develop as the body compensates for injury or discomfort.
How Can Clinical Somatic Education Support Chronic Pain?
When you’ve lived with chronic pain or muscle tension for months or even years, it’s easy to believe that stiffness or pain are something you just have to learn to live with. The way we hold we move our body and how we hold our lived experiences can contribute to how much pain and stiffness we feel in our body.
Through Clinical Somatic Education, we explore these learned patterns using slow, gentle movements that encourage your brain and muscles to work together in new ways.
Rather than forcing a stretch or pushing through pain, you’ll learn to recognize muscular tension, explore greater voluntary control, and discover more comfortable ways of moving.
Over time, this practice can help support:
- Greater awareness of habitual muscular tension
- Improved movement coordination and control
- Reduced muscle tightness and discomfort
- Greater ease with everyday movement
- Confidence in practicing somatic movements independently
