First Initial thoughts and Ideas for Disso

Initial Ideas and research for Dissertation 



  • Somatic meaning bodily aware, explores pertaining to the body, experienced and regulated from within. Concept of soma posits that neither body nor mind is separate from the other; both are part of a living process. 
  • Somatics is the field which studies the soma meaning how the body is perceived from within by the person themselves.  When a human is observed from the outside by another or others viewing their body the phenomenon of a human body are perceived. But when this person observes themselves from their viewpoint by proprioceptive senses, the human soma is perceived. These viewpoints of observing a human are built into their natural observation, allowing the person to be aware internal and external. Therefore making soma different from a body, because you perceive soma from a different viewpoint. .
  • While integration between both mind and body is the goal. However culture still understands and relates that body and mind are separate entities.

·         Hanna describes the field of somatics as “The art and science of the inter-relational process between awareness, biological function and environment, all three factors being understood as a synergistic whole.” It is “the study of the soma, soma being the biological body of functions by which and through which awareness and environment are mediated.”

·         Somatics is a combination of understanding anatomical structures and functions, how these processes are affected by movement but this also includes the mind. This understanding comes about by experiencing.
·         The various somatic practices or processes are normally multi-layered therefore bringing awareness to more than one physiological process at a time but the individual experience is the key importance.
·         An individual experiencing and understanding their physiological systems, by using this body mind relationship and awareness of senses can propel them forward into a healthier lifestyle.  
·         Central theme in somatics is the experience of “conscious embodiment” which is explored through the use of hands on touch, imagery, the study of anatomical structures and physiological processes, series of movement exercises and life-cycle development patterns. 
·         “Touch and movement exercises are often designed to mirror and influence the natural processes of the body and mind, providing a fluid interconnection between movement, sensation and thought.” Through this an individual can release tension of habitual or unhealthy patterns of being or within oneself, providing the tools for the individual to move forward in understanding their body.
·         By exploring these somatic approaches an individual’s interaction with their environment  is improved which can be seen in greater sensory perception, faster generation of motor commands, better awareness of spatial reasoning, more use of conscious thought and language. All of these support structural, functional and expressive integration.
·         All these interactions that an individual experiences help in the education and development within themselves, therefore maybe leading on to a more efficient, healthier and integrated self.
·         Somatic methods explore new ways of movement potential with individuals so they can develop their own resolutions to physiological and anatomical issues that have happen during development or from an environmental factor.
·         Somatic theories are applied in somatic psychology, somatic movement (International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association), somatic body work, and somatic dance.



Part two-History of Somatics-
1.       1970’s Thomas Hanna was the first to apply the term somatics, to the ideas and approaches that he and others of how body and mind overlapped were coming up with. He was also the founder of Somatics Magazine: Journal of the Mind-Body Arts and Sciences and the somatics society. He also has created a training system to help in the use of treatment for people suffering with muscular disorders.
2.       Thomas Hanna is a pioneer in the field of body-mind awareness.

Part three-How do people use somatics today? Injury prevention, rehabilitation, therapy, course of treatment. Education of the body
3.       Thomas Hanna Somatic Education & Training is the procedure for teaching voluntary conscious control of the neuromuscular system to persons suffering muscular disorders of an involuntary, unconscious nature and is a method for reawakening the mind's control of movement, flexibility, and health.
4.       Repatterning of anatomical, physiological structures –issues from development.Most working methods in somatics identify new capacities for movement potential and offer bio-creative resolutions to functional and developmental issues. Many approaches utilize neuro-muscular repatterning and tissue re-organization, as well as directed intention and touch, to facilitate changes at the deepest levels of experience, even utilizing cellular and embryological information to achieve change in the “mind of the tissue” – another concept central to somatics work. A skilful somatic practitioner can facilitate improvement and change in infants and others whose mental understanding is not accessible through verbal direction. Individuals working alone and exploring their “edge” of kinesthetic knowledge can also achieve significant new understandings through close attention to internal and external experience.

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