What to expect during your 1:1 session or group class
There are many ways to begin and deepen your Somatics journey, including private sessions, movement classes and self study. A private lesson is the most focused and direct route to making change. In a private lesson you’ll get personalized attention and can have the most in-depth experience of the movements and exercises. Joining a movement class is a less expensive way to learn self care exercises while still benefiting from the guidance of an experienced teacher. Finally, you can access many high quality videos on-line that can help you learn these movement patterns on your own. The movements of Somatics are gentle and appropriate for all levels of physical fitness and mobility. They can be adapted and modified to meet the needs of all bodies.
Private Sessions
The work of Hanna Somatics is a learning experience; you are creating an environment and experiences that help your mind to consciously understand how it is operating your body and to learn to change that program. It is important to see yourself as a student, and should expect to spend about 20-30 min a day practicing your “homework” - the self care exercises you and your teacher have chosen to help support the new freedom you are building in your body. This self practice is essential - the only person who can change your mind is you. It took many years to learn your current patterns, and without regular daily repetition it is difficult for our minds to cement a new way of using our bodies.
Your first session will begin with an in-depth conversation with your teacher about your medical history, current pain experiences and lifestyle. In addition to this conversation your assessment will also include a visual assement where your teacher will ask you to stand up so that they can observe your posture. If you are meeting in person, your teacher will gently touch the muscles in your shoulders, back and waist to get a sense for your muscular tension and might ask you to walk or perform some other basic movements to get as much of a sense for where you are right now as possible. If you are meeting on-line, the process is similar, but might include a request for photos that show your posture, etc.
After the assessment you will spend 45-60 min working with your teacher on the table (in person) or on your mat (on-line). During this time you will explore gentle movement patterns that will help your mind begin to understand where you hold tension and begin to release it through pandiculation. As a learning journey, you and your teacher will work together to refine these movements to help you connect deeply into what has been unconscious so that it can become visible and evolve and change. This release feels almost like ironing out the kinks and blocks from your body; you should experience a deeper sense of groundedness, fuller breathe and a sense of release from deep in your body. You might even notice a significant reduction in pain from your very first session.
At the end of your session your teacher will help you to learn and master some self care exercises that you can practice each day as homework. This daily practice is essential to help your mind build on the learning from your 1:1 session and to allow this new, more relaxed body posture to become your new normal. You should expect to practice 20-30 min each day. That can be all at once, or broken up into smaller chunks throughout the day, whatever best fits your schedule. These exercises are exploratory; they are focused on the experience of your body from the inside. It is important to have a quiet space with limited distractions so that you can allow your mind to go deeply inside your body. This proprioceptive experience is essential for creating lasting change in body tension and stress.
Group Classes
A group class is an opportunity to explore somatic movement with a teacher in a less intensive format. You’ll spend most of your time lying down on your mat, following the guidance of the teacher and feeling the movements from inside your own body. You’ll lie on your back, front or sides depending on the movement pattern. For the most part, movements will be guided with words rather than demonstrated. This is important as what is transformational about these movements is not the shape you end up in, but your internal experience and learning. The nervous system learns best when you focus on how things feel from the inside rather than copying a movement and perhaps forcing yours to be the same.
Classes use the same gentle self care exercises that you would learn in a 1:1 session, and you can use these movements at home to continue deepening your minds connection to and understanding of your body. Just as with private sessions, you can use these movements to help relieve pain, warm up or cool down from exercise, improve posture, etc. Adding daily practice into your routine is one of the most effective ways to release stress and free your body from unconscious tension.
When you join a group class you will be invited to set up your mat and camera in a specific way so that the teacher can see your movements and give guidance and suggestions. You will also be invited to fill out an Intentions and Injuries form so that the teacher knows what you are working on and what your goals are.
Self-study
Movement patterns can be learned on your own through videos, books, etc. Please check the resources page for links to YouTube videos and self-study programs. Self study provides the least support, but also has the lowest cost.
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