Is Hanna Somatics painful?

When you do Hanna Somatic movements, it is important to be as comfortable as possible. Since this is brain-education work, the more gently you do your Hanna Somatics movements, the more effective they will be. If you are experiencing pain during a session, just let your practitioner know and he/she can modify the way you are moving to increase your comfort and ease.

What can I expect in a Hanna Somatics session?

Sessions are tailored to the unique needs of your body. We start by looking at how your brain is organizing your muscles while you are standing, walking, and lying down. Lying on a table in loose clothing, you will be guided through a series of simple, interactive movements designed to help your brain pick up the sensory signals in your muscles. As you move your body, your practitioner may partner with you by adding a gentle hands-on process called assisted pandiculation. This unique form of sensory-motor education reawakens your brain’s ability to lengthen and relax your tense muscles.

Can I do Hanna Somatics in conjunction with other forms of therapeutic work or medical treatment?

Absolutely. A powerful modality in its own right, Hanna Somatics also enhances the effectiveness of other forms of bodywork, including improving the body’s ability to hold chiropractic adjustments.

Are individual Hanna Somatics sessions really enough to make a difference?

Yes and no. In your individual sessions, your practitioner will be continually evaluating your progress. Your individual session work will give your body the new sensory feedback it needs to break out of chronic muscles tension patterns. However, your body needs this fresh sensory feedback on a daily basis for your Hanna Somatics work to have a lasting effect. For this reason, your practitioner sends you home with movements to do that help you carry on the Hanna Somatics process between sessions. These are movements that you will be able to use for the rest of your life to help your body relax and allow your muscles to soften and lengthen.

Can Hanna Somatics help me even if I’ve been in pain for many, many years?

If your chronic pain is being caused by unconscious bracing or a habit of tensing from stress, it is never too late. Even if you have experienced pain or limited mobility for decades, sensory-motor amnesia is not a permanent condition. Most forms of therapeutic work rely on a practitioner manipulating your joints or tissues while you are passive. With Hanna Somatics, you are actively and consciously engaging in the process of reawakening your brain’s ability to relax your muscles. Given the right conditions, it is never too late to reprogram the way your brain is communicating with your muscles!

How does muscle tension become chronic?

Muscles can become chronically tight from physical and emotional stress, bracing after injury, surgery or trauma, or from holding certain postures (for example, computer work, playing musical instruments, etc) for extended periods. When our muscles remain tight, it means the sensory-motor cortex (the part of our brain that controls sensation and movement) has lost the ability to pick up sensory signals from our muscles. This prevents us from being able to voluntarily relax our muscles. Our muscle tension becomes reflexive—they keep firing (or tensing) on their own without our conscious awareness or ability to control them. This is known as Sensory-Motor Amnesia (SMA). It means the dialogue between your brain and muscles has become confused.

What is the relationship between chronic muscle tension and chronic pain?

When your muscles remain tight over a period or time, they compress your joints and nerves, and pull your body out of alignment. Chronically tight muscles do not function the way they’re supposed to. So your body compensates by recruiting other surrounding muscles to help out. Your body is then overworking in two ways: tight muscles overwork because they cannot relax; helping muscles are doing their own job plus a job they are not designed for. As a result, your body is working both harder and less efficiently than it should, eventually causing pain.

What is Hanna Somatic Education®?

Hanna Somatics consists of gentle, interactive hands-on work, movement sequences and sensory awareness training that increases brain-muscle coordination and prompts tight muscles to relax. Hanna Somatics can help you eliminate or reduce habitual muscle tension in your body, speed recovery from injuries and surgeries, and increase stability, flexibility, and comfort in your body, especially as you age.