Martha Peterson is a the author of the upcoming book, Live Without Pain: Pain Relief Through Movement, published by Sterling Publishers, and in stores January 2012. She is a Certified Hanna Somatic Educator (also known as Clinical Somatic Education), having trained at the Somatic Systems Institute in Northampton, MA. She also holds a B.A. in Dance Education and certification in Massage Therapy. Martha gives private sessions and teaches Somatic Movement classes in Maplewood, NJ. She works with clients who have struggled with chronic pain, joint stiffness or postural problems as they learn to end chronic pain patterns using the gentle, and revolutionary approach of Hanna Somatic Education.
Her expertise comes from over 20 years of working with professionals in the field of bodywork and somatic therapies. As a former professional dancer who, at one point suffered chronic hip and knee pain due to injuries, Martha understands the frustration and struggle many people go through trying to discern between the myriad different modalities that claim to relieve, or “fix” chronic pain. This is how she discovered Hanna Somatics, the only modality that taught her, in a short time, to reverse her pain and postural imbalances. She believes that mastering healthy body mechanics and proprioception is the key to maintaining flexibility and freedom of movement.
Martha is also available for speaking engagements and corporate workshops using the unique perspective of Hanna Somatics to focus on injury prevention, proper biomechanics and preventive education.
When she’s not working, Martha enjoys traveling, hiking, walking long distances, dancing, and playing. Last year, with her 80 year old mother, she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and in 2010 climbed in the Himalayas of Sikkim.
Remember: Life is movement, movement is life. Never stop moving!
Hi Martha,
It’s Josh Leeger…from Exuberant Animal.
Can you recommend a good starter-text or other media to get into Hanna somatics?
Thanks!
Hi Josh! I would definitely start by reading the book Somatics, by Thomas Hanna. I’d also order “The Myth of Aging” audio series, narrated by Thomas Hanna, from somaticsed.com: http://www.somaticsed.com/catOrdering.html Lawrence Gold’s website – http://www.somatics.com/ – has lots of information, too. I’m putting up some short videos on YouTube by the end of the week which I hope will be helpful in explaining and demonstrating Somatics. I’ll also have a DVD of the basic “cat stretch” of Somatic Exercises out by June. You can always email if you have any questions at all about Hanna Somatics. Nice to hear from you!
Thanks! I’ll check them out!
And feel free to contact me with any questions. There are certain, to my mind, crucial, bits about Somatics that Hanna doesn’t emphasize in his book as much as I think are necessary; he doesn’t mention what we teach in private sessions. He emphasizes proprioception, the reflexes and the exercises. All great stuff, all extremely important, but I think it leaves the reader wondering how he got such amazing results so quickly. The answer is the technique of pandiculation and the addressing of full body movement patterns in very methodical protocols. The community of Hanna Somatic Educators has suggested to Hanna’s widow that she add a chapter about private sessions to the book so that people understand the benefit of one to one work. The exercises can “cure” many people, but others really need one to one (scoliosos, sciatica, TMJ, those kinds of clients).
Love your message!!!
hi, martha i suffer from upper back/neck tension and have been told i have weak core muscles. im 48 menopausal and ache a lot. would your dvd be beneficial to me.? after reading articles on mind/ body connection i have come to realise i tend to hunch my shoulders a lot and think my body is relaxed when in reality it isnt. i just need some help to realign and untense muscles. i have had accupuncture which helps for the short term, but obviously need something to help me help myself. could you let me know if you post your dvd to the uk and what the cost would be. also can you select certain exercises or is it best to do them all in order. hope you can be of help. many thanks. elaine
Hi Elaine,
It sounds as if you could really benefit from the Somatic Exercises on my DVD. Yes, I ship to England. Here’s the link on my website that gives you all the information you need to order: http://www.essentialsomatics.com/index.php?/hanna-somatics-book-dvd
The cost is $29.99 plus $3.99 shipping. I’ve sold a lot of DVDs to the UK!
It sounds as if you’re stuck in what we call the “red light reflex” – rounding forward and hunching the shoulders. A lot of people get stuck in that reflex due to worry, anxiety, slumping at the computer or excessive driving. It’s not uncommon and it’s highly reversible with Hanna Somatics!
Please let me know if you have any other questions – I’m here to help.
Best to you,
Martha
Hi Martha
I live in Latin America (Brazil) and am waiting for your book to release. I am using Hanna exercises from his book and will see a RPG professional for helping out with aligment of the body. I have upper back pain.
They should have this kind of professional here, but don´t; I see many Pilates, Rolfing, RPG , Yoga but not a single Somatic Educator.
Does somatics mix well with RPG?
Thanks.
Hi,
I just did a little research about RPG. It looks like Hanna Somatics could be complementary to this kind of therapy.
My suggestion would be to buy my DVD (http://www.essentialsomatics.com/index.php?/hanna-somatics-book-dvd) and start learning the Somatic Exercises on the DVD. They follow the book, Somatics, quite closely. I can also help you learn to get rid of your upper back pain via personal online Skype sessions (http://essentialsomatics.com/index.php?/hanna-somatics-sessions-workshops/online_video_session).
You can pre-order my book via Amazon.com now and will receive it when it is officially released in January 2012.
The RPG sounds interesting, but I’m quite sure that you can learn a lot about WHY you have upper back pain and WHAT YOU’RE DOING to cause it to become a habit in your movement. This is what we teach in Hanna Somatics: how to become aware of what you do in your daily movement and responses to stress that causes the muscle pain – and then how to release it so it doesn’t come back (and, should it come back, what to do about it).
I hope this helps. Please feel free to call on me to do one on one Skype sessions. I’ve had good success with them and if you’ve already read the book, Somatics, I can help you understand how to do the exercises properly so you can really get the most out of them to reverse your pain.
Best to you,
Martha
Martha,
Whatever happened with your labral tear? Did you have the repair surgery? Or were you able to manage it without surgery and using the Hanna Somatics?
If you had the surgery who performed it and how was the recovery? Yes I have a labral year and have not had surgery.
Great question! I haven’t yet had the repair surgery, but I’ve very close to deciding to do it.
For the past year and a half I’ve worked with Hanna Somatics to see what I can do to minimize the discomfort I feel – on and off, not constantly – in my hip. Here’s what I’ve found (and I may just flesh this out and make it a blog post): when you have a structural deficit, which is what a labral tear is, your body responds by contracting certain muscles, sending out signals, all involuntarily. The system says, “something’s wrong, let’s respond.” If I didn’t do Hanna Somatics to release my muscles (and then do a lot of walking to strengthen myself), I’d be in a big mess. I feel pretty good and am still quite active. But I know I can feel better. The discomfort hasn’t completely disappeared.
I’ve worked with a LOT of people with labral tears, who feel much better doing Hanna Somatics. However, it doesn’t FIX the problem.
Because I’m a very active person and want to continue to be, I’m going to have a chat with my orthopedist and see if he’s supportive of surgery. If I were someone who didn’t care about hiking, walking long distances, or vigorous activity, I’d probably be fine without the surgery. But I’m someone who intends to be climbing mountains at 80 – just like my mother!!
How are you doing with your labral tear and you hip?
Martha
Hi Martha,
I bought your dvd’s and book and corresponded with you recently from Wisconsin!! I have just been told I have a probable labral tear or tears due to femoroacetabular impingement. I had seen somewhere on your blog that you were not impressed by your research on the arthroscopic procedures that are done in this area, but now I see that you~ even you, with all your Somatics expertise~ are re-considering surgery. My my, there goes my rationale for avoiding it myself
I am inferring, then, that if I devoted myself to Somatics work (which I clearly need and would benefit from, regardless), I might be able to defer a decision on surgery, but still may have significant restrictions on activity, as I do now. Like you, I wish to walk long distances/ hike while travelling, although I have no desire to mountain-climb!!
One factor I have to contend with is my age (mid-50′s) and my general fitness level, which is much poorer than yours. Some people seem to feel that at this point, someone in my place might be better served to hold out for a total hip replacement.
I am really unsure now what to do and would very much appreciate knowing what you decide. Thank you, Martha!
Jeri
Hi Jeri,
I’ll have to write another blog post about labral tears, and surgery just to make my views clearer, because you’re not the first person to get the idea that I’m not in favor of labral tear arthroscopy. I write that if you have hip pain in general, strengthening isn’t going to help until you learn to release the muscles that are “amnesic.” Learn to release your tight, “amnesic” muscles first, then do strengthening.
If you have a structural problem and don’t get it repaired you could be setting yourself up for further damage in the future. I’ve had several knee surgeries myself due to dancing and skiing accidents. Somatics does NOT fix structural problems! I wrote about Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees, and how quickly his MDs determined that he needed surgery, yet my MD was hesitant to do it for me when I asked him to. I didn’t understand that. He did state at our last visit (4 mo. ago) that labral tear surgery isn’t a magic pill. That has been confirmed by one of my readers who had the surgery, and said he’d advise doing everything possible before doing surgery. He’s doing Somatics now and feeling better.
If you have faulty structure, and you’ve done all you possibly can with your functional movement: Hanna Somatics, balancing out your body, mastering the way in which you walk, sit, stand, drive, etc., and you STILL have discomfort that gets in the way of your life (as I do at times), then surgery can be a God-send.
I’m sure that if I didn’t do Somatics I would be in excruciating pain. Why? Because when you have a structural problem (which usually results from a trauma or long term sensory motor amnesia), your brain will contract your muscles in compensation. I’m aware of that, because it’s what I teach. I know what to do to keep myself feeling good – but that annoying ache and some muscle restriction in the joint – is always there due to the labral tear. Somatics won’t fix a structural problem. It will fix functional muscle problems, which might be at the root of your original problem that caused the tear.
Time spent doing Somatics and learning to regain balance and symmetry in your body is critical. Combine Hanna Somatics with labral tear surgery done by an MD who’s an expert in this kind of surgery (like one of my readers from NH who writes a running blog: http://recoveryourstride.blogspot.com/) and you’ll probably be feeling much better. But surgery alone without Hanna Somatics to correct your sensory motor amnesia and get your brain back in control of your muscular system would be short-sighted.
If you feel that you’re not at a strong fitness level at the moment, make that a priority. If you need to lose weight, do it. Change your nutrition – do it. If you need to walk more, sit less, sweat more – find a pleasurable activity that you enjoy doing that can help you get healthier and stronger. Be patient with yourself, but persistent. I’ve recovered quickly after my knee surgeries in large part due to a healthy constitution going into the surgery in addition to Hanna Somatics before and after the surgery. I’m confident that you can do that, too. I’m here to help if whatever way I can.
I’ll let you know what I wind up doing about my hip. It would be nice if I had better health insurance, but that’s an entirely different discussion all together!
Thanks for your comment,
Martha
Hi Martha,
I stumbled upon your website looking for exercises to prevent hip replacement. I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, but I strongly believe in prevention. I have hip bursitis caused by disc replacement and scoliosis corrective surgery done last June. I am 50 years old and was very fit prior to the surgery and I am now trying to get back my level of fitness. I’ve been working out both at home and with a trainer since last November, but the progress is very slow and I keep aggravating the hip bursitis. I see my chiropractor 3 times a week and get trigger point massage once every 2 weeks. I wish there was someone like you in my area (Fairhope, Alabama) All of your books and DVDs look good to me, but I don’t know where to start. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Lynn
Hi Lynn,
It sounds as if you have quite a number of muscular issues to deal with – from compensation from scoliosis to back issues. Scoliosis creates an imbalance in the center of your body so that your gait is altered. I’m sure you know this in a very somatic way because you live in your body! Addressing the overall pattern of muscular imbalance is the best place to start.
My suggestion would be to begin at the beginning: learn the most basic Somatic Exercises on my Pain Relief Through Movement DVD, then go on to learn the exercises on my Pain-Free Legs and Hips DVD. This will help you begin to release the muscles that are tighter on one side of your waist (scoliosis) and the muscles of the back and abdominals that compensate within the pattern of scoliotic twisting.
The only practitioner we have is in Athens, AL – on the other end of the state from you! So sorry. Do you ever get up to Huntsville? My NY colleague, Laura Gates, goes down there regularly and conducts workshops and clinical sessions. She had scoliosis for years and is an expert in helping people release such patterns. Her website is http://www.fullmovementpotential.com
I also conduct online video Skype sessions if you think you’d like to do that.
I’m here to help. Please let me know what else I can do for you.
All the best,
Martha