Frequently Asked Questions
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What is Somatic Movement Education?
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What are the benefits of Somatic Movement Education?
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What kinds of pain can Somatic Movement Education help relieve?
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How does Somatic Movement differ from other pain relief methods?
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What is Pandiculation?
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What is Sensory-Motor Amnesia?
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What are Group Classes like?
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What are Private Lessons like?
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Is it alright to combine Somatic Movement Education with other healing modalities?
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Can I continue playing my sport/working out while practicing Somatic Movements?
What is Somatic Movement Education?
Somatic Movement Education (SME) is a form of neuromuscular education that uses the technique of pandiculation, developed by Thomas Hanna, to retrain muscle memory and relieve pain.
Through slow, mindful movements, you’ll learn to release chronic muscular tension and reprogram deeply learned movement patterns that affect posture, flexibility, and coordination.
Unlike passive treatments such as massage or chiropractic adjustments, Somatic Movement actively engages you in a learning process. It empowers you with tools to manage pain, restore mobility, and support your body’s natural healing — for life.
Learn more about this approach at Essential Somatics.
What are the benefits of Somatic Movement Education?
Regular Somatic practice can help you:
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Address the root causes of chronic muscle and joint pain
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Increase flexibility, balance, and coordination
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Calm the nervous system and reduce stress
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Improve posture, alignment, and circulation
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Deepen and control your breathing
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Prevent injury and maintain functional strength as you age
What kinds of pain can Somatic Movement Education help relieve?
Many students find relief from:
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Back pain and sciatica
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Neck and shoulder pain
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Hip and knee discomfort
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Functional leg length discrepancy
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Shortness of breath and tension-related fatigue
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And many other forms of chronic or repetitive strain pain
How does Somatic Movement differ from other pain relief methods?
Most muscle and joint pain stems from learned tension patterns in the brain — not structural damage alone.
Over time, your nervous system “forgets” how to fully relax certain muscles, keeping them unconsciously contracted. Thomas Hanna called this Sensory-Motor Amnesia.
To create lasting change, you need to retrain the brain — not just treat the body.
Somatic Movement Education teaches you to consciously release these patterns through active movement and awareness, rather than relying on passive treatments that only offer temporary relief.
In essence: we work with function before structure.
Structural problems (like herniated discs or joint pain) often arise after years of dysfunctional movement. By restoring function, we can often prevent — or even reverse — those structural issues over time using pandiculations.
What is Pandiculation?
Voluntary self-pandiculation is a concentric contraction and slow, conscious eccentric contraction of a muscle under load.
There are hands-on "assisted pandiculations", and the voluntary self-pandiculations that use gravity as the load. Self-pandiculations are what I teach, mostly by guiding with my voice.
The reason they are called voluntary self-pandiculations is because the involuntary pandiculation is something hardwired into our nervous system from before birth. If you think of the urge to stretch and yawn, or if you can imagine a cat or dog stretching themselves after a nap, this is involuntary pandiculation.
This natural phenomenon in the body provides biofeedback to the brain and resets the resting level of tension in the muscles after a period of inactivity. This action is very commonly seen in babies, and becomes less and less common as we age.
Voluntary self-pandiculations mimic this mechanism to help keep the brain and muscles in good healthy communication so that chronic tension doesn't build up.
"Key to pandiculation is that the cortex senses and feels the sensations that are present throughout.
What does the contraction of the muscle(s) feel like?
What does the slow deliberate lengthening of the muscle(s) feel like?
What does complete relaxation of the muscle(s) feel like?
The uniqueness of this practice is that it is not the quantity of repetitions of specific movements done but the quality or how much one allows the brain to truly focus awareness on all three parts of the pandiculation."
– Alana Burton CCSE, Registered Somatic Movement Educator
Want to dive deeper? Download this Pandiculation 101 pdf to learn more about this mechanism, and how to make use of it for immediate relief.
What is Sensory-Motor Amnesia?
Sensory-motor Amnesia (SMA) is a term coined by the late Thomas Hanna, the neuromuscular pioneer that developed Somatic Movement Education.
It refers to the dysfunctional brain-to-muscle communication that results in chronic tension, loss of sensation, and loss of voluntary control over the muscle or muscle group.
In essence, the ability to fully relax the muscles is lost and freedom of movement is limited.
Each person has their own individual pattern of SMA, but generally each person exhibits some aspects of the:
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Red Light Reflex - a fear response to 'negative stress'
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Green Light Reflex - an action response to 'positive stress'
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or Trauma Reflex - an adaptive response to pain on one side or side-dominance
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or some combination of all of the above.
These are explained in more detail here.
Your individual pattern of SMA is what we will be working together to uncover, unwind, and replace with better functional movement patterns.
What are Group Classes like?
Group classes are between 45 and 90 minutes of guided self-care and movement exploration.
You’ll learn gentle, floor-based movements designed to:
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Strengthen your mind-body connection
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Unwind long-held tension
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Support your nervous system in finding balance and ease
We mostly work on the floor, but occasionally practice seated, standing, or walking.
Classes are mostly beginner-friendly and individual in nature — similar in setting to a yoga class but instead of stretching, we subtract tension using pandiculations and awareness practices.
Learn more or register on the Group Classes page.
Not sure where to start? Book a free 15 minute consultation and we can figure it out together.
What are Private Lessons like?
Private lessons offer a personalized approach to pain relief and movement education.
They’re ideal if you’re dealing with chronic pain, an injury that won’t heal, or a postural habit you can’t seem to change.
Each lesson includes:
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A thorough assessment of your health history and goals
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A guided sequence of movements tailored to your unique tension patterns
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Take-home movements and support between lessons
Lessons are done fully clothed on a padded mat (or table, if preferred) and involve minimal touch.
Lessons are available in-person in Calgary, Alberta, or virtually across Canada.
Visit the Private Lessons page for more details.
It’s best to treat yourself as an experiment wherever possible. How will you know what’s really making a difference, if you have 6 different types of appointments aimed at reducing tension? Try limiting your other healing modalities as much as possible for a month or two. Make Somatic Movement Education your primary means of self-care, and see what happens.
This approach is not a clear-cut option for everyone, and you are the best judge when it comes to how you want to set up the experiment of your own well-being. Just be intentional with your choices, and diligent about tracking the changes.
Can I continue playing my sport/working out while practicing Somatic Movements?
An ongoing somatic movement practice is meant to compliment and support an active lifestyle. It is not a replacement for exercise. Somatic movements help you move better in everything you love doing, with better self-awareness, and without injury.
If you are in significant pain, it’s best to take a break from intense physical activity and focus on your somatic movement practice until you start to feel some lasting relief. If there is a form of movement you can do that does not increase your pain, go with that.
If you are not in significant pain, somatic movements are a great way to warm up before a work out or sporting activity. They prime the brain and body for movement, release any excess tension, and prevent injury in whatever way you use your body.
They can also be a helpful cool down option after exercise, and a very effective replacement for stretching. Focus on pandiculating the muscles or areas that were working the hardest for you, to soften any accumulated tension in those areas. Try this after a few work outs instead of stretching and make note of the difference in your recovery time!
