Somatics: Reawakening The Mind’s Control Of Movement, Flexibility, And Health By Thomas Hanna

Very nice and informative book.the exercises provided are really helpful.

I have bought a half dozen copies of this book over the years and given a few away the rest just didn’t come back.
I had chronic debilitating back pain. I started to go to chiropractors because I couldn’t work around dangerous equipment on pain drugs. I was seeing him sometimes 3 times a week. Each visit cost as much as this book. Eventually after switching to a different chiropractor my back was X Rayed and the Chiropractor said that my back was structurally healthy. He suspected that it was being caused by problems that were muscular. Working on Ice in the winter was making my Chiropractor rich and me poor. .
I’d slip my back would go out. More dollars to the DR.

Long story from there to here but eventually ended up with this book.
Skipped to the back did what I thought were exercises no improvements.
Next I read the book followed it step by step end of pain. That quick. Within 3 months my chiropractic visits were down to 1 a month then 2 a year. Now maybe if I do something stupid a couple of visits then until I do something stupid again I don’t need to go. I have lent this book to numerous people. Some it helps some it doesn’t. Unfortunately it seldom comes home .

I gave a copy of this book to a friend who was rebuilding her house 10 yrs ago because she was about to be wheelchair bound. She is quite active now and though she spends a couple hour nightly in the hot tub, gets therapeutic massages and regular chiropractic care she is chair free. She figured it out first by reading this book. She did finish getting her house handicap accessible but so far she has not bought a chair. Might not be what you need cause we are all different .
I’m one of the lucky ones who this book addresses the particular issue I was having. The book is packed full of information that I have never gotten from a doctor and never knew to ask my chiropractor about. However you must read it front to back. Don’t figure you know enough to skip this or that.

Now I keep a copy on hand incase I over do Anything minor I am able to take care of with this book. Hope it works for U

In his book Somatics, Thomas Hanna, Ph.D. tackles the medical assumption that pain and degeneration are the inevitable result of the aging process. Not only that, he offers a simple plan to recover lost flexibility, balance, and posture. His exercises, he assures us, will bring us back into connection with our lost mobility while reducing pain and discomfort. It almost sounds too good to be true. But is it?

Most people suffer from pain and discomfort at some point in their lives. When this follows an injury, it is easy to watch the play of cause and effect. This can allow us some feeling of control during our healing process as we regain lost function and strength. When we don’t know why we hurt, we can feel like victims of our own bodies. When we ask our doctors for help, they offer drugs for pain, and tell us to buck up and accept our lot. We are growing older, after all. What else should we expect? Everyone knows that bodies wear out eventually.

Hanna challenges this idea. He points out that although this is true for many people today, there are also many circumstances in which people maintain function and vitality right up to the very end. Gerontologists call this “successful aging.” Rather than dismiss such cases as oddities, Hanna thinks we should embrace them as possibilities, and learn how to make our own lives turn out like theirs.

Five case studies are reviewed in the course of the book. In each case, through guided movements, flexibility is restored and pain is alleviated. Several of the cases are quite extraordinary; one woman regained the use of her frozen shoulder after just one treatment, despite almost two unsuccessful years of conventional treatment. Another case involved a man who had not been able to straighten his knee for almost two years. He rediscovered how to control what he had once given up as lost.

Although Somatics is full of information for the professional, it is very accessible to the lay reader as well. He uses clear language that anyone can understand. After describing commonly seen habits of movement, he gives us the keys to unlock our own blockages through simple exercises that almost anyone can do. These slow movements rebalance our structure by bringing awareness to the way we actually move our bodies, and teach us how to develop more balanced ways of moving.

The final chapter includes his basic movement explorations. His exercises are simple, mild, and brief. He offers a series of lessons, in which the reader may explore different areas of the body. By encouraging the reader to reacquaint themselves with their movements, he invites us to take our own steps on this healing path. And if my brief explorations with this work are any guide, change really is possible. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to find a new sense of vitality, movement, and freedom in their body. And really, who isn’t?

see more of my reviews and shop on amazon at […]

A wise Pilates/Feldenkrais teacher introduced me to this book. Using “Somatics” I personally found relief from chronic lower lumbar pain, and got help retraining my gait and balance after a severe ankle injury.The book is simple to understand with sections for various problems.

Somatics are a system of gentle movements – while breathing and mildly focusing (and sometimes simple “looking” in certain directions)- which through a combination of neuromuscular stimulation and the gentlest of stretches (no pain!) manages to to roll back years of stiffness, aid injury recovery, and significantly relieve some of the stresses of aging.

Somatics is based on sound science, and Feldenkrais, yoga, and Pilates are related. But Somatics exercises – movements really – are even gentler, and smarter, No equipment but a towel or mat is needed. Any level of fitness can benefit, even someone in a wheelchair or bedridden can do some of the movements.

If you have the patience and interest, I suggest reading the book and working through every single exercise presented, which is what I did coming back from traumatic injury. Some will “speak to you”, and you’ll incorporate them later into daily practice.

If you lack the patience or the time for this, the book is still valuable for its simple “CAT STRETCH” a five minute series of gentle movements which gently moves the whole body and seem to me like “the fountain of youth” . I do the cat stretch twice a day – on arising and before bed.

I could not recommend this book and Somatics in general more highly. Your back, ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, and neck will thank you!!!! And so will your friends when you pass this book along!