How Do Clinical Somatic Exercises Reduce Muscle Tension?
Somatic exercises, similar to yoga and meditation, encourage and rely on our ability to listen inwardly and connect us to our “living bodies,” our “soma.” When we take time to move slowly and perceive our bodies from the inside out, a whole new world of self-care opens up.
Thomas Hanna uses the “pandicular response” to create movement sequences that work with our nervous system to naturally release muscle tension created by repetitive movement patterns, injury, or chronic pain.
I know it’s a strange-sounding word (my spellcheck tries to correct it all the time), but it describes something commonplace and mundane that has big energy.
“Pandiculation” is stretching—think of a cat stretching after a nap or how a newborn baby stretches and moves. It’s essential to our neuromuscular function and overall health, like eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly.
Here are some examples of pandiculations that might be familiar to you.
The “pandicular response” sends feedback to our nervous system about the level of contraction in our muscles. By contracting and releasing muscles, A “pandiculation” resets the feedback loop that naturally monitors body tension and restores muscle control. This is an innate response we are all born with; babies pandiculate in the womb!
As busy adults living more sedentary and stressful lives than our ancestors, it’s easy to neglect basic signals our bodies and minds provide. Feeling stressed and distracted, sitting a lot, driving, and looking at phones and screens can build up tension much quicker than we realize.
Our desire to stretch, aka “pandiculate,” is a signal our body sends that more tension than usual is building in our bodies and muscles.
We can use this stretch signal to release tight opposing muscles and tightness before we develop movement patterns that might cause pain over time.
If you experience:
Tight lower back muscles (that inhibit our abdominal muscles)
Tight hip flexors that inhibit our gluteus maximus
Shoulder discomfort
Poor posture
Chronic pain
Here are a few somatic exercises that can help with common pain issues.
This video of the Iliopsoas Release and the Flowering Arch and Curl will help you release and gain control of tight hip flexors and relieve lower back pain.
This video of the one-sided arch and curl and the diagonal arch and curl to release tension in the lower back.
Slow down as much as possible as you work through these exercises. Imagine you are listening slowly and carefully from the inside. Focus on your body’s internal sensations. You should never feel like you want to get it over with.
Remember, consistency is key. When you add a new thing to your movement practice, it’s always good to start slow. Try incorporating a few somatic exercises into your daily scheduled yoga or movement practice.
If you need help with that . . . .
I'm super excited to announce that I'll be teaching a workshop called "Somatic Principles for Yoga Teachers, Movement Educators, and Movement Enthusiasts " on September 29 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at Grace Studios in Silver Spring, Maryland. If you're not local, a virtual option is available!
This workshop is for you:
If you are a movement teacher eager to incorporate Somatic movement principles into your teaching or
If you are a curious mover and want to learn how to use Somatic practices to prevent injury and overtraining or painful flare-ups of things like chronic fatigue or Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
Click the link for a step-by-step guide to signing up and more information!
Somatic Principles for Yoga Teachers and Movement Enthusiasts
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