In this entry, I present some combinations of somatic exercises that have special potency in changing tension-and-movement patterns — preceded by a bit of explanation.<\/b>
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\nEXPLANATION<\/b><\/p>\n
Anyone practicing somatic education should be familiar with — and use — the power of synergy.<\/p>\n
“Synergy” isn’t some New Age froo-froo concept; it’s the way “a whole is more than the sum of its parts” — it’s organization. \u00a0It’s what makes a system a ‘system’ and not just a collection of unassembled parts. \u00a0It’s coordination.\u00a0 It’s integration.\u00a0 For more on Thomas Hanna’s take on coordination, read his book, The Body of \u00a0Life<\/i>. \u00a0He also referred to synergy in his published Wave 1 lectures; whether you are a student-in-training or a certified practitioner, if you don’t have those lectures or haven’t listened to them, get them and listen to them<\/u>. \u00a0They are a major part of his functional legacy and will boost your effectiveness.<\/p>\n
Synergy is part of what makes the standard lessons of Hanna somatic education so powerful. \u00a0In those lessons, multiple movement elements, e.g., the steps of Lesson 1 \/ the Green Light Reflex lesson, combine into an overall action pattern. Those movement elements are “the parts”; the action pattern you are addressing — Landau Reaction,\u00a0Startle Reflex,\u00a0or\u00a0Trauma Reflex in its multifarious forms (see The Handbook of Assisted Pandiculation) — is the ‘whole’.<\/p>\n
Piecework — going straight for the painful location to “get at the problem” right away, is never as effective as dealing with whole patterns, in the long run and often in the short run. \u00a0Sometimes, when a client is insistent that we work in the painful region immediately, I’ll do it. \u00a0I call this form of client placation, “Kiss boo-boo.”\u00a0 But then I get straight away to the overall pattern and I explain to the client, why, if necessary to his or her wholehearted participation in the way I want to proceed with sessions.<\/p>\n
By the same token, combining somatic exercises to address a single location is more potent than addressing it with one\u00a0somatic exercise, only. \u00a0Thomas Hanna’s comment on afternoon, leading us in somatic kinesiology — that using more than one somatic exercise to reach a problem region is more potent than using only one exercise (because learning the same thing multiple ways is more potent) — may have slipped by unnoticed by many, but it’s worth noting — and acting upon.<\/p>\n
So here are some collections of somatic exercises that are synergistic in this way. \u00a0You’ll notice two things. \u00a0That I:<\/p>\n
A certain class of somatic educators continually explores for ways to improve his\/her own functioning and well-being. \u00a0Such people have an advantage over those who go only with the basic material conveyed during training: \u00a0they can understand more forms of Sensory-Motor Amnesia (from the inside) and deal effectively with them, unlike those with less-developed somatic competency.<\/p>\n
If, in yourself, you can find new and effective<\/u>\u00a0somatic exercise patterns, that’s best; if not so much, various programs<\/a> exist that can give you a leg-up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n FREEING SIDEBENDING<\/b><\/p>\n This is a fairly “minimum” collection of exercises — enough for you to test to feel their synergy. \u00a0People with sacro-iliac pain almost certainly need more — and I’ve published an entry that explains why and gives access to a complete regimen here<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n COMPLEMENTARY EXERCISES<\/b><\/p>\n You notice that this collection of movements is fairly large. \u00a0That’s because our necks are mobile (and can become restricted) in so many directions. Gotta do it. Neck issues are a big deal (and often involve TMJ issues); a person with pain in the spine, low back or pelvis that doesn’t resolve as expected is likely to be tight in the neck, with the distant pains reflexively caused.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That’s quite enough to get you started. \u00a0If you have the ambition, it’s an eye-opener.<\/p>\n Lawrence<\/em>\u00a0Gold is a certified clinical somatic educator who has been in practice since 1990. His clients are typically people in pain who have not gotten help from standard therapies. Contact\u00a0<\/em>Lawrence<\/em>\u00a0Gold,\u00a0here<\/a>. Read about his background,\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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