A Professional Dancer’s Story

I have found the Hanna Somatics work to be an exceptional tool for finding more mobility, fluidity, and ease in my body. Through group workshops and private hands on sessions, I have learned valuable techniques that I have been able to incorporate into my daily preparations for rehearsals and performance. I love both the meditative quality of the work and its tangible results.

Myrna Packer — dancer and choreographer, Bridgman/Packer Dance

Practice Makes Perfect

…I had severe sciatica, limited mobility, and took an average of 5 Advils per day or more for the pain due to complications of stenosis, arthritis, muscle spasms. With regular sessions, and doing the somatic exercises on my own, I now take only a few Advils per month, and have much improved mobility, and much less pain.

Judith Akullian — PhD, psychoanalyst, NYC

Improving Sciatica

The Hanna Somatics work has been revolutionary for me, re-educating my body so that I am now pain-free from a debilitating case of sciatica…After several months of Hanna Somatics, I am pain free and no longer taking Advil. … I’m starting a modern dance class tonight, my first dance class in many years.

Karen Masaki — Former (and future) Dancer

Help For Scoliosis

The combination of the hands-on work and the regular practice of the exercises has made a real difference in the degree of curvature in my spine…definitely prevented me from further deterioration… No other practice or bodywork promises such potential change in your back. Hanna Somatics gives me power over my curve.

Sophia Fatouros — April 2010 Ballet Teacher, Arts Administrator

The Myth of Aging

Your Myth of Aging seminar was a life changing experience for me. I am going to forward information on your next event to my black belts and instructors.

J.M. — Martial Arts School Owner

Thank you!

Thanks for the great job you do for people who want to help themselves!! I have to say, I really think my lower back is feeling better and I know my flexibility has greatly improved! Thanks for helping me feel better!

Becky R., Third Grade Teacher

On Taking Hanna Somatics Classes

Thank you for all your help and dedication- I really feel this course has helped me tremendously, both physically and mentally.I will continue the exercises – if I miss a day, my leg tells me so – and I have to listen to my body, don’t I!

L.B. — DD Services Supervisor

I Was Always Hurting

I started the Somatics sessions as a last resort trying to find out why I always hurt! My muscles felt so tight all the time! Now, I know they were in a state of constant contraction. But I really didn’t understand why: perhaps an auto accident years before, or improper body mechanics? I was at the Chiropractor’s every week. He offered relief after an adjustment but it never lasted. A massage therapist had told me about Somatics – how it retrained the brain – some 10 years ago. I bought the book and read most of it but didn’t think it would help – too simple, I thought! However, last fall I was at a dead end! Nothing helped! I picked up the Somatics book again and found John Loupos’ Somatics Sessions on the Web. It took 3 months of doing my series of exercises 2x per day to get my muscles to relax. I love doing them because my muscles feel so relaxed. I feel calm as I go through the series. I think a good adjective to describe them is “Delicious”!!

D.J.

Thank You So Much

Thank you very much for sending this info to me. What you showed me yesterday really helped so much in targeting my particular problems with hips and knees. I’m going to work with these exercises regularly.

Polly B. — Preschool teacher

I Danced the Night Away

I wanted to let you know that I felt great in Cuba and I had a fantastic time there. Nothing ever hurt, well, maybe for a few minutes, and then whatever it was would go away. One day I danced for 7 hours and had no pain anywhere! I did the movements you gave me every morning before class and at night before bed… and I’m sure it made all the difference. So thanks very, very much for helping me to have a great trip.

Lorna S. — Attorney and Dancer

Relief After Quite Some Time

Some time ago, approx. 4-5 months, I experienced the first relief and return to normal (extreme sports; surfing, etc. and computer work) activity after one and a half years of lower back pain and disability: All due to your referral to my Somatics practitioner, in Encinitas, CA.

Richard Jordan

Never Too Old

…Somatics obviously takes one beyond fixing any immediate difficulty into new awareness of what I need to do to tune my body with my mind toward an overall condition of health without stress.

Wayne Adams — Actor, Producer, Designer, age 77, NYC

Heaven on Earth

Hanna Somatics will send your body to heaven. I love the new mobility, balance and relaxation that it gives my body.

Lesley Powell — Director Movements Afoot, Pilates and wellness center, NYC

Back to My Normal Self

I am proud to say I am now back to my normal self. I love doing Somatics and enjoy the feeling of moving my body around in a more graceful way. Of course the most important thing is the pain relief which is absolutely amazing.

Janette Court

A Great Investment

Learning about Somatics is far and away the best investment I have ever made in my personal health care.

Tim Watson

Somatics Works!

After 12 months of daily Somatics practice, this year’s ski week was a completely different experience from last year’s, which had me laid up for two weeks with lower back pain. Now most of the work is being done by my leg muscles and my back feels fine. It’s awesome!

David Palmer — the “Father of Chair Massage"

Torn Achilles Tendon Healing Amazes Orthopedic Surgeon

…Let me begin with a brief background of my injury, which was the underlying reason for engaging in Somatics. In the summer of 2005, I ruptured my left Achilles tendon. I was placed in a non-walking and non-load bearing cast for about three months. When the cast was removed I was given a rigid plastic boot which I was to wear for four to six weeks and told to begin physical therapy. I started physical therapy the day after the boot was removed. The therapist advised me that this part of the rehabilitation process had two objectives: strengthen my left leg and ankle and regain my balance. After months in the cast, understandably, my entire left leg was weak, especially the calf and ankle, and I walked with a distinct limp. What I hadn’t planned on was my body being so far out of balance. The actual physical therapy involved light non-impact exercises three times per week and was suppose to last until late January or early February.

From the moment the therapist told me part of the p/t program was to recapture my balance my mind thought – Sifu John Loupos. Because I had taken Tai Chi classes from John in the past, my mind and body knew what it meant to be in balance. After a month of p/t I contacted John. John told me about Somatics and I attended a private session. I subsequently read the Somatics book by Hanna and followed the exercise routine prescribed by John and included in the book. I should point out I found the exercises in the book, which are depicted by stick figures, difficult to follow. So, I decided to purchase a CD of the exercises which is much easier to follow. A week or two after my Somatic session, I had a second session. At the end of the second session I walked out of Jade Forest with virtually no limp. For days later, people who I routinely come in contact with all said the same thing, “What happened to your limp?” My quick recovery also created a dilemma for my physical therapist who recommended I discontinue p/t and reschedule my appointment with my orthopedic surgeon from late January to early January. Simply put, I had cut six weeks off the traditional p/t program for ruptured Achilles patients. I did reschedule my visit with the orthopedic surgeon and we met the first week of January. Now for the fun part, a member of the Red Sox ruptured his Achilles almost two months to the day after I ruptured mine. I told my orthopedic surgeon, who operates out of a top Boston hospital, I would recover faster than the Red Sox player. There are two major problems with my arrogant pronouncement. First, the professional ball player is about half my age. And second, his only job was to recover and heal and he was receiving the best that money could buy treatment. After examining the Achilles, my doctor asked me if I could stand on one leg, first the right (the uninjured leg) and then the left. I thought a better demonstration of how well the Achilles had healed and how good my balance was would be to perform a few basic Tai Chi movements, which I did. In addition to the orthopedic surgeon, an orthopedic intern was also in the room and both had the same speechless reaction. After a moment of being frozen in position with their mouths open, the surgeon said he couldn’t believe how I got my balance back in such a short period of time.

I firmly believe that no two people are exactly the same, physically or mentally. Moreover, I do not recommend following the program I used to expedite my recovery. In fact, I deliberately omitted an account of the exercise routine (physical therapy) I followed. What I can confirm is that without Somatics and the expertise of John Loupos I would not have recovered faster than the younger professional baseball player and my recovery would have taken months longer. If you have not taken the time to study Somatics and consulted with John, I would proffer you are selling yourself short. To anyone who is a prospective Somatics can, I impart the following question, to paraphrase an ancient Stoic, is it the anticipation of an event or an event itself that causes a person trepidation or anguish or is it the person’s interpretation or opinion of the event?

Your program saved me!

Your program saved me! Just wanted to tell you. My husband saw it online and sent for the book and CDs. I am avid biker and runner and tennis player. After a 300 mile bike trip my tendons, including my iliopsoas and hamstrings were so contracted that could not pick up a thing and could not dress myself or put a tee in the ground. My orthopedic doctor put me on steroids. Then I was in physical therapy for six weeks, plus chiropractic care. Nothing worked. Then I got your book, “Somatics.” The idea of sensorimotor amnesia made the most sense to me. At first I could not get down on floor, but after two or three months of doing the daily stretching and relaxing exercises I’m now back to golf tennis and biking. I would be glad to talk up or promote your program anywhere... I’ve told many people about it. As a 75 year old, I plan to continue living life to the fullest.

Ellen D.

Hard to believe… I’ve learned how to get out of pain.

In July of 2007 I had sudden onset pain in my lower back / hip. Active at 46, I was about 20lbs heavier than I should have been, and, had ever had any back issues or back pain until then. Over the next 15 months I had an MRI showing nothing of significance (one small disc bulge that shouldn’t have caused the pain), a clean X-Ray, P/T, massage, chiropractic care, An electric stim test, an anti-inflammatory shot for piriformis (minimal results), more P/T, 3 cortisone shots over 9 months epidurally into my spine, another MRI showing 2 small disc bulges (everything was getting worse instead of better)… I was still in constant pain ranging from knife like pain down my leg to headache like throbbing in my buttock and hip.

Aleve/Motrin seemed to help ease it a bit, but couldn’t take it away. Staying active kept it loose and laying down or sitting aggravated it, as things tightened up which aggravated the sciatica. Unable to sleep more than 2 hrs. at a time due to the pain waking me up, I would be up all night, pacing and stretching. I was even considering surgery (despite the MRI showing the bulges shouldn’t have been causing that much pain) as I needed to do something… On-line research led me to Somatics and I was game to try anything at that point.

Basically, its premise is that over time your body, through small injuries, bad posture, tension, etc., ‘forgets’ how to relax certain muscles fully (sensory motor amnesia). Stretching hurt because it was tearing at muscles tying to contract, working them out felt better initially by loosening them and wearing them out but then exacerbated it by creating more tension. That constant tension (even though you feel relaxed in my head) creates problems. I just felt like even though I had relaxed the muscles in question, they were ‘tight’. Although hard to find a practitioner around my home, I finally found one about an hour’s drive from me. The practitioner at Jade Forest’s Pain and Mobility Clinic, John Loupos, is not only well versed in Somatics but a very intelligent and thoughtful provider. With high hopes but low expectations, I signed up for just 4 sessions over the next month. By the third week I was sleeping through the night! One 1 hr. session a week for 5 weeks (I opted for an extra) and I was almost completely pain free and back to ‘normal’. His feeling was that the bulges were possibly occurring because the spinal muscles in constant tension were compacting my spine.

Unfortunately after about 2 months of feeling almost normal (I still felt a little tension bending over to put on shoes, etc.) I made the mistake of being very lax on performing the movements which had helped me, and then shoveling 18" of heavy snow (I live just outside Boston MA) … and my back tightened up again. Combining that with a 4 hr. drive to see family on Christmas and I am back trying to get rid of the pain, up every two hrs. This is again frustrating, but I now know I have some recourse, so I am back for more Somatics. This time I’ll stick with the exercises even after the pain goes away in order to remain flexible!

Young Caregiver Finds an Answer

My name is Deanne Hegg. I am 30 years old. I work as a Home Support Worker in the Comox Valley, Canada.

On October 9, 2000 I had a work accident and herniated two discs in my back. I was in severe pain, and my body became very distorted. My left hip was way over to the left and the top of my body was leaning over to the right by at least 30%. When I walked, my right leg took all my weight, and my left big toe would just touch the ground. X-rays showed my spine was very curved.

I tried massage therapy, both traditional and acupressure. I also tried yoga, physiotherapy, chiropractic, acupuncture and exercises from a book on back health. I read everything I could.

Everyone told me I needed to straighten up, as it was not good for my body to be in this posture. No amount of painkillers could help with the pain of even sitting up straight for a few seconds. I got very depressed.

Then my daughter’s grandmother suggested a good friend of hers, Phyllis Victory, who does Somatics. I was very skeptical, having spent a lot of money on different therapies. She was persistent, and has good judgement. So I tried it.

Within a few sessions I noticed incredible improvements. My muscles were not contracting continuously. Stiffness disappeared, and I began to straighten up. After 4 sessions I am walking straight. I do my exercises once or twice a day. The amount of medication I now take has decreased dramatically. After each session I have been making miraculous improvements. I still have a little ways to go, but am so happy to walk straight and have my mobility back!