finally, a WAY TO START GETTING RID OF PAIN FOR GOOD, SO YOU CAN MOVE THROUGH LIFE WITH GREATER EASE
combat chronic pain and tension, improve your posture, move with more suppleness and ease
Do you have pain that just won't go away - even though you've tried everything?
Like many people with chronic pain & tightness, are you perhaps lacking a helpful diagnosis or clear medical explanation of why you're in pain (even though you know something's really wrong)?
And, as with so many clients I see, do you find the frustrating inability to resolve your pain makes everything so much worse?
If your experience is anything like mine and my clients', you might have found various therapies and medications (or even surgery) that help in the short term, but nothing that's created lasting relief, or resolved your pain...
You might feel optimistic about trying a new approach.
Or, perhaps by now you feel like giving up, because you’ve “tried everything,” and nothing's really helped?
But as you've probably figured out from reading my website, experiencing Somatics in class or in a 1:1 session, or from wider reading, Clincial Somatics movements can and do help.
And this online course is a super efficient way to get started and move away from pain!
The good news: As well as being complex, we humans are pretty amazing, right?
The most important resources you need to get rid of chronic pain & tension are in you already – in your brain, your nervous system, and your inbuilt human capacity to create change in those powerful parts of yourself.
And those resources are what Hanna Somatics activates, through very specific movement and awareness techniques designed to gently but effectively change the way your brain and nervous system communicate.
With exercises that literally get rid of bad habits 'stuck' in your body that cause your pain, and create new, pain-free habits instead... and that is what I teach in SoMA Essentials.
To effectively re-wire your brain to move with greater ease, you have to change what your brain sees as your "normal" level of pain; to do that, you need to know
Specific ways that human bodies respond to stress,
What specific movements can get you out of those patterns of chronic muscle tightness, and
How to apply this information to YOUR pain, to YOUR body...
That's what Hanna Somatics does. That's why it works.
And that's why I teach it in my programs to help people in pain.
DO YOU WANT STEP-BY-STEP GUIDANCE through the fundamental Hanna Somatics movements that can make real, positive changes in your nervous system and your body, so you can live the pain-free life you crave?
Of course you do, right?!
So, let me introduce you to...
SoMA ESSENTIALS
When you join SoMA Essentials, you get online access to everything you need to learn the foundational movements that can transform your pain from the inside, step by step, so you can start moving through life with greater suppleness & ease
Movement and flow created by you - in your nervous system, as well as in your muscles and joints - is what will enable you to move with greater ease, more fluidity, and out of pain.
Focusing on the single technique for getting rid of pain and improving ease of movement that humans evolved to use, the SoMA Essentials' techniques, lessons, and classes all work with your body, never against it.
Let me outline what you get when you sign up . . .
SoMA Essentials Modules
There are 3 Modules in SoMA Essentials - a welcome module (which has important information AND movement classes), and 2 foundational Modules: these are designed to give you full foundations for an effective Hanna Somatics practice, to get rid of pain, and address problems with posture, flexibility, & mobility.
Across the Modules, you get 4 core full-length movement and awareness classes, 15+ shorter video lessons (to go over and troubleshoot the movements for you, and provide variations), written materials outlining the core concepts of Hanna Somatics, a library of audio-recorded live classes, and more.
Your WELCOME MODULE ensures you know how to practice safely and effectively, providing you with essential information and advice.
(It's also where you'll discover some added extras!)
PLEASE NOTE: To ensure you can experience what changes SoMA Essentials can make for you - and to allow it to work (without working against it) - you are STRONGLY encouraged to stop other treatments and practices (such as yoga, PT, massage, pilates, chiropractic) - and/or any pain medication (where possible) for a week or two at least (unless doing so would go against medical directives), while you start SoMA Essentials.
This does NOT mean you're expected or encouraged to "give up" any therapies or practices you love or find beneficial, after you've spent a week or more focusing on Hanna Somatics! What it does, though, is give you the opportunity you need to experience and assess the effects of Somatics on you.
Some people do give up other practices and focus on Hanna Somatics. But many more use their regular Somatics practice and awareness to increase not just their comfort in everyday life, but their ability to benefit more from therapies such as massage, Bowen, and more, and to enjoy and "perform" better in activities from yoga, walking and dancing to running, cycling and singing!
My GUARANTEE to You
When you register for SoMA Essentials, you'll be amazed at how soon you start feeling changes - even small ones - that give you greater ease in your body, some release of tension. It might be a noticeable improvement in your ease or fullness of breath, your posture, or your mobility. If that doesn’t happen for you after completing Modules 1 and 2 within 60 days of signing up, even when you've shown up for live sessions and not continued a therapy or other practice that counteracts Hanna Somatics in that time, then you can ask for your money back.
This is a "do the work" guarantee. Why? Because for SoMA Essentials to work, YOU need to commit some time and focus to doing the basics. I don't want to work with anyone who purchases online courses, gives them a go for a few days, and then requests a refund!
SoMA Essentials is for you if you're committed to working gently to ease yourself away from pain - at your own pace, & with my guidance and support. (I'll absolutely help if it's really not working for you - we can work together to find out why.) If you practice what's taught in the Modules, results are guaranteed!
STILL WONDERING IF SoMA ESSENTIALS IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
IT'S A GREAT FIT FOR YOU IF...
You want to learn how to combat pain without popping painkillers, & without resorting to surgery - but either haven't been given any other options, or none of them have really worked
You're frustrated that aches & pains, stiffness & tension, interfere with doing the things you love - from hillwalking to gardening, from singing to travelling, and from playing with your grandkids to practising yoga... You want to find a way to get back your enjoyment & ability to do those things again (or, perhaps, to help maintain your abilities into the future)
You suffer from a specific problem - maybe back pain, hip pain, sciatica, RSI, tension headaches, or planta fasciitis - & despite having a diagnosis or "name" for your condition, nothing you try really seems to help, or not for more than few days, & despite the feeling you've "tried everything"
You feel stiff & tense much of the time, & your flexibility - your mobility, even - is declining. This might be, you think, from an injury, a trauma, or just "your age"
Whether or not it's painful, you're worried about your posture - you're stooping, slouching, or just don't feel "right" or comfortable in your own skin
You suffer from an exhausting condition such as fibro, CRPS, or ME, & are searching for how to address the pain, brain fog, & utter exhaustion you experience
You're trying to recover after an injury or surgery, & want to make the best recovery possible - even after your bone & tissue heals
You want to explore ways to be more in control of how you move, to keep pain away, & to move with freedom & ease; you're looking to smash the myth of ageing & live your life to the full!
You know the importance of self-care, & want to learn more about the myths about pain, posture and stretching, to keep yourself mobile & free from pain now & into the future
But... THIS PROGRAM IS NOT A GREAT FIT FOR YOU IF
You're content to carry on dealing with your pain by popping painkillers, using regular massage/physio/chiropractic or other treatments for a temporary fix, or having surgery or other intervention - and you believe that will work for you, or are willing to give it a try rather than commit to a movement practice
You're not ready for change: it may be you feel your pain is a big part of your identity, and you're happy being where you are: if you follow this program, you do need to be ready for real change!
You're determined to maintain another treatment regime despite starting this program. Remember: unless it would go against medical advice to do so, you should be willing to stop other practices and treatments (such as stretching regimes, yoga, chiropractic, physio) and pain medications (where possible) for at least a week or two when starting SoMA Essentials. This is both to enable it to work effectively, and to enable you to experience and assess what's happening!
You're not willing to put in the time and commitment to make changes in yourself: it does take commitment of time and focus to create change. And even though the time you spend on SoMA Essentials can be as little as an hour a month, plus 10 or 20 minutes a few times a week, the neurophysiological bases of the practice does require active engagement to create change in your brain and nervous system. Hanna Somatics is not something that is done to you - it's something you're guided to do for yourself
Lastly: There are some, limited but specific health conditions that will affect whether or not SoMA Essentials is the best fit for you. In particular:
Remember that if your pain is acute (so, likely from a clearly diagnosed source such as cancer, a recently broken and unhealed bone or unhealed wound), Hanna Somatics cannot address it directly (even though what you learn may well be of benefit for you in managing your pain, and at times when the acute pain is not an issue).
There are some conditions (such as MS and Parkinsons) that simply cannot be eradicated by Hanna Somatics, because of the specific neurological deficits involved in such conditions. Many people with such conditions, though, do find this practice helps them.
Get in touch if this applies to you and we can talk about your needs and expectations.
Your Instructor:
Samantha Holland, PhD.
I'm a Certified Clinical Somatic Educator & Certified Essential Somatics® Movement Teacher (and RSME) with an eclectic academic background in philosophy, cultural studies, and anthrozoology. Before training as a psychotherapist I was a practising barrister then did voluntary work overseas for several years. I changed my path quite radically, on discovering Hanna Somatics and what I could achieve as a Clinical Somatic Educator. This amazing approach to pain and movement resolved my 10+ years of chronic neck, wrist, and hip pain, and also changed my elderly mother's life for the better, in her last few years.
I'm passionate about Hanna Somatics because it works! And its bases in philosophy and neuroscience make perfect sense.
I'm also passionate about teaching and problem-solving (as you can probably tell from my previous roles in life!).
This is why I love teaching Hanna Somatics. It's so much more than "movements" & "exercises". Seeing my clients combat their own pain & problems fills me with joy.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
CAN I DO THIS COURSE IF I HAVE AN INJURY?
Listen to your body, and follow the advice of your healthcare providers. In particular, if you have a broken bone, or are not ‘cleared for movement’ after an injury, you’ll want to wait till the bone’s healed - and you’re ‘cleared for movement’ - before starting this course.
However, other than that, you can start this course even if you have an injury or pain - after all, you may well be signing up BECAUSE you are in pain, so it’s no good if you’re then told to wait till your pain’s eased!
You are in charge of what you do, and taking care of yourself. You can absolutely work with tight muscles (one of the main aims of the course is to ease them) and sore spots, and discomfort. You can work with areas where you feel pain. But in all cases, you should ease up, back off, or just plain stop doing a movement if you feel pain (or increased pain, in an area where you already had pain). Note that you can always start this course by imagining, or ‘visualising’, yourself doing the movements: this will still help you, and is a technique I’ve used with clients who start out in severe pain or who have very low mobility. Imagining yourself making a movement lights up the same parts of your brain and nervous system as actually making the movement - so your nervous system will benefit, even if to start with you don’t actually move!
HOW MUCH IMPROVEMENT SHOULD I EXPECT?
Very obviously, this will differ from person to person, as you each bring different levels and types of pain, and different experiences, to the Program. But within a month - assuming you go through Module 1 in that time, and show up for a class or a Q&A - you should experience enough change (or, the realisation that you can create change) to feel you can expect further positive change, and to have those changes make your life at least that bit easier.
One, two or three months (even six months, of course) is not long to address problems and pain that may well have been with you for months, years, or decades. But it is enough time to get started on a journey to getting rid of pain and improving posture and mobility - and for many, positive changes do come within just a few classes, and even the first class starts to make things happen!
WHAT KINDS OF PAIN, PROBLEMS & CONDITIONS CAN SoMA ESSENTIALS HELP?
As well as aches and pains, chronic pain, and problems with posture, flexibility and mobility, there are a lot of specific, named 'conditions' that Hanna Somatics, and so what you learn in SoMA Essentials, have a lot of success with - including, but not limited to back pain, neck pain, hip pain, knee pain, foot pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain, RSI, carpal tunnel, thoracic outlet syndrome, tennis elbow; ME, fibromyalgia, general 'chronic pain' conditions and many so-called 'medically unexplained symptoms' (MUS); pain from bursitis, arthritic pains, tension headaches, TMJ/TMD issues, sleeplessness/insomnia, sciatica, SI joint pain, scoliosis, leg-length discrepancy, stress, anxiety and depression, shallow breathing, recovery from injuries, limps, surgeries and old injuries, stroke recovery, recovery from whiplash injuries, and more.
ARE THERE CONDITIONS THAT THE COURSE CAN'T HELP?
There are. Some diseases (cancer is perhaps the most obvious) and acute pain (open wounds, broken bones, etc.) cannot be helped directly by Hanna Somatics (HS).
The specific neurological causes of conditions such as MS and Parkinsons mean HS cannot get rid of them - although it can be very helpful for some clients, especially in helping them make use of the motor control they do have.
Conditions such as true arthritis, bursitis, and AS cannot be "got rid of" by HS. It can, however, help alleviate some of the pain stemming from these conditions, and improve your capacity for movement and control. (It's also worth noting that in my experience and that of many other Clinical Somatic Educators, often a diagnosis of arthritis, structural scoliosis, and more is not borne out in practice. What do I mean? Well, there are clients who practice Hanna Somatics movements and "get rid" of pain despite such a diagnosis. In those cases we can only assume that their pain & symptoms were such that the diagnosis made sense to the medical professionals, but there must've been another cause of the pain, that was functional in nature (i.e., chronically tight muscles), which could be relieved by HS.)
If you have a condition such as MS or Parkinsons, feel free to get in touch and we can discuss whether SoMA Essentials might help you, or not (and whether there are other more appropriate options - such as putting you in touch with a Certified Clinical Somatic Educator geographically close to you, as in-person, hands-on work might be beneficial where entirely self-guided online work might not).
IF I'M A BEGINNER, &/OR IF I'M IN PAIN, WILL I BE ABLE TO DO THE CLASSES?
Yes! SoMA Essentials is designed to work for people with no previous experience of this approach (as well as those who do know something about it), and it's designed to be accessible by people in chronic pain.
Most of the full-length classes are done lying down, and if you need to, you can do them lying on a fairly firm mattress. Also (and I speak to this inside the course), because of the neurological nature of the work, listening to a class and imagining or visualising yourself moving is an effective place to start if your pain, or mobility issues make it harder to do more than that. Similarly, micro movements are great, too (and both those methods are also a good idea to try for anyone who tries to over-effort, or push themselves!)
The classes and practices I teach use a very gentle approach, and a very personal one. What's easy for some is not for others. What's manageable for some, is not for others. And I am well aware of this. Many adaptations of movements are possible, as is the use of simple props (like a folded towel) to make you comfortable. (Much of this is covered in the 'welcome' section of the program, and you can of course attend live Q&As or ask questions by email or in the Facebook about e.g. a particular adaptation.)
Note that whatever your starting point, as you develop your practice, previous positions, movement and lessons you couldn't do, will very likley become possible and far easier for you. And SoMA Essentials enables you to go at whatever pace works for you, so you're not struggling to 'keep up'.
HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO GET THROUGH SoMA ESSENTIALS?
You will have a minimum of 6 months' access to SoMA Essentials, and it's designed to take 2 to 3 months to work through the first time. So, you have plenty time to go through everything at you own pace and review, revisit and apply your new learning to the lessons and classes at any time.
However long you spend going through it, you can then start exploring the additional class recordingsthat will have built up in the time you spent going through the Modules; then you might want to re-take most of the Modules over again.
I always encourage students to go back and revisit earlier classes and lessons: the experience of the "same" lesson can be quite different on a different day, and at a different stage of your life and learning!
Really getting to grips with pandiculation and how to best use the Hanna Somatics movements to their full potential for YOUR soma, is a lifetime practice: it’s not something you’ll "master" just by completing all the Modules and bonus lessons in SoMA Essentials! But the course provides you with all the fundamentals (and more), so you can ground your practice and build it to get more and more from somatic movements and awareness for your lifetime.
HOW DO I ACCESS THE PROGRAM?
When you register, you will get taken directly to the course portal and you will be able to set up a password for access to the programme. You should then be able to access all the Module videos, audios, PDFs and other materials from any device you have with Internet access, such as a mobile, tablet, desktop, or laptop.
Medical Disclaimer
All the material in SoMA Essentials is intended for educational purposes only. The content of SoMA Essentials is not (nor is a substitute for) medical including mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Samantha Holland, PhD, ESMT, CCSE, RSME, BFRP is not a medical doctor: she will educate you about how you can take care of yourself somatically, but you are responsible for monitoring your own health and choosing movements that are beneficial to you, and not pushing into pain. If you have specific questions or concerns about any medical matter, or think you may be suffering from a medical condition, you should consult your doctor or healthcare provider. You should not rely on any information or guidance SoMA Essentials or Samantha Holland provides you with as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or healthcare provider.
Your Privacy
I never sell or otherwise share your personal information with anyone else. I use your personal details only for the purposes of providing you sevices you have paid for and requested, and for sending you information from time to time about SoMA Essentials, the SoMA Program, and/or other courses or materials I believe might be of interest to you. If you choose to join the SoMA private Facebook group, it's up to you what information you share: you're advised not to share any sensitive information in the group and to guard against identity theft and other potential concerns just as you would anywhere online.
My full Privacy Policy is on my website, along with my Terms & Conditions (link below, in the checkout area).
