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Somatics: Reawakening The Mind's Control Of Movement, Flexibility, And Health By Thomas Hanna ( Da Capo Press )
Release Date: 2004-08-03
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $17.95
Price: $12.21
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Product Description
In the revolutionary Somatics, Thomas Hanna demonstrates that so many problems we accept as inevitable over time-chronic stiffness, bad back, chronic pain, fatigue, and even high blood pressure -need never occur if we maintain conscious control of nerve and muscle, a state which Hanna calls sensory-motor awareness. This gentle, lifelong program can help almost anyone maintain the pleasures of a supple, healthy body indefinitely, with only a five-minute routine once a day.
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Body Exercises that make Choropractors obsolete
The principles of Somatics absolutely address all your aches and pains whereby you take control to put yourself back in place by training your muscles. Best if you can locate an instructor for class instruction to enhance the illustrations as well as add new exercises. It is most unfortunate that Thomas Hanna did not continue on earth to realize his contribution for so many.
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Relief at last ( earthjwalker )
The Somatic exercises have given me more fluidity and ease of movement that anything I've tried - Yoga, Pilates, Egoscue, physical therapy. I actually felt an amazing difference the first time I did these exercises. I continue to do them every day, I enjoy doing them because they allow me to move with far less discomfort and pain. The book may be a little challenging, but well worth the effort. Be sure to read it and then begin the exercises so you have a complete understanding of what the exercises are about and why they work. I'm recommending this book to everyone I know that has lower back/hip issues. The exercises have also been helpful in increasing the range of motion of my shoulder which was beginning to 'freeze up' for me. This book can change your life.
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Hanna Somatics is very beneficial...
Hanna Somatics is very beneficial for all people. It really blows the "your just getting old" myth and is an easy method to feel better in your body at the same time as doing something to make it work better. It is easy reading and the pictures of the exercises at the end are helpful. However, the simplicity of the exercises does not translate well in the explanations, so it would be very helpful to find a Somatic Educator to go over the exercises with you once or twice. Well worth the price of the book.
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Somatics: Reawakending the Mind's control - don't wait for the doctor to order it! ( vsvineyard )
A friend recommended this to me after I had been incapacitated by back pain. I just woke up crippled by back pain one morning - the first time in my life. After weeks of doctors and little relief, I read the book and tried out the exercises. I immediately felt the benefits.
The book is organized as first, a series of case studies, which the author uses to illustrate his theory of muscle amnesia, followed by a series of illustrated exercises with detailed instructions. Anyone reading this book should first read the case studies before doing the exercises.
The author's objective is to help you reacquaint you with parts of your body that you have lost touch with - and therefore lost control of. He believes that much back and body pain is due to involuntary actions of muscle groups that we have forgotten how to control. By doing exercises and focusing on how they feel, we can regain sensation and control of our muscles. We can replace painful involuntary muscle actions with graceful voluntary ones.
All I can say is, the exercises - and theory - helped me, and I do the short version of the exercises most days. The exercises are not strenuous or painful - they are pleasurable and relaxing, leaving you feeling invigorated.
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 Review of the other reviews
I had severe chronic abdominal pain for the best part of a year. I had to quit my sport (rowing) and it really affected my studies. Truth is I was already beginning to realise that my problem was somatic and had begun to release the abdominal tension just by thinking about it. I discovered somatics after that. Personally I have found it an effective approach to releasing tension. It has worked for me but what I would like to know is whether it has worked for others?
The thing about this sort of book is that it is likely to attract positive reviews. We only see the successes and the failures are forgotten about thus distorting the reviews. Indeed this is a failure of the book itself. As a practitioner of somatics Hanna must have had people he could not help. What was their situation? How long did he work with them? As such the first part of the book which discusses case studies and its philosophical basis cannot be regarded as scientific. We can learn as much from failure as from success.
The only critical review at the time of writing is right to criticise the poor visibility of the skeleton diagrams. Others have criticised its lack of mention of the fact that there are people trained in somatic education. If you decide to take on the program then I advise you to go to someone trained in the movements otherwise you risk doing it wrong and wasting your time or at worst making your problem worse.
Somatics is not an alternative to Pilates or Yoga rather it takes certain aspects of those disciplines and refines them as well as adding some additional ideas not found in either. Pilates is about core stability, yoga is about... well yoga and somatics is about muscle tension. The book also fails to adequately put itself within context of other related disciplines.
Anyway, Somatics is a great discipline. I hope that the next edition works out these criticisms.
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