Book Review 📙 Somatics: Reawakening the Mind's Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health

Author: Thomas Hanna
Publication Date: 1988

Book Summary:

Picture an old person. You're probably thinking about someone with a stooped posture who shuffles a bit as they walk (slowly) or someone who sits in a chair all day and sleeps a lot. When we get a twinge in our back, feel a bit stiff or sore, or can no longer run around like we used to, we've heard ourselves or others say "maybe I'm just getting old!".

Our society believes that to get old is to decay, decline, deteriorate. We expect it to be painful and we believe it's inevitable.

Thomas Hanna didn't believe this. He believed that it is not the quantity of years we have lived (age) it is the quality of those years (how much stress we encounter and how we deal with it) that counts.

In this groundbreaking book, Hanna explores the idea that the stress we experience in our lives causes us to tighten the muscles in our bodies. If we experience a lot of stress, we get a lot of tension. And if we don't know that it's happening, or how to deal with it, it builds up and up.

We lose the ability to fully relax and we get stiff, sore, inflexible and tired.

Building on the work on stress by Hans Selye, Hanna explains the physiological responses we have to stress and gives a set of Somatic Movements to reset the nervous system.

Hanna encourages us to view aging differently - that to age is to become wiser, deeper, fuller. We should go on getting better as we age, not worse.

The Book in 3 Sentences:

• Age is not the problem - it is not the number of years we have lived but the stress we endure during those years that determines whether we experience aches, pains, discomfort and maybe even more serious health conditions
• Humans respond to stress automatically - either to protect against danger (Red Light Reflex), move forward toward possibility (Green Light Reflex) or guard against physical injury (Trauma Reflex)
• Humans have an enormous capacity to change themselves; these responses to stress have been learned and so they can be unlearned

Who should read it:

You’ll enjoy this read if:

• You experience chronic pain for which there has been no convincing explanation
• You have lost hope in ever feeling better, or feel that you're health issues are not taken seriously
• You are interested in self-development and taking responsibility for your health
• You want to grow older intelligently and comfortably

How the book changed me:

The first time I read this book I devoured it. It described clearly “what I had” and gave me hope after years of non-explanations from all the tests and professionals I had seen. It explained clearly and sensibly that function was the issue, and that the accumulation of stress was causing my pain. It also gave me a way out.

This book helped me create a Somatic Movement practice - the only practice I have managed to maintain for several years.

Specifically:

• It helped me significantly reduce my pain like nothing else I’d tried
• It explains clearly and sensibly what was going on and I felt tension in my body I’d never felt before (even though it had been there for a long time!)
• It gave me something I could do for myself, at home, instead of relying on chasing after this appointment or that

My top 3 quotes:

The basic somatic task during our lifetime is to gain greater and greater control over ourselves, learning to flow with the stress and trauma of life, like a cork floating on top of the waves

It is this near miraculous capacity of the human consciousness and the central nervous system to learn and adapt that is the theme of this book. We are capable of far more than we believe ourselves to be. As we learn more and more about the ways in which the brain functions control, maintain, repair and protect our bodies, we come more and more to respect this marvellous capacity we have. We are far less dependent and helpless that we believe ourselves to be; which is to say, we are far more responsible and self-governing that we know

In short, youth is a state to be put behind us as we grow taller and deeper and fuller. Unless we understand that life and aging are a process of growth and progress, we will never know the first principles of living

My Top 3 Actions:

• Read chapters 8, 9 and 11 to understand what the reflexes are and what health issues they cause
• Try the movement Arch & Flatten, although I would suggest this version instead of what’s in the book
• Start observing yourself and noticing your habits - how do you sleep, how do you move, how do you walk, how do you look in the mirror etc.

My Honest Opinion:

This is a very readable book, I devoured it in a just a few days. I think it explains really well that most of us are suffering from something functional - how we use our bodies, and/or how stress impacts us. It was definitely the missing link for me after chasing all manner of specialists for answers.

I enjoyed doing the lessons at the back of the book the first time I read it, although the stick men can be a little confusing. Those practising the movements today have evolved some of them for more ease and comfort but it’s still a great introduction. Check out the Essential Somatics YouTube channel for up to date versions of some of the movements.

Book Notes

Part 1 - The Stories of Sensory Motor Amnesia

5 case studies exploring functional issues that medicine could not help with:

1. Arthitis in the hip
2. Chronic lower back pain
3. Frozen shoulder
4. Walking with a limp (stiff knee and neck pain)
5. Stooped posture and chronic fatigue

4 important concepts:

1. The sensory-motor system and feedback loop - as humans we sense and we move, it's a continuous feedback loop so we are always adjusting and responding to stimuli both externally and internally
2. Chronic muscle tension develops as a result of stress, muscles that are tight are sore because of the build up of lactic acid. Muscles that are constantly working means that we get tired easily
3. The Somatic Viewpoint - we are not just bodies - machines that operate in predictable ways. We are somas - integrated beings of thoughts, feelings, emotions and sensations. We must consider the somatic viewpoint (how it feels to be you from the inside) and add it to the objective view (how you look from the outside) because it's all relevant in understanding functional issues
4. Unconscious levels of the brain - The human cortex allows for continued learning and control of the sensory motor system. This control can be hijacked by stress and traumatic events, which forces the brain into "survival" mode. We must regain voluntary control over ourselves with the Somatic Movements

Part 2 - How Sensory Motor Amnesia occurs

Muscular Reflexes:

1. Red Light Reflex - our response to avoid danger affecting the muscles in the front of the body
2. Green Light Reflex - our response to create action and move forwards affecting the muscles in the back of the body
3. Trauma Reflex - our response to protect from physical pain often affecting one side more than the other
4. "Dark Vise" - the combination of Red and Green as we continuously oscillate between danger and opportunity

2 more concepts:

1. Habituation - The reason we get "stuck" in these reflexes is the simplest form of learning. We repeat them over and over and we "learn" to keep them primed in our system
2. Expectation - The role of attitude. Choosing to believe that we get better as we age is crucial to it becoming a reality

Part 3 - The Somatic Exercise Program

Guidelines for practising:

• Learn about sensory motor amnesia and the stress reflexes, and how they affect us
• Focus on internal sensations
• Practice on the floor in a quiet space
• Move slowly and gently
• Do not force - use the less possible effort
• Be patient - change takes time