WEekly Somatic Movement Classes
Weekly series led by Erin Girzone, Somatic Movement Teacher
Mondays @ 9:30am (Virtual) & Wednesdays @ 10:30am (In-person)
Series: $12.00/class or drop-in for $15.00
For current series details (dates/cost) click here.
Accountability and Support
These on-going classes offer guidance as you explore the habits of tension and overworking in your body. Our ability to notice is layered. We start superficially and each time we practice we are deepening our connection to ourselves and what we can notice. This weekly class helps you be accountable to yourself as well. Most of us would agree that attending a class is easier to make time for than our own practice. Each week, learn something new in class that can direct your exploration in your own practice.
A somatic movement session with Erin is recommended before joining a weekly class.
Everybody can benefit from somatics
EVERYBODY can benefit from somatics.
Increased stiffness, discomfort and pain in our bodies (joint pain, nerve pain, restricted movement) as well as an inflexible nervous system (depression, anxiety, PTSD) are all signs that our being or “soma” has wandered away from a sense of balance and ease.
Life is hard and there are many reasons why we end up with tighter muscles, restricted movement and pain. As we endure life, we get stuck in the habits that have helped us push through it’s challenges.
How we feel may seem out of our control, but it is our habits - those of our nervous system and our muscle function - that directly influence how we feel now.
Habits are automated responses that our brain develops. These habits grow from functional and necessary responses that helped us endure earlier circumstances (injury, trauma etc). These habits, while useful then, become dysfunctional and work against our wellbeing when our brain automatically defaults to them despite what is happening in the present. For example, if you broke your left ankle years ago, while you were healing you would have put more weight on your right foot to protect the left. That was helpful at the time, but this new habit of moving with more weight in your right side may not undo itself when your left side is healed. From that point on you might be organizing all your movements with your brain thinking “center” is to the right of where it actually is. Later on in life you will most likely experience restricted movement -maybe more so on one side of the body, joint replacement surgery and an overall decline in moving freely.
We need to deconstruct the old habits before we can build new ones.
If we jump right to building new habits we add new effort to overcome the tension already there which means we work harder. Think of the common habit we all have of shrugging our shoulders up towards our head. When we notice it, we correct it and pull our shoulders back down. Once our brain is busy with other things again, the shoulders shrug back up. Why? We are not changing anything long term. When we pull our shoulders down we are asking new areas to tighten, instead of teaching the muscles that lift our shoulders to relax so our shoulders can rest on our upper back. Put more simply, correcting means adding more work to the work our muscles are already doing.
Work + Work = MORE WORK!
How do we find ease?
If, instead of adding more effort through correction, we learned to soften and relax the overworking areas in our bodies, we could use less effort to move. Let’s go back to the example of a broken left ankle. With guidance, you can become aware of the tension that is pushing and/or pulling you into the right side your body. Through deliberate movement patterns you can teach the left and right halves of the body to work together more evenly and in the process your brain will rebuild a more clear sense of where your “center” is meant to be.
Somatics is more than movement. It is a philosophy to live b
Awareness
Awareness
Awareness
“Awareness has the capacity to heal.”
~ Deepak Chopra, author of Perfect Health
Choice
Awareness
Awareness
“Each one of us is the custodian of an inner world that we carry around with us.”
~ John O’Donohue, quoted in Walking in Wonder
Ease
Awareness
Ease
“Your body is a site of liberation. It doesn't belong to capitalism. Love your body. Rest your body. Move your body. Hold your body.”
~ Tricia Hersey, author of Rest is Resistance
Somatics: Not a quick fix, but a new way of being
Strengthen your skill of self-awareness.
The beautiful thing about somatics is that it reminds us that we can help ourselves. Helping ourselves requires self-awareness, which we all have the capacity for. Our ability to be self-aware lives in a certain region of our brain and it is designed to help our nervous system regulate how we feel.
Our brains can stop using this capacity for self-awareness when life’s challenges require us to disregard how we feel in order to get by. We might simply react based on what we’ve done in the past, or react based on what the world around us is telling us we should do. We no longer have agency over how we feel then. The self-sensing part of us that helps us regulate how we feel in the present is being ignored.
The good news is that we can re-learn how to regulate how we feel through self-awareness. Anything can be somatic. Somatic means to be in touch with your body’s experience - how it reacts to what someone says or the details of how you create movement, etc.
A somatic movement practice can support us in accessing our self-awareness and once we establish that foundation and what our current habits are, we can use it to help us move towards feeling better and creating new habits that support freedom of movement, a sense of safety and ease.
What does somatic movement look like?
- Somatic movements don’t look like much from the outside! Gentle/small movements, seated or lying down. VIDEOS?
- Small shifts in your habits that develop over time and can lead to long-term changes in your way of moving through life (both literally and figuratively)
What will you need?
- A quiet space, chair, mat/carpeted floor, a folded blanket/towel.
More importantly...
- An open-mind and willingness to consider beyond what you currently think is possible.
- An intention of curiosity - where do I over-work/push?
- Patience - Habits take time to develop and therefore it will take time to notice and breakdown your current habits of movement and rebuild new ones that allow you to move with ease and feel good.
- Self-compassion - It isn’t easy to practice self-awareness. We are very good at judging what we find and quickly trying to correct it. If we want to change what our body is doing, we first have to be curious about it is currently doing.
- Dedication - You are the most capable out of anyone to help yourself. Helping ourselves takes time and consistent attention. From the words of author Caroline Myss, “Of all the many factors that healing and living a healthy life require, becoming an empowered individual is the most important. That’s also the most difficult.”
Addressing your symptoms with somatics
Chronic muscular tension is at the root of much of our aches and pains.
Habitual patterns of muscle tension in our bodies contribute to or directly cause many common symptoms and conditions. By learning to recognize and release these patterns of habitual tension, you can begin to alleviate/eliminate these symptoms. Below is a list of symptoms or conditions that somatic movement can help an individual address.
Also included is a section speaking to those who work in fields with repeated life threatening situations because the long term stress of this work influences how one feels and moves at the deepest level of their nervous system.
Symptoms & conditions associated with chronic muscular tension:
Cervicogenic vertigo
Joint pain
Nerve pain
Mental Health Issues (PTSD, anxiety, depression)
Chronic Fatigue
Transform your body and mind
Cervicogenic vertigo
Dizziness and neck pain related to issues with the cervical spine.
How can somatic movement help?
- Thomas Hanna, a pioneer in somatic movement said in his book The Body of Life, “The vestibular system is the sanctuary of the standing function.” In other words your inner ear is essential in helping your brain sense up and down. The position of your head and neck influences how the inner ear functions.
- The cervical spine (neck) play an important roll in our balance and coordination. Over time chronic muscular tension in the body can pull the head/neck/spine out of alignment and therefore distort the brain’s sense of center. The overworking that results in the neck muscles can cause or contribute to headaches and neck pain.
- Learn movement patterns that will help you reset and maintain postural alignment (tall spine with head balanced on top) so the body has a clear sense of where it is in space (proprioception) and to reduce the likelihood of experiencing neck pain and dizziness.
Joint Pain
- Our joints can become stiff and painful if the bones do not maintain alignment or if the space within the joint is reduced because of chronic muscular tension.
How can somatic movement help?
- Learn where the muscles are tight/over-working and how to release this chronic tension so the joint has proper space and alignment for pain-free movement.
- Frozen Shoulder/Rotator Cuff Impingement: often due to a bracing in the shoulder joint (chronic tension in the chest, upper back/neck) and associated with an imbalance between the left and right sides of the body.
- Sacroiliac Joint Pain: often due to an imbalance of muscle function between the left and right sides of the body, influencing the alignment and restricting the movement of one side of the pelvis.
- Jaw Pain (TMD)/Clenching/Grinding of Teeth: often due to chronic muscular tension affecting the muscles that connect the lower jaw to the skull. Poor posture, chronic stress and imbalances between the left and right sides of the neck can all lead to chronic muscular tension in the upper body. Learning to release this tension will improve posture and align the head on top of the spine which will free up the movement of the jaw.
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT YOUR MUSCLES!
- It is worth noting here that chronic stress can be a root cause for many of these conditions. Chronic stress triggers our nervous system to go into a protective state and with that comes a reflex pattern of muscular tension in the front of the body. Therefore, we are not simply releasing muscular tension to feel better, but actually shifting our nervous system back to a state of ease. (See the section for Veterans/First Responders/Trauma Survivors for more information.)
Nerve Pain
- Our nerves are like wires that send signals from and to our brain so that it can regulate our movements, digestion, EVERYTHING that our body does. Our nerves need appropriate space where they pass through for a clear signal to be sent from one part of the body to another. Chronic muscular tension can narrow the passage way through which nerves need to pass. This can lead to pinching of a nerve or poor communication between different parts of the body making coordinating movement difficult.
How can somatic movement help?
- Learn where the muscles are tight/over-working and how to release this chronic tension so the nerves have the proper space to pass through and the bones have proper alignment for pain-free, easy movement.
- Thoracic Outlet Syndrome: due to a lack of space at the collarbone where nerves that originate from the neck, pass through to innervate and control the arm/wrist/hand. Muscular tension in the front of the body pulls the head/neck/collarbone/shoulder forward narrowing the space this set of nerves passes through creating impingement and therefore pain in the elbow/wrist/hand.
- Sciatica: This nerve can get pinched in a couple of place: At the spine - because of chronically tight back muscles that pull on the vertebrae and reduce the space for the sciatic nerve to leave the spinal column. Or, at the back of the pelvis because of chronic tension in the piriformis which reduces the space for the nerve to pass through as it heads toward the leg. In either case, this can lead to pain radiating down the leg.
- Low Back Pain: often because of chronic muscular tension that puts pressure on the spine and influences the intervertebral discs and nerves running from the spinal column.
Veterans/First Responders/Survivors
Our nervous system can get stuck in a heightened/protective state after extremely dangerous/stressful experiences associated with military jobs, rescue civilians (police, firefighters, EMTS, nurses, doctors) and the general public who’ve survived traumatic events in both childhood and/or adulthood.
Our nervous system regulates our entire body and everything happening within it. It is the captain of our ship if you will. When our nervous system gets stuck in a heightened state because of a dangerous experience, it stays in “protection mode.” It down regulates our digestion, immune response and sense of safety, and stays on guard at all times. This can make it difficult for us to function in day to day life. We may suffer from depression, anxiety, angry outbursts, substance abuse, digestive issue etc because our nervous system has forgotten how to regulate itself.
In order for us to function in our daily lives we need our nervous system to become flexible again and remember the option of “ease mode,” when we are OKAY, when we are safe.
The state of our nervous system can be addressed both directly or indirectly with a somatics practice. Within the structure of a guided practice we can experience a sense of safety that allows our nervous system to return to “ease mode” again. Indirectly, if we shift what the muscles are doing (chronically tight to more relaxed), we can begin to shift the state of the nervous system as well. Releasing tension associated with our protective response will send a message of safety back to our brain.
Addressing Chronic Muscle Tension
What does a somatic movement practice entail?
Erin is a certified somatic movement teacher. In both private and small group settings, she guides clients through movement patterns that re-educate the nervous system. Done in a conscious way, this self-awareness building experience helps restore ease in the body.
These gentle and subtle movements can be explored laying down, seated in a chair and/or standing making them accessible to anyone.
Somatic movement is so effective because it involves re-educating the nervous system - both on how to control muscle function and in how to let your guard down again. From a muscular point of view, when chronic tension is released, proper coordination of the muscles is restored and ease of movement is re-established.
When present moment awareness is practiced through your attention on your body, the part of your nervous system responsible for fight/flight can quiet down and the part responsible for rest/digest can rise up. You can experience inner peace.
Whether you have chronic low back pain, are perpetually tired or burnt out, your own somatic movement practice can help your soma (being) reset. When you address your being in this kind and gentle way, you will find more ease and joy in all aspects of your life.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is somatic movement?
As an Essential Somatics® Movement Teacher, Erin helps clients create and maintain a daily movement practice to reduce/eliminate chronic pain and movement restrictions.
The practice involves releasing muscular tension by re-education the nervous system with safe and gentle movements lying down, seated and or standing.
What does a daily practice address?
It focuses on restoring proper muscle function to alleviate pain, including functional disorders that result from chronic tension such as: chronic low back pain, neck pain, frozen shoulder, SI joint pain, sciatica, jaw pain, thoracic outlet syndrome, carpal tunnel, leg length discrepancy, shallow breathing.
It helps individuals find more ease in any and all daily movements: walking, running, reaching up, bending down, twisting, lifting etc.
How is it different from fitness, yoga, pilates, and physical therapy?
In general, the intention is different from any other type of movement practice. When practicing somatic movements, we are taking subconscious, habitual muscle tension and making it conscious to regain control of the muscle function.
Because it involves re-educating our nervous system, the movements are done slowly so there is time for feedback to be processed by the brain.
Muscular strength is found in connection and control of the muscles rather than in working harder.
Muscle weakness results from a lack of connection and control of the muscles and/or fatigue of the muscles due to being chronically contracted.
How does it compliment other movement practices and self-care modalities?
It can be an effective warm-up and cool-down for fitness workouts, running, sports games, etc. It helps individuals move their bodies with precision, reduce soreness, fatigue and injury.
It increases self-awareness and improves the benefits of any rehabilitation program including physical therapy exercises, fitness exercises, and yoga, for individuals that are post-injury, post-surgery or postpartum.
Can a somatic movement practice benefit individuals in other ways?
Somatic movement practice works at the level of the nervous system which controls how we move, think and feel. It can have a much greater impact on an individual beyond just improving movement.
It can also reduce anxiety and the impact of stress, improve breath capacity and quality of sleep to name a few.