Hanna Somatic Education (HSE) is an easy, gentle, and extremely effective way to release muscles that have become chronically contracted due to emotional and physical stress, trauma, and acquired habits of ineffective sitting, standing, and walking postures.
Muscles contract in response to signals from the nervous system. When the nervous system continuously sends “contract” messages, muscles become tired and painful, and it often seems impossible to release them. This is the condition that Thomas Hanna called Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA).
SMA occurs when we continually contract certain muscles in reaction to a pain, injury, or emotional stress and we become so used to that contraction that we no longer notice it. The contraction is out of our conscious awareness and therefore it feels like our strained joints and muscles are out of our control. If we continue to move automatically, we will only be able to move our muscles within the limits of our habitual patterns. We can no longer stand or sit or use our limbs with freedom. SMA often leads to pain and always leads to the experience of less comfort and ease in our movements. Common conditions that result from SMA are chronic back pain, neck, shoulder and hip pain, limited mobility, joint pain, poor posture, shallow breathing, and uneven leg length.
By learning to regain awareness, sensation, and motor control of muscles, the brain can remember how to relax and move the muscles properly. This process of sensory motor training, which can only be achieved through slow, gentle movement, creates improved muscle function and enhanced sensory awareness.
With HSE, tight muscles immediately begin to loosen and you learn how to move more effectively and flexibly. Individual or class work with an HSE practitioner will give you the tools to experience a rapid and significant improvement in physical comfort, quality of movement, posture, and overall appearance.
For more information, contact me.
Rochester Somatics 