From Seated Schooling to Stiff Joints: Rethinking Movement at Every Age

Thomas Hanna was passionate about the importance of being somatically aware in our lives - arguing that this is essential to our positive health and well-being (and would among other things help overcome our over-reliance on ineffective painkillers, physical therapies, and even surgeries).

He was particularly concerned about what he termed the ‘myth of aging’, and about the way most western schools delimited children’s movement and creativity.

The myth of ageing is the idea that we somehow necessarily get stiffer, and experience more discomfort and pain, and reduced mobility and flexibility as we age. Hanna argued this was nonsense - and pointed to the great many people who do not experience this as they age as part of his argument.

The nub of his argument, though, was that it’s not an accumulation of years that creates most human stiffness, discomfort and chronic pain - but, rather, an accumulation of stresses.

This is fundamental to his work, from the 1970s onwards, and remains at the heart of my work and that of fellow Certified Clinical Somatic Educators.

The main aim of Hanna’s Somatics?

To release embodied stress from the soma (so, not simply at a physical level, but at a somatic level - the level of life-as-process).

And since this work is brain work - i.e. it’s done by the individual, at the neuromuscular level (not done to them, by the Educator) - then age is not a barrier.

We can continue to learn, whatever our age, and as Hanna said, for many of us greater wisdom comes with age. So, we can learn Clinical Somatics and use it more effectively, perhaps, once we’ve lived a little, and recognise not just its benefits, but also the tendencies, habits and ‘patterns’ that show up in ourselves, so we can use what we learn to implement it effectively in our own, individual soma.

At the other end of the age spectrum, Hanna was bothered by the way children are, on the whole, expected to sit still and face front in the majority of their schooling. He held that this was damaging and restricting on a somatic level - for their physical and emotional health and well-being, and development.

One might add that it’s become increasingly obvious (and supported by research) that this expectation of children to restrict their movements, and ignore or override their bodily sensations, is harmful to them in myriad ways (even aside from the issues here around accommodating diverse needs of different neurotypes and more).

Being told off for wriggling?

Being told to wait to go to the toilet?

Being expected to do much of your learning from a board (or, now, a screen - which is perhaps even worse, in terms of the stress response patterns this throws bodies into)?

These are all terrible for developing as a full, embodied person!

Hence I share Hanna’s concern that much schooling - as well as other habits so many children are pushed towards in today’s society (screens, I’m looking at you again!) - actively restrict each child’s development of a whole-soma capacity to move through life, at many levels.

Hanna’s focus on the importance of releasing stuck stress and stored trauma from the neuromuscular system has been borne out by practice and by developments in neuroscience.

And yet, his work is not that widely known (in part due to his early death in a devastating accident).

One consequence of this is that the terms ‘somatic’ and ‘somatics’ are often associated not with his specific work (the ‘original’ Somatics, if you will) but with any kind of embodied work - whether or not it uses movement to address stuck stress, and whether or not (usually, not) it uses his very specific techniques to effectively release stuck stress in the long term.

This is in some ways great: I welcome a wider use of somatic approaches, that at least attempt to include ‘the body’, or work with embodied stress in different ways. (Indeed, I’m a practising SEP, which is one of those modalities.)

However, the lack of clarity around what ‘Somatics’ originally was - a movement-based, whole-soma response to stuck stress - is something of a frustration.

Because to be truly effective, and truly somatic, Somatics must engage the whole soma, not just the thinking, sensing and tracking parts of somas.

Why?

Put simply, we must not leave movement out of the somatic equation; it doesn’t make sense!

The the motor cortex is involved in everything we do (from every thought, to every sensation, to every stress response and more).

So to address stress, trauma, stiffness, discomfort, chronic pain, unhelpful patterns…? We need to address the sensory-motor patterns, not focus on one side of the equation at the expense of the other. We must include specific, informed neuromuscular work to do this - not rely on sensing and a generic mantra of ‘movement is medicine’ to achieve real, lasting change.

If we don’t move in helpful ways, if we restrict our movement too much - and if we over-stretch our bodies, without paying attention to our needs - we run the risk of losing (or never acquiring) the ability to move comfortably, efficiently and with ease.

We also heighten our risk of developing joint pain, musculoskeletal problems, and other health problems including cardiovascular and immune system issues.

And we hugely lessen our chances of dealing effectively with traumatic experiences and a build-up of ‘everyday’ stress.

So, whether you’re someone who’d like to resolve your stiffness and tension, someone dealing with chronic pain, or someone wanting to address high stress levels, know that Clinical Somatics can help - whatever your age.

Check out my free resouces here, and my Embodied Stress Release programme here; if you’re a psychotherapist, counsellor or fellow SEP keen to integrate Clincial Somatics into your practice, please get in touch and ask for details of my small-group programme to transform your practice, and your own embodied ease!