Read Somatics Reawakening The Mind Control Of Movement Flexibility And Health Thomas Hanna 8601300409375 Books

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When our bodies start to feel stiff, sore, or tired, we often say that we're "getting old." But is that really the problem?

Read Somatics Reawakening The Mind Control Of Movement Flexibility And Health Thomas Hanna 8601300409375 Books

"This book changed my life. A head injury in 1996 left me with some challenges that would prevent me from ever again being as physical as I once had been. Inactivity combined with the normal aging process had found me VERY tight and restricted in my movements.What I found in this book allowed me to reach a level of ease of movement that I may have NEVER had since being a "rubber" 12 year old kid. Make no mistake about it. You WILL have to DO the exercises.....knowing about them isn't going to cut it. If you can commit to a few minutes a day, every day...in 30 days you will never look back."

Product details Paperback 176 pages Publisher Da Capo Press; 1 edition (August 4, 2004) Language English ISBN-10 0738209570

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Somatics Reawakening The Mind Control Of Movement Flexibility And Health Thomas Hanna 8601300409375 Books Reviews :

Somatics Reawakening The Mind Control Of Movement Flexibility And Health Thomas Hanna 8601300409375 Books Reviews

• For content, I give Hannah's book 5 stars. His essays are straightforward, the science behind his approach makes sense, and all of the exercises seem safe and well tested. For usability, however, give it a 3. Frankly, it is difficult to learn somatic exercises from a book unless you already know what you are doing. And the illustrations in this paperback are poor quality. I worked with this book for some time feeling no results because I was not doing the exercises correctly. That being said, I give Hannah's book a sum of 4 stars because there is an art and intelligence to somatics hard to find elsewhere, it's very affordable, and quite useful when accompanied by supplementary materials.
  
  I highly recommend purchasing the downloadable audio guides called "The Cat Stretches" by Hannah's student, Lawrence Gold, to accompany this book. It is so much easier to do the exercises correctly with a professional talking you through. You won't have to stop constantly to read, which allows you to move through the lessons faster with greater concentration. Most importantly, the audio lessons establish an effective pace for the exercises. Pacing is key to moving somatically, which is quite unlike typical stretching or strength training you will get from your physical therapist.
  
  Done correctly, somatic movement feels like the kind of "stretch" you might do with a great big yawn in bed when you wake up in the morning. There is stretching aspect, but not in the common sense of holding muscle in a lengthened position (the word "stretch" seems to be an obstacle for the somatic instructors to the point they will say "no stretching", which is more confusing than helpful). Equally important is the contracting aspect, through which the brain (re-)learns how to exert voluntary control over muscles that may be chronically tight due to stress or trauma, or weak due to lack of use. That's the gist of it. The cat stretch series developed by Thomas Hannah will balance out the body for better posture and improved walking. Once you learn the basic cat stretch program, you can find more specific exercises to your condition online from Hannah's students, Lawrence Gold and Martha Peterson, both of whom provide coaching (though I have done a coaching myself). You can even develop your own exercises. And you can find opportunities to move more somatically in other activities.
  
  I took my time to work through the lessons (abut 6 months) with the help of Lawrence Gold's audio coaching. Now I spend about 30-40 minutes a day doing somatic exercises. In time I expected to reduce my practice to 15 minutes. Normal people, who aren't dealing with a very old trauma response like I am, should be able to work through the lessons in 8-12 weeks, as suggested.
  
  FYI. Martha Peterson, who was also a student of Hannah, has updated Hannah's Somatics with much better illustrations. However, a book is still a book, with all the difficulties of having to stop frequently to read until you know the exercises, and the inability to articulate pacing in words. Peterson has some good video clips online to illustrate how this all works. She also offers a DVD, which could be useful in the way I found Gold's audio program useful. I don't have her video. But, for me, I am still partial to audio because it is very relaxing, and once you get going you won't be watching a video anyway. I have found very useful tips in Peterson's book. But, in either case, Hannah or Peterson, a book serves well as an introduction and reference, not an effective manual for beginners.
• This book changed my life. A head injury in 1996 left me with some challenges that would prevent me from ever again being as physical as I once had been. Inactivity combined with the normal aging process had found me VERY tight and restricted in my movements.What I found in this book allowed me to reach a level of ease of movement that I may have NEVER had since being a "rubber" 12 year old kid. Make no mistake about it. You WILL have to DO the exercises.....knowing about them isn't going to cut it. If you can commit to a few minutes a day, every day...in 30 days you will never look back.
• Fantastic book. Thomas Hanna was a genius. He was a philosopher first (was even friends with Albert Camus). Hanna is responsible for coining the term "somatics" in the seventies, but it's now being used by unrelated modalities in a more general sense. Inspired in part by the work of Moshé Feldenkrais, he developed something truly extraordinary. I very much appreciate that he put philosophy into practical action. I do not suggest following videos on YouTube claiming to be showing you Hanna's work. They don't get it. Follow the book, and do not treat this work like normal movement or exercise. It is brain retraining. Best source I know of for more information is Somatics.org.
• I follow a somatic yoga practice with local instructors who have special training in that hybrid approach. Somatics and yoga did cure some severe shoulder pain I was having, that massage and physical therapy did not. So I am a convert to this approach of self-awareness, mobility and healing. This book was recommended by those instructors to me. However, while I like learning about the foundations of the method, the illustrations using an Ikea doll are a bit hard to translate to my own body. I like the Martha Peterson somatics book a bit more for following the illustrations. Thank you Thomas Hanna for giving us this gift of a self-healing practice and awareness building.
  
  Yoga adds a dimension to somatics by bringing in the breathing and meditation aspects as well as the strength piece. After you work through Thomas Hanna's approach, or even while you are working through it, you still need to build strength. Certain yoga approaches, like gentle Hatha, are more compatible with the somatics philosophy than others. Definitely there is a "no pain" mentality to this approach that works.
• Takes Moshe Feldenkrais's teachings and makes them usable. Read this and start getting rid of those aches and pains and limitations. Think supple at seventy.