19 Nov

Health & Nutrition

The World Health Organisation recently revealed that food products such as bacon and preserved meats have “highly carcinogenic or cancer causing properties.”  They have classed them in the same category as cigarette smoking.  As we are interested in educating ourselves to live a more somatic or holistic lifestyle, this blog is asking the question, What causes these foods to be so detrimental to our health?  The answer is that they produce FREE RADICAL ACTIVITY AND DAMAGE.   Some authors use the analogy of “sparks” as [...]

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02 Oct

Posture

How is your posture? We all exhibit stress reflexes in our posture and they are triggers for chronic pain.  Total Somatics incorporates mindfulness techniques into the movement sequences.  The name Soma comes from the Greek word meaning the body, which is inclusive of the soul, mind and psyche.  Total Somatics deals with the Soma or body and mind.  The nature of our soma is to move from the centre to our periphery or extremities.  Take a look in the mirror [...]

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19 Sep

Neuroscience behind Mindfulness practice

The mindfulness sessions are having a profound effect on your neurological health.  MRI scans show that after just 8 weeks of mindfulness practice, the area of the brain linked to the “fight or flight” response appears to shrink. This part of the brain is called the amygdala.  It is an old part of the brain which links primitive responses to external events.  It is involved with initiating the body’s response to stress.As the amygdala begins to shrink, the higher [...]

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09 Aug

Retrain Your Brain

The information in this blog has been requested by clients who have enjoyed learning Somatics.   They want to know more about the amazing effects and changes it creates to our entire muscular system.  They have been impressed by the additional benefits they have discovered since practising the movements on a regular basis.  It also offers an opportunity for others to learn about this fantastic modality.The programme Total Somatics offers is to help people reduce pain and regain range of [...]

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15 Jul

Neuromuscular Science and Somatics

Somatics deals with correcting functional issues.  We look at breaking habitual, fixed motor patterns which are stored in the sub cortex and create chronically tight muscles.  The sub cortex is located below and completely covered by the cerebral cortex.  The sub cortex can be divided into three main areas:1) Brainstem and hindbrain 2) Midbrain 3) ForebrainThe sub cortex involves involuntary actions such as heart rate, breathing, swallowing and digestive activity.  But it is also the seat of FIXED MOTOR PATTERNS.  So [...]

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06 May

Somatics and Muscle Behaviour

Somatic exercises deal with Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA).  Sensory Motor Amnesia is the root cause for most chronic muscular pain. It is where the brain has gone into autopilot and has simply forgotten how to switch the muscle(s) on and off at the appropriate time.   SMA is created from habitual patterns such as years of sitting at a desk or nursing an injured limb, thus altering how we walk to protect it.  This leads to a change in our [...]

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