Somatic Movement - short courses
I offer a number of short courses to help you get started with Somatic Movement, whilst focusing in on an area that feels particularly important for you. All short courses are suitable for complete beginners.
Short courses are currently available on the following themes:
Future courses will include the following - please check back soon or join our community newsletter to hear when these courses become available:
Each course includes a total of 8, hour-long pre-recorded classes, as well as access to a library of individual movement videos to support your work. All resources are available on demand once you have purchased your course. Full classes are recorded as audio only - the library of individual movements are videos.
All courses assume no knowledge, so are suitable for complete beginners to the approach. See below for more detail about each of the courses.
On purchasing any of these courses, you will also gain access to my Somatic Movement pre-recorded beginner’s course. You do not need to work through the beginner’s course before starting on your themed course - it is just there as an extra bonus, if you wish to explore it.
What you will learn
Course details and bookings
Lower body focus (lower back, hips, glutes, legs, feet)
Note: this course currently includes only 7 sessions. An 8th session will be added in future, probably around mid June. You are welcome to purchase this course now if you wish to, and work through the available sessions.
Giving you an experience of Somatic Movement with a focus on the lower body, this course covers areas such as freeing the centre of the body to free up the legs, sensing and moving the hips more efficiently and comfortably, and freeing up tension in the legs and feet. We finish with a session to bring our attention to moving freely in walking - Somatic Movement helps us to move more efficiently and comfortably and freely, and as many of us walk a lot during our days, this helps us to translate our practice into functional, everyday movement.
This course is for you if you: have pain/discomfort in any areas in the lower body, including sciatica, plantar fasciitis, SI joint pain, lower back pain, hip or knee pain; you want to be able to walk or move more freely and comfortably; you know you carry tension in the lower part of the body and want to know how to free the muscles up.
Stress relief
Note: I am currently creating this course so it is not yet complete. You are welcome to purchase it now and make a start if you wish to. Sessions will be added approximately weekly throughout April/May. There are two sessions at the point of writing this, which is the end of March.
Where do you hold stress and tension in the body? This course helps you to learn to recognise and sense your patterns in terms of muscle tension when stressed, so that you can gently release the holding. This is a ‘virtuous circle’ - when we hold less tension in the muscles, our body feels less stressed, and when we feel less stressed, we hold less tension in the muscles… Tackling tricky areas like the shoulders, neck and jaw, as well as the full-body patterns of muscle tension that many of us experience when we’re under stress, this course gives many ideas to help us to feel freer and more comfortable in our bodies.
This course is for you if you: have a lot of stress in your life; want to manage the symptoms of stress more effectively; want to understand better where you hold tension and learn to let it go; know you hold tension or have pain or discomfort in areas like the shoulders, neck and jaw.
Back pain
To follow
Rebalancing the left and right sides
To follow
Better breathing
To follow
Working with the periphery (head, neck, face, jaw, eyes, hands, feet)
To follow
Relaxation
To follow
Whole-body movement, rotation and integration
To follow
Upper body focus (upper back, shoulders, neck, arms)
To follow
Course pre-requisites: none.
Requirements: preferably a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted; room to lie on the floor (carpet or exercise mat) and spread arms and legs out; ability to get down to/up from the floor to do the practice (this can be using a chair etc for support if needed); ability to lie on your back (this could be propped with cushions if needs be); intention to create space to practise between sessions (optional, but recommended!); internet access. Please get in touch if you are unsure about any of these requirements.
Exchange: £39 per course, including lifetime access to your course recordings, as well as extra individual movement teaching videos. On signing up for your course, you will receive an email with all the details you need to access your resources - please check your spam folders if you can’t see it, and then get in touch if you still can’t find it.
And if you would like to take this life-changing practice further, you can sign up to our Somatic Movement membership, which gives you access to ongoing live classes or recordings (depending on which option you sign up to).
Somatic Movement
Somatic Movement is a gentle modality, originally developed by Thomas Hanna, which retrains your nervous system to overcome chronic pain caused by trauma, stress, injury or habits. It is a slow, conscious form of physical movement, and is suitable for all abilities. It is also a wonderful way to become more aware of your internal sensations, which is essential for learning new patterns. For more information about what Somatics is and how it works, you can visit this page, or of course you can contact us if you have questions.
Benefits of Somatics:
Reducing chronic pain
Improving posture
Increasing body awareness
Retraining movement patterns
Settling the nervous system
Improving breathing patterns
Increasing sense of grounding and relaxation
Ability to move more freely
Increasing ability to attend effectively to the body’s needs
Lowering the chance of recurring injuries
Re-educating the nervous system in better stillness and movement patterns
Reducing stress and anxiety
Improving range of movement
Alleviating or preventing many functional conditions
Preventing joint degeneration
Learning an empowering practice
About Emilie
I am certified to deliver Somatic Movement education classes, in the tradition of Thomas Hanna. I am a Somatic Movement Center® Certified Exercise Instructor (level 3) (through Sarah Warren’s Somatic Movement Center training), and a certified Essential Somatics Movement Teacher (through Martha Peterson’s Essential Somatics training).
“When I do tai chi, the instructor is very keen on us feeling grounded, and feeling that our body is connected all the way down to the ground. After doing that [Somatic Movement class], for the first time I really felt that connection between my lower legs and the floor as I’m standing on it. The exercises improved my sensation of my feet connecting to the floor - so rather than just my sole connecting to the floor, I felt my whole foot connecting, with the sensation also working its way up through my leg. It was a very different sensation of sensation. It was great, it was really good!”
“I’m just starting my Somatics journey in the last year. It’s so interesting to learn a new practise and find out new things about my body. The practise of pandiculation is at once immensely relaxing, rewarding and strengthening. I recommend it to everyone to enjoy your body and learn how to feel more present in it. It has really helped get rid of neck and shoulder pain.”
“I’ve found ease of movement, ease of breathing, and the ability to do the things that I really want to do!”
“Thank you for this experience! I had heard of somatics, but didn’t have a real frame of reference for what it is. This experience has been eye opening. These seeming small movements greatly affect the way my body feels, holds tension, and its balance. I cannot thank you enough for sharing somatics with me!”