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Somatic Movement is a movement and awareness practice for neuromuscular re-education. Through this practice you can learn to recognise and release habitual holding patterns resulting from stress, trauma, injury, or repetitive strain. These unhelpful habituations often result in chronic pain, and require a lot of energy to maintain, leading to fatigue, exhaustion, burnout and other chronic health issues. Somatic Movement can increase your neuromuscular awareness, create a sense of ease in your self-use, improve your posture and help support your overall health and wellbeing.
The movements are mostly done lying on the floor, and are slow and gentle, with a focus on finding ease and comfort. The priority is to have an awareness of the quality of your movements, rather than form. This will improve the way your muscles and your brain interact, and ultimately can lead to pain-free movement and greater enjoyment of all the activities we love doing. If you suffer from chronic pain somatic movement is a wonderful tool to address it. Thomas Hanna - the founder of this practice - called these lessons ‘The Myth of Ageing’, and it is in this spirit that these classes are offered.
Through increased awareness we can start to uncover SMA (sensorimotor amnesia) in certain muscle groups, and through a technique called pandiculation we can then release these muscle groups and create new neural pathways to create conscious ease of movement. And slowly, as our whole system starts releasing patterns of holding, the energy engaged in this holding is then available to better support your health and wellbeing.
I have found that the simplicity and gentleness of the practice was incredibly effective in uncovering and addressing my own patterns of holding, and a daily practice has helped me find more ease and freedom in my body and in my nervous system. It is also a wonderful way to support your yoga, pilates or other movement practices and sports, as it will help to keep your body and mind supple, relaxed and balanced.
For more information on somatic movement, visit www.associationforhannasomaticeducation.com/learn-more .
About me
I have recently finished my training as a somatic movement educator in the tradition of Thomas Hanna with Brian Ingle and Maya Anderssen. Over this year-long training I have noticed many changes in the way I hold myself - my breathing is more free, some little niggles and pains have gone, and my body awareness has developed in such a way that I can usually notice when I engage in any unhelpful muscular habituations. These small changes make a huge difference to my wellbeing, especially as I negotiate ageing - Hanna called these classes 'the myth of ageing'! The simplicity and effectiveness of this gentle practice makes it an ideal complement to my other passion - craniosacral therapy. I warmly invite you to try this wonderful practice for yourself and enjoy the benefits of long-lasting relaxation, suppleness and release!
Introductory series to somatic movement in the tradition of Thomas Hanna.
In this series of 4 classes we will explore the 3 main functional posture reflexes and introduce the principles of somatic movement. The first class will address the ‘red light reflex’ - our subconscious response to fear and danger - which causes a habitual contraction of the front muscles of the body. In the second class we will work with the ‘green light reflex’ - our subconscious response to having to 'fight and achieve' - causing a habitual contraction of the back muscles, often leading to lower back pain. In the third class we will work with the ‘trauma reflex’ - our subconscious response to accidents and injuries - where we become habitually contracted on one side of the body. And in the forth class we will work with trunk rotation - integrating the new-found awareness of our somatic centre and focusing on ease of movement and full-body release.
If you have never experienced somatic movement this is the place to start.
Place and time: Online, Tuesdays 7pm, starting 30th June 2026
Contribution: £40
If you are interested in these classes, please contact me at ralfehlers@icloud.com
Weekly classes
I also offer weekly online classes on Mondays at 7pm, and Wednesdays at 9am. These classes can be taken in the quiet and comfort of your own home - the focus is on gentle relaxation for long-lasting release of unhelpful neuromuscular patterns.
It is best to take these classes after you have taken the introductory series.
Contribution:
single class: £10
4 classes: £35
If you are interested in these classes, please contact me at ralfehlers@icloud.com , and indicate which time slot you would prefer.
Individual consultations
I am based in Birmingham, UK and if you prefer an individual online or in person class where we can address your individual needs and develop a more focussed practice for yourself please email me to arrange a callback. The cost of a one-hour session is £50.
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