Anagha Agte

I have traveled a very interesting path in life. I have a Masters Degree in physics and I taught physics at the college level. Then I started working on another Masters program and was looking forward to being an Electrical and Computer Engineer. After completing all the course requirements, I started working on my final project; this is where my life and my interests in life started changing....

I decided to do my Masters project in the field of storage systems and MEMS (Micro-electro-mechanical systems). I started reading research papers on MEMS and was fascinated by its applications in the medical field. Gradually, I was becoming less interested in my Masters project and eager to learn all I could about technology related to medical science. 

As life took its turns and twists, I got introduced to alternative therapies: foot reflexology, cranio-sacral therapy, Svaroopa Yoga, and energy work.  

Then I read about Somatics and learned that Somatics Systems Institute was less than 100 miles from where I lived.

By this time, I was living with excruciating chronic pain for almost a year. I was experiencing sciatica pain, sacroiliac joint pain, lower back pain and hip pain. I had tried all the non-invasive drug free therapies I knew, but was disappointed to find out that they helped me feel better for a day or two. They were not helping me make a progress towards becoming pain free. Then I started experiencing pain in my thoracic region. As a prerequisite for professional training in Somatics, I started doing a series of exercises called "Myth of Aging". After doing exercises from "Myth of Aging" CD, my thoracic pain disappeared in less than 4 hours but the lower body pain was still there. This was a big confirmation that Somatics would be the only solution for my pain.

Somatics training during the first year taught me enough to get out of my chronic pain all by myself with minimal assistance. In less than a year I became pain free and have been pain free since then. After getting out of pain, the next task was re-gaining my flexibility so that I could do all the activities I used to do. I am very happy to report that despite getting older my flexibility level has gone back to that of my college days.

Somatics brought many aspects of my life together. In my teenage years, I was an avid hiker in India (in Sahyadri  mountain ranges) and have been to Himalayas couple of times. I completed both Basic and Advanced mountaineering courses with "A" grades climbing to heights of 18,000 ft. Growing up, being active was a big part of my life. I learned to value life more than any achievement during my training years of mountaineering.  Academically, I come from various science disciplines. Somatics brings together all these aspects of my life. 

I thoroughly enjoy walking in to my Introduction to Somatics workshop with a Neuroscience text book in my hand and start my class with the understanding of movement at the brain level. It is amazing when a yoga teacher, an individual related to medical field or a enthusiastic fearless explorer of life looks at the images of the brain and a light bulb goes on for them. They become curious and want to know more. Yes, my first job was "teaching". I enjoyed teaching and am overjoyed that I am once again a teacher, this time teaching people how to move.

I love to teach my classes by introducing the concepts of how movements are created in the brain. I like to teach a class where we do movement measurements of flexibility in the beginning and end of the class and see how much more control brain has over muscles and how much more movement (flexibility) is possible in less than a hour. I love to connect science with movement, theory with practical and explain it in simple language.

Last but not least, my passion is expelling chronic pain. I know from my own experience how debilitating chronic pain is and I know that it is possible to get out of it. It is a matter of how you put together the pieces of a puzzle. I offer Somatics to every person who has been suffering from chronic pain as a way out.