Personal experiences - Somatic Movement and physical pain

These ‘personal experiences’ blog posts are designed to give the reader an insight into just a few of the many different kinds of people who practise Somatic Movement - as well as the sorts of issues the practice can help with. More stories to follow - I hope you enjoy them!

Lots of us manage a number of pain-related issues in our somas (our living bodies as we experience them from the inside) - indeed for many people, pain is their primary reason for exploring a Somatic Movement practice. One of our long-time students in our Somatic Movement membership shares a little about her experience with pain, and how Somatic Movement has helped.

Jayne is 73. She has had arthritis since her teenage years, and manages a long-term shoulder injury, a recurrent knee injury, and chronic lower back pain. Some of you lovely souls reading this will be familiar with one or more of these issues - I hope this blog post gives you some hope as you read through.

In her own words, Jayne explains what things used to be like for her, and how things have shifted over her time doing Somatic Movement:

“Before I started Somatic Movement, I had some level of pain most of the time, and frequently the pain prevented me doing normal daily activities. Since practicing Somatics, pain has become the exception rather than the norm in my life and rarely stops me from doing the things I want to do.

During the first few sessions I couldn’t believe that such small movements could make much difference. It disproves the adage of “if it ain’t hurting it ain’t working”. I soon noticed a dramatic reduction in pain and much more freedom of movement.”

Pain really gets in the way of being able to do the things we want to do, which includes our beloved hobbies, as well as activities of day-to-day living. As Jayne told me, she was even finding that standing in the kitchen chopping vegetables was causing pain in her back and shoulders - not being able to do even simple activities like this without pain is incredibly restrictive, as I’m sure many of you know.

But for lots of us who manage chronic pain in our day-to-day lives, the idea of a movement practice can feel really out of reach. After all, what if it hurts to actually do the practice? Or what if we just can’t do the movements asked of us? Pain restricts us both physically and mentally, and it can make the idea of trying something new feel frightening, or just out-and-out inaccessible.

But as Jayne says, the movements in Somatics are small, and they are also based on developmental movements and are done slowly and gently - and very importantly, within whatever capacity we each have to access them. Sometimes, that might even be just imagining doing the movement, rather than actually doing any discernible movement at all. Even this level of accessing the work has an effect on the muscles, since just by imagining, we are causing our neurones to fire - you’ve probably heard of athletes visualising movements from their sport, and how that helps them in their training. This!

This means that no matter where we are at in our pain/movement journey, we can access Somatic Movement, and start to see how it can work for us, so that we can do the things we want and need to do in life.

Jayne is currently attending regular classes once or twice a week, uses some recorded materials in between classes, and brings Somatic Movement principles into her day-to-day life - such as noticing tension building in her muscles and being able to release it, or ensuring she is moving in ways that feel easy and free, rather than tight and restricted. I asked Jayne to talk a little about why she continues with attending live Somatic Movement classes, and what benefits she gets from them:

“The classes are well structured and easy to follow. There is no pressure, no pain, no competition, just an awareness of what is right for your own body. Each class lifts my spirits as well as improving my pain level and mobility. I keep going because I keep feeling the benefits, and now I only experience pain occasionally, and usually only when I have not been practicing for some reason.

Working with Emilie is a real pleasure. She structures the classes carefully so that they are easy to follow and give maximum benefit; her instructions are clear; she is very encouraging but there is no pressure. Emilie really cares about what she does and about the people she is teaching.”

If you’re struggling with chronic pain, I hope that hearing Jayne’s words gives you hope that things can change for you too. She shares that through Somatic Movement, she feels she can do ‘pretty much everything!’ - and lists as regular activities with which she now engages in comfort: walking, gardening, cooking (bring on the vegetable chopping!) and dancing.

Quite an inspiring list, I think you’ll agree!

To round off this post, for anyone on the fence or wobbling about trying Somatic Movement, Jayne gives us these words of encouragement:

“At first, it is hard to believe that something so gentle will work, but it does. It is really worth the effort of practicing regularly as the rewards are huge. Even after shoulder surgery, I still had pain for years until I started Somatic Movement and now it is barely noticeable.”

Many thanks to Jayne* for sharing her experiences - and bringing hope to all those who manage chronic pain.

(*Not her real name.)

If you’d like to find out more about what Somatic Movement is, why it works, or what we do in class, you can have a read of this post.

If you’d like to find out more about how to get started in this work, you can visit the website and browse the different ways you can try out Somatic Movement, or get in touch to discuss whether Somatic Movement might be right for you.

Emilie Leeks

Author

Emilie is a heart-centred life mentor and space holder, supporting those on a healing path. This is not an easy journey, and often we can find ourselves losing our way. Emilie's work meets you where you're at, with beautiful, accepting support and connection, and weaves that support with practices and explorations in self-compassion, body connection, and a return to a deep trust in ourselves. Note: all blog post content which refers to them, has been read and agreed to by Emilie's children.

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