How Your Response to Stress Causes You Pain

The Three Somatic Reflexes

We know why muscle pain occurs and how to release it, but how much do you know about the Three Somatic Reflexes? Familiarizing yourself with these reflexes and how they cause Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA) is an integral part of understanding your own muscle pain. It isn’t enough to know that the pain in your hip is from SMA; you need to know how your responses to stress causes your SMA to begin with.

There are some 44 reflexes in the human body, yet the Red Light, Green Light, and Trauma reflexes, as outlined by Thomas Hanna in his book, Somatics, are predictable when it comes to habituating to chronic stress. When you can recognize your specific “stuck” reflexive patterns that occur when you are stressed, you will become more skilled at understanding why you have pain, how it’s connected to a stress reflex (or a combination thereof), and how to release it in order to self-regulate and create homeostasis and balance within your own body.

How do you respond to stress?

Familiarizing yourself with the Three Somatic Reflexes will better equip you to nip your SMA in the bud and help you to self-correct. Your awareness of how you personally respond to stress mentally, physically, and emotionally will allow you to recognize when you are falling into a stress reflex pattern and how it is affecting your posture, pain, and psychological state.

1. The Green Light Reflex (Landau Response) is the reflex of forward movement which involves the muscles of the back. The back is typically arched and the shoulders are drawn back. Do you tend to rush around? Are you “always on”? Are you very active?
2. The Red Light Reflex (Startle Response) involves the muscles of the front. The shoulders are rounded, back is slumped, and chin jutted forward. Do you often feel anxious? Do you spend long hours at a desk or computer? Do you struggle to breathe deeply?
3. The Trauma Reflex involves the muscles of the trunk rotators and occurs involuntarily in response to accidents and injuries. Do you have a hip hike? Have you had an accident, injury, or surgery? Do you routinely engage in one-sided movement (golfing, holding children on your hip, etc.)

More than just a physical experience…

Understanding each individual reflex and applying your knowledge to your daily life will help you understand yourself better as a person. The Green Light and Red Light reflexes are deeply emotional.

• The Green Light Reflex can become habituated when we never allow ourselves to stop, rest, relax and let go. We’re always “on” and concerned with not losing control.
• The Red Light Reflex is well-known in psychology and trauma work. It is a deeply primal, and protective posture, both emotionally and physically.

These reflexes are life-saving and life-giving, and are there for us to respond to, yet we are not supposed to live in them! 

4 Ways to Understand Yourself and Take Back Control

1. Take a minute to simply BE. Check in with yourself throughout the day. Tune in and feel how it is to be you in this moment. How are you feeling physically and emotionally? What is making you feel this way and how are you responding to this stimuli? Use this time to slow down, calm your mind, and listen to your body.
2. Recognize your reflexive habits. Use your knowledge of the Somatic Reflexes to understand how these habits contribute to your specific muscle pain. This will help you choose Somatic Exercises that help you regain and retain balance and a sense of neutral.
3. Be aware in the moment. If you notice yourself slumping, was it because of your response to the outrageous electric bill you just opened? If your right shoulder is hurting, is it because you’ve been carrying that heavy bag on one shoulder for a bit too long? Did your whole back tightened in response to a phone call? Notice when and how you respond, correct as you go, and…
4. Do your Somatic Exercises every day. If you’ve been sitting at your desk for 2 hours straight, utilize the Somatic Exercises from the Pain-Free at Work DVD to reset your muscles and brain to neutral. If you’ve been golfing all day, wind down with Somatic Exercises so that you don’t fall into a Trauma Reflex. Standing for long hours at work can take a toll on your lower back (and create a domino effect throughout your body), so release the day’s built-up SMA with Somatic Exercises. If you have done steps 1-3, step 4 is intended for you to use your awareness to customize your daily Somatic Exercise routine to how you felt and what you experienced today.

Without awareness of how you respond to stress mentally, physically, and emotionally, you will undo your progress in no time at all.

The latest research on neuroplasticity is clear: in order to keep our brains healthy we need differentiation and challenges. Understanding how stress affects you personally and your movement habits and physical pain and movement in particular comes from the brain. It’s use it or lose it.  The less habituated to stress you are, the more you can keep your brain in a constant state of learning and regeneration.

Somatics Takeaway for August

I have just returned from a three-week trip to Australia. After experiencing the rainy, chilly winter there, it’s great to return to the long, lazy days of summer. It’s traditional vacation time and to me vacation has always been one of activity: mountain climbing and swimming. This year the next three weeks will involve a different kind of vacation for me. My daily life is one of travel and movement and different time zones.

So this year August will be a month of no travel, plenty of rest, walking, and doing something most of us don’t give enough attention to: integrating.

Integration is like digestion; it allows the brain to process and absorb the feedback of your everyday movements (or your Somatics practice). At the end of your day, allow yourself to come to a full stop, let everything go, and allow your brain to absorb all the sensory feedback from your day. Do the same in your Somatics practice. Without this information, you are unable to hone the awareness needed to determine if your actions are benefitting or detracting from your overall health, movement skill, emotional well-being, and goals.

For those of you who say, “I just can’t relax,” remember to stop and rest after your somatic movement, or at the end of your day; this is a practice in learning to relax. It truly is an art these days. When you let go completely, your brain and nervous system begin to know what true relaxation is. (And what a wealth of information it brings to your awareness!)

So, remember to pause after each movement (or each day) in order to let your brain and body truly release and reset.

Rushing from one thing to the next leads to burnout and prevents us from sensing our bodies, how we relate to them and how our actions affects them. We don’t want to be surprised by a body that seems to suddenly work against us. We all need time to integrate. Take the time; it’s worth the rest of your life.

 

Happy New Year of Awareness

HAPPY 2016!

Each new year brings a time of reflection – a time to look back on the past year – the good, the not-so-good – and assess how far you’ve come in your life, your goals, your work, and your health. When we’re honest with ourselves in our assessment we may notice habits or behaviors that no longer serve us. We resolve to lose weight, exercise more, and eat healthier.  We reach out for resources and support in order to make those changes.  When we sit down to reflect on our future goals, hopes or aspirations for the New Year, we sit quietly. We remember. We take time to pay attention, mull things over and plan.

Awareness is key in developing new habits.

Without awareness of ourselves, our habits and how they shape our lives and goals we just may go on struggling to create change year after year with no success; we need to realize that true, long lasting change comes from a new perspective. Some habits are beneficial while others are simply conditioned into us by circumstances or upbringing, unconsciously becoming “who” we think we are.

Without the element of awareness New Year’s resolutions have as much significance as a grocery list. Add to that a commitment to a daily practice of new habits or ways of being or thinking, and you have a profound and successful recipe for self-knowledge, growth and transformation.

Muhammed Ali once said,

The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.

And Thomas Hanna said:

If you’re not getting smarter as you get older, you’re doing something wrong.

No matter your age or limitation, nothing changes or improves without awareness, and practice. Our goal here at Essential Somatics® is to teach to those with chronic muscle pain or limited movement to create long-term pain relief by cultivating awareness of their bodies and movement, and by discovering their innate ability to change how they reflexively respond to the stresses of life. The way in which we move and sense ourselves physically is a reflection of our thoughts, feelings and how we have adapted to the accumulated stresses of our lives. When you have pain you change who you are – your ability to make good decisions, your goals, your dreams and your desires. The good news is that within each one of us is the innate capacity to change, grow and learn a new way of being.

We’re here to guide those who want to regain awareness and control of their bodies and their movement goals, with awareness, opportunities for practice, and sincere and patient encouragement.

Please join us for weekly classes, workshops, and private clinical sessions for those of you striving to live a movement-filled, pain-free life. 

May this year bring growth, creativity, health and peace to you and everyone you know.

Correct Your Common Posture Problems in 3 Steps

Today, I read a New York Times article about how posture affects one’s emotional state, physical health, and self-esteem. The solution that is offered is simply to do strengthening exercises for the back, core, and buttocks. In reality, the answer is not that simple (if it were, back pain and bad posture would be non-existent). What this article fails to address is the root cause of most poor posture. Hanna Somatics provides this missing link information.

I recently wrote this blog post about posture and how Hanna Somatics teaches you to improve your posture – or better said, “efficient balance in the center,”  and relieve your back pain for the long-term.

Step 1: Be aware of your habits

The first thing you need to do is to become aware of your current postural, movement, and emotional habits. Do you use a computer, hold a bag or purse on one shoulder or sit for hours at a time? Are you frequently stressed or fearful? Just take note.

Step 2: Learn how your habits create Sensory Motor Amnesia

Your brain controls your muscles, movement, emotional responses, and the way you habituate to the stresses of your life. Sensory Motor Amnesia presents as full-body patterns of muscular tightness. Whatever you do consistently becomes a habit –  your brain’s new “normal” – and you lose conscious awareness. This is when slumped posture and back pain arise. This also affects your emotional and psychological state, and self-esteem.

Step 3: Find your optimum posture

This doesn’t mean simply standing straight or sitting with your feet planted on the floor. You need to restore your ability to sense and fully control your muscles to contract and relax by first retraining your brain – the control center of your body – through pandiculation and Hanna Somatic Exercises. This is a process of education, the same as learning to ride a bicycle or play the piano. You will learn body and emotional awareness, and learn to release tense muscles, which will help you to create physical comfort from the inside out.

4 Common “Bad” Postures (and their causes):

• Hunched shoulders and tucked pelvis – slumping in seat, frequent computer use, emotional response to worry and fear
• “Text neck“/Forward neck – tilting head downward to use handheld device or nurse/feed an infant, straining to see computer screen

• Uneven weight on feet – compensation due to an accident, injury or surgery, holding baby on one hip, one-sided repetitive tasks

• Forward hip tilt/Arched lower back – common in Type A personalities and active individuals, emotional response to high-stress situations

Try a few Somatic Exercises to help release tight back muscles and improve posture.

Regain Freedom of Movement (for the rest of your life!)

The desire for freedom is intrinsic to human nature and essential to human development. It is so crucial to our development that children who are not allowed to move (restricted recess, sitting still for long periods of time, etc.) can develop cognitive, emotional and psychological problems (as discussed on NPR Ed).

In our youth, we learn by trial and error to move our bodies, from the moment we first lift our head to our first success at riding a bicycle without falling off. Through repetition and habituation we create stability through movement patterns. Movement habits are formed in order to allow for efficient movement and conservation of energy.

The freedom to climb trees, run after soap bubbles, chase our friends, ride bicycles, dance, jump, yell and shout teaches us about ourselves both on a personal, social, emotional, and physical level. We learn how to problem solve, collaborate, create, and strengthen ourselves – processes that occur from the inside out often unseen by others as we grow into adulthood.This is, at its essence, how we get to know who we are.

All life is sensory motor in nature.

Babies have one way of experiencing the world: through sensory feedback. They sense discomfort and they cry; they sense safety or comfort and they relax; they sense danger or fear and they cry; they awaken from a nap and paniculate their limbs, yawn, and squirm in order to sense their bodies. 

As we get older things change. Many of us, for a variety of reasons, stop
moving as freely as we once did. We adopt ways of moving that reflects
societal rules or restrictions and, inevitably, the many “insults” of life: accident, illness, physical or emotional trauma, psychological fear, and family patterns. Others keep physically active (sports, playing, dancing, or walking), as well as mentally or emotionally active, seeking help when we need it to create emotional patterns that serve us. All of this learning shows up in our bodies, our health and specifically our movement.

The goal of Hanna Somatic Education is to teach you to take back physical independence and control of your own ever changing, dynamic body and life. Our bodies and our lives are never static. As human organisms we are an ever changing, dynamic, living process that can only ever be sensed individually. Life is, indeed, lived from the inside out.

Muscle pain can disappear and aging can still be active and healthy. By learning to sense what it feels like to be “you,” from the inside out (physically and emotionally) you redirect your dependency on others and move toward authentic physical freedom.

A daily practice of Somatic Exercises and conscious movement that is pleasurable and fosters awareness is necessary to maintain the the self-awareness and skill it takes to maintain freedom – physical, mental and emotional freedom from patterns that don’t serve us.

Visit the Essential Somatics® store for our easy-to-follow instructional DVDs.

Check out our Clinical Somatic Education Professional training.

Good Health Doesn’t Just Happen

One of my colleagues recently wrote me an uplifting email. I thought I’d share it with you.

I had a doctor’s appointment last week, complete with blood work (which I have done every 6 months). My lab stats were even better than they were last time – and last time my doctor said they were “perfect!” So despite my perfect stats, the stats just keep on getting better and better.  I had another doctor appointment yesterday, and told her about the stats from my last visit. She looked them up and she commented that “good health like that doesn’t just happen.”I feel I am living proof of the unlimited potential to improve all aspects of our health – not just relief of aches and pains – as we continue to strengthen sensory motor awareness.  I’m wondering who out there who has a daily practice of Hanna Somatic is experiencing the same benefits?

Improving one’s sensory motor awareness – the sense of what it feels like to be “you” as you live and respond in your life – has myriad benefits: reduction of muscular pain, improved brain to muscle control, improved joint stability and strength, and increased neural pathways in the brain due to movement differentiation and pandiculation. A body that is under the voluntary control of one’s brain is a body whose autonomic nervous system is also more likely to function optimally.

As a Hanna Somatic Educator and trainer my goal is to teach people to move through life pain-free, with choice, mastery and joy. It can be done.

Somatic Exercises Make Freedom of Movement Possible

Hanna Somatic Exercises are powerful in their ability to change what your brain can sense in your body and how it can move your muscles. What your brain cannot feel it cannot, physiologically, move nor control. Over time, due to stress adaptation, we can become tighter and more rigid – in our movement, our bodies and our minds.

Somatic Exercises can change how we live our lives, how we believe that our minds and bodies interrelate, how powerful we think we are in controlling our lives, and how responsible we should be in taking care of our total being.

– Thomas Hanna, PhD, author of the book, Somatics

I recently taught three online video classes over three weeks to a client who suffered from chronic neck, shoulder, hip joint, low back pain and sense of being twisted in the center. She had read my book and was sure that her muscle pain was a case of Sensory Motor Amnesia rather than a chronic, unchangeable condition. I taught her seven basic Somatic Exercises and two “Standing Somatics” movements.

During our initial assessment I took several photos of her. When we assess we look for patterns of imbalance – the back overly arched, one side of the waist more hitched up than the other, shoulders slumped forward and chest collapsed. The photo below was taken before we started the first lesson. Note the line of her back and spine; it was being held tightly (by the brain) in an  exaggerated curve, like an archer’s bow. This Green Light Reflex posture made it look as if she had a protruding belly. Her neck was thrust forward and the weight of her body was on the front of her feet. No wonder she had neck and shoulder pain! To her this was her “normal, neutral” posture.

Below is the photo taken before her third lesson. She had been doing Somatic Exercises on her own at home, for only three weeks! Notice how much less arched her back; her “protruding belly” had disappeared. Her weight was more evenly distributed over her feet and she had slowly, but surely found a new, more efficient and comfortable neutral. Her uncomfortable twist had gone away as well. She even looked happier! Her biggest “aha! moment” had been when she noticed how she arched her back and thrust her face forward as she sat at her computer. That moment of noticing caused her to stop, self-correct and adjust and take back voluntary control of her movement and posture. The process of learning to be self-aware, self-monitoring and self-correcting is a life long process.

So which exercises did she learn? We started where everyone should start: the beginning:

• Arch and Flatten
• Flower
• Arch and Curl
• Back Lift
• Cross Lateral Arch and Curl
• Side Bend (for that sense of being twisted and out of balance)
• Washrag (gentle spinal twisting that lengthens the waist as you twist the whole spine)
• Walking Exercises, Part 1 and 2 (which integrates the movement of the back, waist and front into the pattern of walking)
• Reach To The Top Shelf
• Standing Arch and Curl

She learned to sense the movements by doing them slowly, with awareness, rather than doing them like rote exercises from the gym. The more she focused on the sensation of the movement and the slow controlled release of pandiculation, the more change and improvement she was able to make.

When we consciously and patiently turn our awareness within, to our internal sensations, we can learn to release often mysterious and long term muscle pain. The best time to start learning to move freely is right now.  Freedom of movement can enrich and improve not just your body, but you as a person.

Learn to skillfully teach Hanna Somatic Exercises in the Hanna Somatic Exercise Coach Training Level One. Join the many movement professionals who have discovered the benefits of incorporating Hanna Somatic Exercises into their primary teaching.

The Mystery of “Muscle Knots” Solved: Sensory Motor Amnesia

There is some confusion as to what “muscle knots” are and where they come from. This article from the New York Times posits: “How do they happen and how can they be prevented? Are they harmful and should they be treated?” Allow me to answer these questions in the simplest way possible:

“Muscle knots” are not mysterious; they are areas of Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA)

Sensory Motor Amnesia is habituated muscle tension that develops when we become habituated to stress and/or certain ways of moving. These areas of accumulated, learned muscular tension are stuck at the level of the central nervous system and cannot, physiologically, release and relax.

If you’ve ever had back, neck or shoulder pain and gone to a massage therapist to work the knots out of your back, only to have the knots return, it seems that there is little that can be done. Not so. The reason these knots seem to stick around despite the best massage therapist’s effort, and why they don’t show up on scans and MRIs is because what is happening in the muscle is a neurological event in the brain – a functional problem of the sensory motor system. SMA is not a medical problem that can be diagnosed through conventional medical methods. It is a functional  problem of the sensory motor system that can be easily “unlearned” through Hanna Somatic Education.

Muscle knots can be prevented first and foremost by understanding how SMA develops in your brain due to repetitive stress responses and/or repetitive, habituated movement habits. Muscles have two functions: contract and relax. When muscles can no longer fully relax this is an indication that you have accumulated muscle tension that you are no longer fully aware of. The only way to fully release these “knots” is to make sure that the brain is fully in control of the muscles.

Muscles knots are only harmful when they get in the way of free, efficient movement.

Movement is medicine, movement is life, and painful muscle tension can cause you to move less efficiently and, for most people, minimize the amount of movement you do. In order to live a healthy, free life we need to be able to move strongly, vigorously, and with endurance for as long as we live. If you’re not planning on moving a lot then muscle knots won’t hurt you. The lack of movement will, however.

Treatment of tight muscles doesn’t work. Reeducation of tight muscles does.

If you want to untie a knot, you must look at the cord carefully then gently undo the tangle. Yanking on the cord will only make the knot tighter.

– Thomas Hanna

Muscle knots can’t really be “treated” successfully – for the long term.  Treatment is what bodyworkers and doctors do when they attempt to fix tight muscles (or postural imbalances) from the outside; there are therapists who can help provide short term relief, yet muscle tension develops from the inside out (Sensory Motor Amnesia) and, since humans are self-regulating, self-sensing beings, not cars or bicycles that need fixing, their muscles must be educated so they can contract and release fully in order to get rid of muscle knots.

Through active involvement of the brain – rather than through manual manipulation – people can more easily and safely learn to  eliminate muscle knots, restore full muscle function in all planes of gravity and prevent them from coming back by doing three simple things:

• Become aware of your daily movement habits and reflexive responses to stress. Repetitive contraction of muscles without full relaxation creates muscle knots.
• Learn to pandiculate instead of stretch. Animals pandiculate up to 40 times a day!
• If you have chronic muscle tension, learn how to eliminate your patterns of Sensory Motor Amnesia with a daily routine of Somatic Exercises**

Muscle knots are not an inevitable part of life; they are a symptom of stress adaptation.

**You can also learn to eliminate your patterns of SMA through a series of hands-on clinical Somatics sessions with a skilled and certified practitioner.

Freedom and Habits: Can They Exist at the Same Time?

How easily we allow our old habits and set patterns to dominate us! Even though they bring us suffering, we accept them with almost fatalistic resignation, for we are so used to giving in to them. We may idealize freedom, but when it comes to our habits, we are completely enslaved. Still, reflection can slowly bring us wisdom. We may, of course, fall back into fixed repetitive patterns again and again, but slowly we can emerge from them and change.

While this quote comes from Rigpa, a Buddhist website, it is the same philosophy underpinning Hanna Somatics. From a Hanna Somatics perspective it means that set patterns and habits, while useful in many ways, can dominate our posture and movement if we are unaware of them and unable to control them.  The fixed habits of walking that develop through trial and error as toddlers are critically important. They allow us the freedom to move forward in life. Yet, when other habits take over and become fixed patterns, like slumping at the computer, gritting our teeth when we’re angry, tightening our bellies when we’re anxious, contracting our back muscles as we rush through our busy lives – we gradually lose our sense of well-being and our freedom. Unconscious habits can change who we are. 

Habitual responses to stress become muscular habits at the level of our brain and nervous system. Once we develop a habit we are helpless to change it until we spend thoughtful time becoming aware of:

• What the habit feels like (back pain, hip pain, sciatica, neck pain).
• How it shows up in our bodies (slumped shoulders, face forward, leg length discrepancy).
• How it is limiting us (“I used to dance and now it just hurts my hip… I can only walk a few blocks and then my back gives out…”).

Many people feel defeated: “Well, I’m not getting any younger.” “It’s all down hill from here…” or “I probably ache because of my age.” Many accept their unfortunate limitations with fatalistic resignation. They feel trapped and frustrated by muscle pain and few sensible solutions as they seek a solution to their pain “out there” – massage therapy, bodywork, physical therapy, the latest trends and remedies to relax muscles. They don’t realize that in most cases the answer lies within their own brain and sensory motor system, and how an awareness of what they’re doing repeatedly, (whether emotional, physical or psychological) can be the piece of the puzzle that they’re missing.

This is the message of Hanna Somatics: freedom comes through awareness of one’s ability to sense and control oneself from the inside out as they move through life. It is a patient and persistent practice of awareness – of what it feels like to be you, how your old habits have created habits of pain and limitation, the meaning you have given to what has happened to you over the years, and how you can change limitation to freedom – on your own, from the inside out. We need habits in our lives; they create a necessary element of stability – in movement. It’s whether these habits serve us or not that is the question.

What does freedom look and feel like to you?

Getting Back to Basics in 2015

2014 was a brilliant year for Hanna Somatics. Thank you to all those around the world – from Australia to Calgary, the UK, Norway, Germany, and the US – who supported me in my teaching and trainings. Thankfully, the word “somatic” is no longer foreign to most people’s ears.

New, more somatic, and exploratory movement disciplines are becoming more popular. Yoga teachers, Pilates teachers, personal trainers, massage therapists, physiotherapists, chiropractors and osteopaths are teaching Somatic Exercises as a complement to their primary practice.

The people I taught around the world this past year are thirsting for a somatic approach to pain relief and mindful, life long movement. They understand that the body, which for many is the source of unhappiness, can be our own powerful “canary in the mineshaft” that signals an imbalance – in all areas of our lives. One of the safest gateways to “re-membering” who you are, what you want and what is basic to your quality of life is through your own somatic experience: your body.

Many turn away from the slow, mindful somatic exercises as “too boring” or “too slow.” I understand that. Yet when it comes to learning to master movement, slow is the new fast.

We run marathons, but we cannot breathe into our bellies or swing our hips. We cannot move slowly, but we strive to do 100 sit-ups as fast as we can. We have back pain, but rush around taking care of others with no time for ourselves. We don’t see that our emotions and lifestyle have a profound impact on our muscle tension and level of happiness. There’s a disconnect here that, over time, will translate into a “what happened to me?!” experience that just may be your wake up call.

Enter “the basics.”

I love Dan John’s blog post, Going From Point A To Point B. His advice may be geared towards strength training, yet it is a life lesson that, to my ears, is purely somatic: if you want to get to Point B (the Olympics, Super Bowl, weight loss) you need to know where Point A is. Once you know where Point A is you can map out a direct line to your goal. Point A, from my perspective as a Somatic Educator is what it feels like to be in your body – right now, today. But there’s more…

The Basics

A free and easy walk. If your goal is to run a marathon, but your pelvis is rigid, your legs don’t swing easily and you “clunk” when you walk… you need to learn to walk freely. The is the quintessential human movement. We want to be able to walk – unaided – well into old age.

Pandiculate often! If you still stretch, learn to pandiculate. Cats and dogs pandiculate up to 40 times a day. Pandiculation restores full muscle function and length. Just slowly lengthen out your limbs, as if you were just waking up from a nap.

The ability to hike your hips up and down (like a slow salsa). If you don’t know where your waist muscles are and can’t isolate them one at a time, it’s time to learn. Hips and a pelvis that move up, down, forward and back contribute to fluid walking.

The ability to move your shoulders in opposition to your hips (think shoulder shimmies). Do your shoulders move in gentle opposition to your hips when you walk or do you walk like a refrigerator, solid as a block with no movement in the center, swaying back and forth? If yes, then this is why you might be losing your balance. If your shoulders are stiff, your hips will be stiff. They’re connected. That’s basic.

The ability to twist through the torso. If you walk stiffly (see above) and can’t remember the last time you twisted your upper body in opposition to your lower body, it’s time to regain that skill. Your spine needs to be able to twist to help you walk freely.

Sadly, many people have completely lost connection with a sense of what it feels like to be in their bodies. For them Point A is taking the time to learn to sense yourself. Take all the time you need because what you cannot sense you cannot control. This applies to your body, your life, your choices and your dreams. Change comes first through awareness, then patient, persistent and fun practice.

All these basic movement skills can be learned through Somatic Exercises.

Click here for Pain-Free and Move Without Pain DVDs.

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Click here to find a practitioner who can help you learn to move well in 2015.