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I have just read your article on Susan the runner and I was so happy for her. I have a very similar problem and over the years with my compensations I have developed a foot that I drag whenever I attempt to run. My sychronization is out and I exhaust myself within minutes. I have studied Thomas Hanna’s book but it seems to focus more on walking. I can walk well using his guide line until I start to leave the ground with both feet which is what running is all about!!
Do you have any suggestions or material that may be of help to me? I do all the exercises in his book which is very time consuming each day and I’m not sure which ones are the most helpful for running.
Thank you very much, Sue.
Hi Sue,
Susan, my runner client, came to me for one on one clinical sessions in order to figure out what her muscular holding patterns were. Hands on clinical sessions are very powerful and rapidly effective; we work step by step to de-habituate the three somatic reflexes (red light, green light, trauma reflex) over the course of several weeks. The exercises you learned in Thomas Hanna’s book are the “homework” for the private sessions. Certain people (like Susan, and, I suspect, you) need more in depth work with a practitioner in order to really reverse their muscular habituation.
Despite the fact that you live in Canada, I think you could get a lot out of working with me one on one in several online video sessions (http://essentialsomatics.com/index.php?/hanna-somatics-sessions-workshops/online_video_session). This way we could hone in on what patterns of movement/contraction you’re stuck in that you’re not aware of. Hanna’s book focuses on the basic patterns of movement, and then how to “put it all together” to walk properly…but if there’s an imbalance in your walk, or in the center of your body that you’re not aware of, then your running will be “off.”
Being exhausted after only a few minutes makes me suspect that you might be somewhat “red light” in your posture (hunched/rounded forward) with tight ribs. Feeling “out of sync” makes me suspect that you have a bit of a trauma reflex on one side of your body. Did you have an accident of some sort in your past?
All of the movements in Hanna’s book are useful; however, I’m finding that many people do the exercises in the book, and then when they learn them from my DVD, or in a class, or during an online video session, they realize that there were things they weren’t understanding, or doing properly.
May I also suggest that you purchase my DVD (which is extensive and very clear in its instructions – much better than learning out of a book!).
Once you are really aware of where your sensory motor amnesia is, and you reverse it, then you would do well to attend a ChiRunning seminar. This method of teaching running is very somatic and sensible. However, if you have unresolved sensory motor amnesia, their instructors will not be able to help you, as this is not their expertise.
I hope this helps! Please feel free to contact me to make an appointment or to ask any further questions. I firmly believe I can help you get back to running, just as I did with Susan!
Best to you – and thanks for commenting.
Martha