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Sharing My Exciting News With You!

I hope this finds you healthy, happy and safe today.

I’m thrilled to share that I’ve graduated from the Essential Somatics® 3-Year 600 hour Clinical Somatic Education Certification Training (an extra fourth year due to covid restrictions – completely worth it!!).  Thank you for your encouragement and support throughout this training.  

Why do I love this slow, gentle and safe practice?  As Thomas Hanna, the founder of Hanna Somatics, so beautifully shared:

“Because you are dealing with something that is so precious; it’s one of the dearest and most satisfying things you could possibly do with your life. To relate to other people in a way that you give and create experiences that are self-transformitory. That’s more than healing. It is in a sense, like giving people back their lives.”

Don’s posture improvement from practicing Clinical Somatic Education

Don’s Kind Words:

“Over the past few years I have had a couple of equine assisted ground impacts. These have resulted in a number of fractures that with time and caution healed but my body also took some precautions which left me with a number of issues. I had worked with Alana on previous occasions and decided I needed her help again. In the past 3 months she has helped fix my posture which relieved some of my ongoing pains. We have also worked on a number of other issues that had shown up because of the fractures and I can now ride my horse pretty much pain free. The material she has provided for my home work has been very informative and easy to follow which has helped us getting such good results.”  Don M.

The photos above show Don’s progress over an 8 week time frame from the start of his very first Clinical Somatic Education session on the left to 8 weeks later on the right of each photo.

Bravo Don!!! 

His amazing progress was due to his commitment to attending private sessions where he became aware of where he was holding muscle tension and learned specific somatic movements to do at home to release it himself.

When you are unaware that you have muscles that are stuck in deeply ingrained dysfunctional movement patterns you may be experiencing  discomfort or pain.

Even ten minutes of a daily gentle, slow somatic movement practiced mindfully and with curiosity will allow your brain to begin regaining voluntary control of your muscle function:

  • releasing muscle tension to create ease
  • improving movement patterns 
  • improving coordination, mobility, balance, posture
  • increasing your energy
  • settling your nervous system
  • reducing or completely resolving discomfort and/or pain

The purpose of Somatic Movement Education is to enhance your function and body-mind integration through movement awareness.
It includes:

  • postural and movement evaluation
  • movement patterning and re-patterning
  • communication and guidance through touch and verbal cues 
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The Gifts of Freedom in Your Movement

I have to tell you, when I was first introduced to Somatic Movements, I didn’t get it.  I wasn’t ready or maybe I should say my ego wasn’t ready for exploring such slow, small, gentle movements.  Surely I could do faster and more complex movements than this?  Well, the answer is that yes, I could, however I didn’t realize how much I was compensating in order to do those movements.  It was no wonder that I didn’t feel comfortable taking part in a traditional yoga class.  I began to explore answering the questions:

  • What’s moving that should be?
  • What’s moving that shouldn’t be?
  • What isn’t moving that should be?

I am so glad that I was given another opportunity to explore Somatic Movements becoming more deeply aware of sensing and feeling inside myself.  I’m grateful to have my family, teachers, students and colleagues supporting me as I’ve learned more and more about these slow, gentle practices to support my own wellness and the wellness of others.  I don’t know where I’d be physically or emotionally without them.  One does not preclude the other.  When my body is feeling great I feel better emotionally, however, when I’m experiencing pain then I don’t feel well emotionally either – sleep is harder due to discomfort, movement is harder, and it is also hard to accept when I have less freedom to choose what I’d like to do when I am limited by discomfort or pain.

I had a spinal fusion when I was 16.  I found out I had a grade 4 spondilolisthesis after being in a car accident.  What does this mean?  Well, my lowest lumbar vertebra slipped forward greater than 75% on my sacrum.  I had experienced sciatic pain and low back pain from about age 12.  The car accident ended up being a blessing as it revealed this obstacle to health and wellbeing.  Surgery was the only option to stabilize my spine.  In 1982 that meant six weeks of bedrest after surgery.  At age 16 I did not realize how much this affected me emotionally as well.  I had been a very active teenager – softball, volleyball, basketball – they were my life and then I could no longer participate.  

I wish I knew about Clinical Somatic Education and Somatic Movement then. 

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Seeking Comfort & Freedom?

Today I am writing to ask how I can support you in this time of restriction if you are seeking comfort and freedom?

I have felt so much restriction myself through this difficult time and wanted to share with you a few practices and resources I have found to be comforting and freeing for me with you.  I hope they resonate with you as much as they have with me.

I am diving in to ways that support my wellbeing – the above photo is me, yes, in my bathtub!!  Our home doesn’t have a lot natural light coming in during the day.  This corner of our home gets lovely sun in the morning and into the early afternoon so I have been taking advantage of that.  I put some yoga props in the tub to support me, brought in books to read, colouring books to colour, my phone to listen to podcasts, a candle to help make it a sacred space, and my daughter even brought some twinkling lights for the evening when I’m having some quiet time to myself.

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Sensory Motor Amnesia

“I very much enjoy the classes. Alana has a very gentle and calming spirit. She is very thorough in teaching and takes time to explain if needed.”  Rosalie

“I love your class, not only are you completely suited to this but, you draw a class of people that are also suited to this.  I not only go to your class because my back feels better, but, the atmosphere is so freeing.
I feel that everyone who attends have an amazing spirit.  I have Never, Ever felt this anywhere else.”  Donna

I am curious.  Have you ever driven somewhere and wondered how you got there?  You’ve travelled the route so frequently that it has made a groove in your brain.  You sit behind the wheel of your car and it’s like being on autopilot.  You arrive at your destination and try to think back to specific parts of the drive and it doesn’t come back easily.

Then, one day there is a detour in the route.  Something has caused the original route to change and you need to learn and adapt to the detour for a period of time.  This detour isn’t as efficient but it gets you where you need to go.

When the detour is finished you may still take the same route that you have adapted to.  You now need to relearn the original, more efficient route.

This is what Sensory Motor Amnesia is like. The brain has lost it’s ability to sense and move the muscles to voluntarily control  them.

We start out with freedom in our movements, however, we may experience an injury, a trauma, a surgery or do a specific movement over and over again.  This is our soma’s detour.  Our brain and muscles learn a maladaptive movement pattern just like the detour in the route.  This allows us to do our daily tasks accommodating this stressor to our soma.  

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Sharing the Love…

“Alana provides a great Somatics practice in her classes with the added bonus of breathing exercises each class. She is attentive to the individual needs of each of us. I leave feeling more relaxed in my mind, less tension in my body and more energy overall.”… Linda

I love reading how SomaYogis like Linda feel when they leave a Somatic Movement group class. This is why I LOVE sharing the classes!

It is always my intention to provide a class that creates a safe space for each and every participant to have this personal experience.

But how does that happen? Through engaging our sense of Interoception we explore movement that leaves us feeling relaxed and yet more energized.

We can place our attention on:

  • Exteroception which is “what is going on around me?”
  • Proprioception which is “where is my body in this space?” or
  • Interoception which is “What do I sense and feel inside my body?”

Interoception is the focus of the Somatics Practice.

When I am doing my own personal practice, I feel like it is a meditation in itself. I am truly being present and trusting the sensations that are arising in my soma (we each have our first person experience of what we sense and feel as a “soma”) to guide me through my breath and movement practice.

What are the words that may be associated with Interoception in a Somatic Movement practice?

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Seeking Help in the Midst of a Perfect Storm

It has been challenging for me to decide when it is appropriate to share this personal experience with you.  When is it a good time to share one’s experience of grief?

Before “Merry Christmas” just didn’t seem right and now with “Happy New Year”, it still doesn’t seem right…  However, when I was out walking with a dear friend late last week she reminded me that people experience grief at any time of the year.  We are never alone in this.

Through this experience there were two things that became very apparent to me:

  1. The body does keep the score – emotional and/or physical trauma can bring about discomfort in my body.
  2. When this happens, I need to follow my intuition and expand my team of healers when needed.

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