Less Can Be So Much More

Creating Greater Somatic Awareness with More Effective Results Through Focused Movements

Ken Bridgeman 4-22-2018

Following double hip replacement surgery in 2012 and 2013, I went through a long period of intensive rehabilitation that was very successful. That pain I’d lived with for so long was now simply gone! But of course, such invasive procedures couldn’t “fix” the whole soma. I was left with a myriad of unexpected, often painful, restrictions throughout my body. Walking even short distances, or standing in place for very long, continued to be difficult as a result of chronic low back pain. With that crippling hip pain gone, however, I could now return to working with my full Somatics routine for some relief.

But after such a long period of all-encompassing pain prior to the surgeries, I discovered I had difficulty feeling or sensing a clear, first-person experience of my inner self. I had difficulty “going within”. Through a lot of trial and error, and fine-tuning of the somatic exercises, I finally began to find ways to regain that inner connection. In this presentation, I will share some of those simple movements that I found to be effective for enhancing ease of movement and a greater inner awareness throughout my soma.

Ken Bridgeman, CHSE, is a certified graduate of Wave 6 of the Novato Institute. For 15 years, he worked in hospital and physical therapy settings, before becoming a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist and completing a course of study at the Hendrickson Method Institute, Inc. He has been active with the AHSE since 2001.