Somatics is a field of study that views human beings not as bodies, but as somas--living, wholistic systems that are capable of self-sensing, self-regulating, and self-correcting. By adopting this fundamental belief, the way one approaches any academic, physical, or personal pursuit is forever changed. In accepting control over your own body, you accept control of your own life in ways you never dreamed possible. The study of Somatics is not simply another form of pain relief, but rather a philosophy, healing technique, and way of life that is completely compatible with (and in many ways, fundamental to) most other types of healing.
Somatic Clinicians and Researchers have discovered and demonstrated over the last three decades that when a client is treated as a soma, rather than a body, many injuries and diseases of aging that were considered inevitable and irreversible turn out to be both reversable and avoidable in the first place. When chronic pain, joint and tissue stress and strain, and other musculoskeletal problems are 'treated' with abusive techniques, stretched, injected, medicated, immobilized, heated, cooled, and manipulated, they can appear permanent and extreme. When the body is reminded of how to heal itself, problems vanish like a field of snow in the sun.
With Somatic retraining techniques, such as those found in the gentle movement therapies in Clinical Somatic Education, your own nervous system is simply being reminded of its own control of the muscular system--you are receiving an extraordinary education about your own body; you bring your nervous system back into functional alignment, and you learn to follow the signs and cues from yourself to continue learning and removing damaging postures and movements from your life. Your practitioner is a guide, not a crutch.
