Frequently Asked Questions About Clinical Somatic Education

How does Clinical Somatic Education (CSE) address pain and discomfort?

Accumulated stress and trauma in our lives can cause the brain to hold muscles habitually in ways that cause pain and discomfort. Through Clinical Somatic Education we gain mental awareness and control of our muscles. By learning to change these harmful habits, we are able to free ourselves from pain and limitation.

Who can benefit from CSE?

People of all ages who want to be able to move with more ease and flexibility; who are recovering from injury; who are dealing with chronic pain; who want to improve athletic performance.

How can CSE help me get more out of other physical activities?

You can apply these principles to all your activities, whether it’s how you get out of your car, play tennis, do yoga, or garden. 

How Can CSE prevent injury?

By increasing internal self awareness; by teaching you to notice and feel what your are doing and how your are moving from your unique internal perspective.

Is it inevitable that we will have more pain as we get older? And is it the ageing process itself that causes our tissue to degenerate?

No, often it is not the ageing process itself. It is actually “a habituated state of forgetfulness” which we call sensory-motor amnesia or SMA. “It is a memory loss of how certain muscle groups feel and how to control them....And it is primarily this event, and its secondary effects, that we falsely think of as “growing older.” Thomas Hanna

So, what happens as the years go by?

We get better and better at misuing our tissue, and very often, it is this that causes our tissue to degenerate.

How do we address this problem?

In Clinical Somatic Education, we do not use stretching and strengthening as a way to address pain and limitation. Instead, we retrain the brain to control the muscles and joints better - through neurologically based exercises, and through hands-on sessions. In this way we address the underlying cause of much of the chronic stiffness, soreness, and restricted range of movement that result from injury and harmful habit. It is these limiting symptoms that are commonly associated with, and thought to be caused by, “growing older”.

What is Sensory-motor amnesia (SMA)?

Sensory-motor amnesia (SMA) is the brain's response to the accumulated stress and trauma in our lives. It causes us to become rigid because the voluntary part of our brains has forgotten how to feel, move and release the affected muscles.