Somatic • Movement • Freedom
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Explore the subtlety and power
of slow movement

to awaken your brain & create new possibilities

replace old habits in the way you think, move, feel,

regain your personal control and freedom.

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Articles

Head Forward Posture “Tech-Neck"

Everywhere around us all the time we see others holding their head forward and down, looking at their mobile phone, working at their computers. Initially, this leads to loss of the gentle backward curve in our neck which sags and then is thrust forward because the muscles in the front of the neck become increasingly contracted. The weight of the head collapses the chest, reducing space for our heart and lungs to function. At first we may not notice but it becomes increasingly hard work for the neck muscles to keep the head from tipping further forward.

We have two large muscles forming an outer supporting ring of neck muscles which are uniquely activated by one of the cranial nerves of the brain stem. Cranial nerves regulate a vast array of bodily functions necessary for maintaining homeostasis and facilitating rest. If they become chronically either tense or flaccid, other problems beyond stiffness and pain in the neck and shoulders stem from these muscles including forward head posture, shortness of breath and irregular heartbeat.

You can rebalance your neck muscles and optimise the functioning of the cranial nerves by doing some very gentle movements in your feet. You may think otherwise, but try it and feel if it makes a difference: as you are lying comfortably down, bring the top of your foot away from your shin bone whilst simultaneously bringing your toes in the direction of your knee, giving your full conscious attention to your internal sensations. Very slowly release, rest and repeat with your other foot.


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“Embarking on the Hanna Somatics series of classes was a profound and transformative journey for me. From the very first session, I knew I had stumbled upon something truly extraordinary. The holistic approach, expert guidance, and profound experience of Hanna Somatics have left an indelible impact on my mind, body, and overall well-being.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Hanna Somatics series is its emphasis on empowering individuals to take control of their own healing process. By teaching us the principles of pandiculation and the importance of unlocking habitual muscular contractions, I was able to release chronic tension and pain, restoring balance and freedom of movement in my body. The classes provided us with a toolkit of practical techniques that I apply in my daily life, ensuring long-lasting benefits beyond the duration of the series.”
DAPHNE MARINOPOULOS, Threlkeld, Cumbria
“I'm in my mid 60's and have led a fairly active life, playing squash, hockey, cycling and more recently more golf. Of course this leads to several aches and pains which need attention, but we know that 'prevention is better than cure'. With that in mind I embarked on a course of Hanna Somatic Education with Karen, with the idea that the movements would not only cure some of my ills but also keep my muscles soft so as to prevent any further injuries. I found the movement sequences very relaxing and they also provided the added benefit of providing some calm during stressful days. I was surprised how effective the movements were with the impact being felt nearly immediately with improved mobility (of the lower back in my case) and aIso reduction and often removal of any pain. Having completed the series of exercises with Karen I now regularly do the 'Cat Stretch' sequence of moves which keeps me supple and definitely helps my golf swing. My teaching Pro has often been surprised at my maintenance of flexibility! Karen is a great teacher, knowledgeable, patient and encouraging and I would recommend that you give Hanna Somatics a go for a calmer and more flexible life!”

Audio Library

The Fundamental Sequence of Hanna Somatic Movements

Karen guides you through the eight classic lessons of Hanna Somatic Movement in the lineage of Thomas Hanna which accumulate into a beautifully tailored daily movement sequence you can apply effortlessly into your everyday life.
Starting with Lesson 1 and following each lesson sequentially you will gain greater understanding and increased awareness of your natural patterns of movement and how they may have been impacted by environmental stress. You will gradually become familiar with where you are holding tightness in your muscles from an internal perspective and learn how to release that tension. With Karen's thoughtful guidance you will improve your self-knowledge for creating new comfortable patterns of movement.

Lesson 1

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Introduces you to the sequence of Hanna Somatic Movement by focusing your attention on the extensor muscles of your back in the forwards and backwards direction of movement of your spine. Feeling tightness particularly in your lower back area and having a bad back is a sign of the Green Light Reflex, an automatic response to being constantly demanded of. You may experience the feeling that you are making too much effort or have too much responsibility.
£36

Lesson 2

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Focuses your attention on the abdominal muscles in your front in the forwards and backwards direction of movement of your spine. Lesson 2 in the sequence helps you release any tightness you have in your front especially if you sit too much and lean forwards too much. Having a head forwards posture, constriction in your diaphragm and feeling anxious or fearful are all signs of the Red Light Reflex, an automatic response to distressful events.
£36

Lesson 3

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Improves your awareness and control in the muscles of the sides of your trunk enabling you to feel whether you are tighter on one side or are leaning to one side, known Hanna Somatically as the Trauma Reflex, an automatic pain avoidance response. Signs of traumatic accidental injury or surgery to one side can include your feet hurting on the sides, you may have more weight on one leg than the other, your hip joint may be a little more contracted and one knee may be turned in or is sore and swollen. You may be sore in your actual waist and in the back of your pelvis and tilt your head to compensate for one eye being higher than the other and have aching eyes. Lesson 3 is a pivotal session in the sequence as the side waist muscles are an interesting blank for most of us.
£36

Lesson 4

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You are now extending your awareness and learning to release the effects of sustained stress and trauma from the centre of your trunk up across your chest into your shoulders and arms and down through your pelvis, hip joints and buttocks. Enjoy the sensation of the beautiful twisting movement of your trunk that we make in upright contra-lateral Human Walking.
£36

Lesson 8

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In Lesson 8 you are benefiting from the culmination of self-knowledge and design of each of the individual lessons to give you graceful, easy, whole global movement as well intimate specific knowledge of particular parts of you. With practice of each of the lessons in the sequence you will begin to feel more upright and gradually notice that your walking becomes increasingly effortless, youthful and free. In this final lesson you are bringing together all of your learning and knowledge you have gained from your practice and will further your understanding of the movement in your pelvis as you walk. That is the up-and-down, vertical, dimension and the side-to-side, horizontal, dimension of movement in your pelvis as you take each step forward. You will come to know the connection between those movements in your pelvis and the movements you are experiencing in your shoulders, your head and neck as well as the rest of you.
£36

Monthly Online Classes

In every one of these classes Karen clearly and carefully guides you in a Hanna Somatic Movement experience you will want to treat yourself to over and over again. You will notice how you feel your patterns of movement in those places Karen skilfully brings your attention to. She combines the sophistication of her self-knowledge from her own daily practice of the last 11 years, her training at the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training in California as well as her extensive research into the Somatic Pioneers; Mabel Ellsworth Todd, F. Matthias Alexander, Elsa Gindler, Heinrich Jacoby and Moshe Feldenkrais. At the heart of these experiences is the core sequence of Thomas Hanna's eight lessons of Somatic Movement.

WALKING CONFIDENTLY WITH GREATER BALANCE PART I

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Explores how the positioning of your feet and the movement in your pelvis affect your balance and comfort when standing and walking.
£24

WALKING CONFIDENTLY WITH GREATER BALANCE PART II

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Bring your focus to how the different directions of movement in your toes, feet and ankles are intimately connected with your whole body movement.
£24

CREATE MORE COMFORT IN YOUR SIDE WAIST AREA

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Feel the benefit in your neck, shoulders and hip joints from releasing your side waist muscles.
£24

MANAGE YOUR DAILY PRACTICE

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Reacquaint yourself with the forward and backward directions of movement in your spine.
£24

Somatic Freedom

A Story of Taking your Personal Control and Freedom back

In 2014 I was searching for an alternative healing process after being diagnosed with spondylolisthis, a condition in which a vertebra slides forward over the bone below it. In my case the slippage was in the lower spine just above where the sacral vertebrae meet the lumbar vertebrae. The professor who diagnosed me suggested regular injections into my spine that would kill all the nerve endings numbing the area. Then there would be a gradual and progressive deterioration that would eventually lead to surgery.
Alongside this the professor advised me to not go walking or pursue any activity that would mobilise the lower back area. This was contradictory to the earlier advice I had received from the portfolio of physical therapists I had seen to seek relief from the excruciating and debilitating back pain that was becoming chronic. My instinct was to keep moving and I was determined to keep going as I could not believe this was it as I was approaching 50.
My functioning systems had put themselves into a defensive state and I was chronically held contracted. Looking back now I realise that I had been pushing myself too hard, that I was too competitive within myself in my work as a Yoga teacher. Another significant aspect was the threat and danger in my life at the time.
I found an approach that would transmit signals of safety to my parasympathetic nervous system to enable a shift from a defensive state of contraction in an attempt to protect the vulnerability of my lower spine, into a state of calm that functionally allows the neuromuscular skeletal system to naturally assume its natural comfortable position.
The problem arising from 'relaxation exercises' is the physical and psychological loss of vitality involved. Understanding the distinction between becoming slack and the process of release which protects the healthy tonicity and aliveness natural to the human organism is fundamental to the work of Hanna Somatic Education.