If you and your medical provider have ruled out serious conditions like fracture, cancer, dislocation or infection, then it is safe for most everyone. This is because the movements are slow, mindful and gentle and YOU are in control. The responsibility is on you to watch the introduction and demonstration videos (usually about 2 minutes long each), go slow and pay attention to the signals your body is sending.
ANYTHING, including exercise, can be poison or medicine! If you approach these activities like traditional stretching and strengthening exercises, you won’t get the benefit, and it could be harmful. Because it is a whole-body approach, it may “awaken” issues that you had forgotten about or didn’t know you had.
If you cannot sense a muscle or the movement is jerky, that is something that Thomas Hanna (my teacher's teacher) termed “Sensory Motor Amnesia”. If a muscle has been held tight for a long time, the brain adapts and your muscle memory is then calibrated at that tense setting.
As you release a tight muscle your mobility improves. You then need to understand how to use that gained range of motion in a new and safe functional pattern. We cover this in the Application sections. You can experience short-term discomfort until your body works out its kinks and adapts to a new movement pattern. This is a neurological process so if you go into it with a “gentle persistence” frame of mind, you’ll be successful in changing your pain and performance.
The “no pain, no gain” philosophy doesn’t work with this program.
Yes, at least one time. This is because compensation patterns are a huge player in pain. Your knee pain might be coming from a tight abdominal muscle and your neck pain could be worsened from poor hamstrings activity. Our body parts are meant to work together as a team. If one area isn’t doing its job, you’ll make up for it somewhere else.
Yes, you can but to get the best results, learn the exercises in the order they are presented. I took extensive thought and care to organize the program in a scientific sequence according to neurologic and muscular principles.
When you start the program, learn the exercises one at a time and take your time. Learning one a day may be too fast for your nervous system to adapt and benefit. Once you have tried each one, you can gravitate towards the ones that make the most sense to you. At first, you’ll want to do some activity every day, but as you retrain your muscle memory, you can perform them less often. Your body will tell you!
Yes, my Clinical Somatic Education teacher, Sarah Warren, presents results from a 2022 study of Hanna Somatic Education (a.k.a. Clinical Somatic Education) that was published in a peer reviewed journal. After six months of doing these exercises, the number of patients (out of 103) using pain medication decreased from 53 to 14. The reduction in the use of medication for patients with lower back pain was 87.5%, with neck pain was 73%, and with both neck and lower back pain was 61.5%. You can read her post here: https://somaticmovementcenter.com/clinical-somatics-research-study/
Because I am a Physical Therapist, I see the body from a perspective that is completely harmonious, but different from my teacher. Having a damaged hip and an advanced arthritic low back, I needed to modify the original exercises to be able to do them myself. Also, slight changes, while adhering 100% to the philosophy and intent of Thomas Hanna’s work, were needed for me to use the exercises with my patients.
I emphasize diaphragm functionality and “inflating your safety airbag” with all the exercises, especially the ones lying on your belly. I start with, then remind you to go back to releasing your diaphragm which is unique to the KMM. Also, I routinely use props to make the activities safer and more accessible to post operative and arthritic bodies.
Another major difference is the focus on how to integrate the re-trained muscles into daily functional movements.
Yes, you can, but it’s vital that you know that you may just be treating symptoms. Also, you can become dependent on an outside source for relief. I want you to have the knowledge and power to help and heal yourself! In general, when you are a passive receiver of a treatment, you will feel good in the short term but any intervention where your brain is not actively involved won’t give you lasting results. Only you can permanently change your body.
For the best results, take a break from traditional PT or athletic training exercises while you start this program. Why? It can be confusing: you could feel like you are driving a car with one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake. Your muscles need to clearly understand their individual roles and how and when to contract in a shortening fashion or a lengthening fashion. As your nervous, muscular and skeletal systems return to a balanced and neutral state, you can gradually reintroduce any activities you want!
Do them when it’s convenient for you and when you have uninterrupted time. Work them into an already established exercise program or make them your new calisthenics routine. Do them to prepare for an activity you know is coming. For example, if I plan to ride my bike hard tomorrow morning, I’ll do the exercises tonight before bedtime. If stress or poor sleep are issues, do these before bed.
Generally, I coach you to do an exercise 2-5 times. Some will be effective doing just one rep while others you’ll progress to doing 5 reps. Quality is 1000x more important than quantity. More is not necessarily better.
You can start to feel better right away but there are many factors that contribute to your healing timeline. Our neurologic and skeletal systems are BUILT with asymmetry. Your right and left brain functions are very different, and your R and L body are very different as well. Due to that, we get out of alignment as we grow during puberty. This is a normal part of development, and it is not generally a source of pain…until an injury (could be occupational, postural, surgery, overuse, chronic or acute stress) occurs. So, the older you are, it can potentially take longer to see results because you’ve had more time to accidentally practice compensation patterns. You’ll feel progressively better as you practice these exercises and incorporate new, healthy patterns into your daily life.
