After Mobilizing Awareness Seminar

[Green Hornet]

I have invited practitioners (including physio, bodyworkers, nurses, and massage therapists) who just attended Servaas' seminar to this "Health Care" forum to create a bigger and more exciting community here.

I would like to have inputs on:
Any comments on your Somatic work/experience.
Joys and Challenges in applying somatics.
Incredible case studies.
Questions on somatics and beyond.
Need-help situations.
Aha situations.
Wow situations.
Growth/transformation of somatics in you.
and more....

Please share! Open-mind and free spirits are welcome.
Existing members with no experience of somatics: please jump in to share your insignts.

Hope see you all here.

[bernard]

Hi Takao,

I regret enormously that some family health affair (and my English speaking, too, but I'll try to change that :wink: ) prevent me to share the training at Bowen Island :( .

By the way, it sounds great! Hope the others will join and share their thoughts and experience! 8)

[ian s]

Hello Bernard,

just e mailed you this recommendation! Mindful Spontaneity -Returning to Natural Movement by Ruthy Alon N Atlantic Books .....I know its not the same as going accross the Atlantic for a workshop but so far the book is an excellent way of looking at the body movement and pain from a 'first person experience'

Anyone read this book or have any comments ?

Another thing I am doing myself is following the warm up exerciese on this site -- very good interactive diagrams too .... go to www.mydailyyoga.com (warm up exercises ) I like the approach to softness and skill aquisition.
For a 'scientific' approach have a look at Professor Bownds site esp this chapter 9 from his book on line.....
http://www.dericbownds.net/bom99/Ch09/Ch09.html

[Diane]

The workshop was great. Bernard, I told Servaas about your reluctance to attend based on your idea that your English was insufficient. He didn't agree.. and I must add that you could have been there and would have "got it" through your body. Most of it was experiential anyway.
Maybe the next one!
More to come!
Diane

[Green Hornet]

Bernard,
Somatic would need your incredible insights for its evolution and growth.
Yeah, maybe next time. Or gather open-minded people and invite Servaas/Beverly to France.

Ians,
Thank you for sharing a great link.

[Green Hornet]

My somatics experience:

I sprained my left ankle badly yesterday, when hiking in a neighbor mountain. I was walking on a steep downhill and landed on outer foot and here it went off.

I could not put weight on left leg without terrible pain and immediately felt a chain of compensations throughout the body.

Then, I did diaphragm trick to minimize a sympathetic response. I found a spacy place to do some somatic exercises from cat stretch series, focusing on core intelligence and neck/trunk and not focusing on the injured left ankle/foot. After 5 minuted of the exercises, I was able to stand and walk symmetrically. I felt some tenderness in left ankle, but it was nothing like a hell at all. I did not feel any functional compensations in the rest of my hike (for about 30 minutes).

I checked my ankle after I got home and noted no swelling at all. Some tenderness to palpation and active dorsiflexion/plantarflexion as well as inversion/eversion. Only slight limitation in AROM.

I got up today. No pain in walking and just slight soreness at the end range of active inversion. That is it. It was my best ankle inversion exerience. So, I don't need an ankle sprain anymore.

[Diane]

I love your story Takao, and what a coincidence. It mirrors my own. I don't know if you saw me sitting on the ground at the workshop, but Thursday night, right after our first ever exposure to Somatics, I tripped in one of those horseprints in the meadow and sprained my left ankle. (Yep, there were two lovely tame horses running around freely at the retreat.) Three or four people gathered around.. It felt awful, I had to just sit there for awhile because of the pain.. but I waggled it all around non-weight bearing, then got up and limped off to my little dorm room.

A friend brought me arnica to rub on it, which I did, and then I taped it up with Kinesio tape (from your country? invented by a Japanese chiropractor? Anyway, great stuff, can't bear the thought of not packing it with me wherever I go), and went to bed. I could feel it all night long but it didn't hurt much with the tape on.

Next day I was limping a bit but got around. By day three there was hardly any pain and the tape came off. By day four I could even run on it. Somatics worked wonders, helped a bit I guess by the stretchy tape and the arnica..

Still a bit tender but completely functional, don't notice it on stairs, can sit crosslegged on it, can run.. only a wee bit of swelling left over TF ligament area. You're right, who needs a sprained ankle when you can adjust your own neuromatrix with whole body exercise?
Cheers,
Diane

[Soma]

Hi Green Hornet,

It was great to meet you at the Mobilizing Awareness course.

I have had similiar experiences with many injuries. I used to sprain my ankles quite often but since finding Somatics and utilizing awareness and movement I haven't sprained my ankle in a long time.

While it used to take me 4-6 weeks to be fully functional again the last time I sprained my ankle the pain was all gone in 3 days and 90% of my functioning was back the next day.
Cheers,
Greg

[Green Hornet]

It is nice to have you here, Greg!

Bernard,
My last experience was totally different from what I had in past several ankle sprain incidents. I want to believe that this latest experience is the normal one. The past several ones were not. I did not have to experience agonizing symptoms and pain after ankle sprain. It should be the way it is.

Big differences were:
I did not develop any swelling (at least not observable).
I did not develop functional compensations in the rest of the body.
All I had to wait was actual tissue healing.

It was just my experience (sounds like Servaas' and Greg's, too), so I can't generalize it YET. But, it is very promising.

[nari]

Bernard, I too think that some time has to be given to an acute injury to recover; it does not have to be long, maybe 24-36 hours. We may get rid of the pain but what of the issues in the tissues, to coin one of David's phrases?

Modern medicine is so cautious and so keen to immobilise, that sometimes physios head off full speed in the other direction?


Nari

[Servaas]

Hi Bernard,

I have witnessed thousands of different scenarios over the past years and here is my conclusion:

- in many cases, yes, there is almost instant recovery: the theoretical pathological damage apparantly was never there because function got restored within minutes or maybe a few days. Does this reduce recovery time: for sure. Does this reduce the amount of treatments: definitely.
Example: client comes in with acute rotator cuff tear. Diagnosed by doctor, not by MRI. Cannot, I repeat, cannot abduct the arm. 20 minutes of somatic movement and 95% of range of motion & strength had returned.

- there is a group of people where indeed, rest needs to be addressed: esp. when there is true pathology or in case like for instance whiplash.
However, even in those cases you can work other parts of the body to reduce compensating patterns of tightness and to stimulate organic patterns of movement.

-And in case of true pathology: please refer back to the doctor for further diagnostics (& treatment).

- other examples: post surgery ACL. Professional soccer player (highest European leagues). 6 Months Post ACL surgery not able to fully straighten the knee. One session of re-educatoin of normal patterning and the knee was 'miraculously' straight (& stronger & better balanced & better gait & better running/twisiting etc.).

- and best of all: when you are somatically in tune, the chance to get injured is minimal!!

- And when injured, at least you can be self-treating and self-recovering. Those are characteristics of the soma, the living human being: to be self-regulating.

It is nothing else but our human potential.

It came for free when you were born...

Servaas Mes
www.somatichealthcenter.com

[Green Hornet]

Nari,
If I use David Butler's term, I did not have or develop sensitized central processing after the ankle sprain. And I just had peripheral issue left for the next few days.

Servaas and Bernard,
Your clinical experiences are promising. There is no reason to reject what you have accomplished. And a lot of hopes to believe in its (somatics') benefits.

[Servaas]

Bernard,

The body doesn't lie.

And yes, ther eare people that we think might not be ready for experiencing the change.

But maybe we didn't meet them where they are!

And often it is their environment that prepares them for NOT being ready for change.

What do you think?

Servaas Mes
www.somatichealthcenter.com

[Soma]

In answering your question Bernard.
I do think the recovering time was significantly reduced. I have had numerous other sprains that turn into months of soreness, weakness and compensation.

With the last bad sprain, I did the RICE treatment for one night with some very gentle passive and active ROM , pandiculations of the hip, leg and foot and some soft tissue mobilization. The next day I was walking with very minor discomfort. I did Somatic movements and used awareness and motion both weight bearing and non weight bearing and within two days I had no pain and full function walking and running.

Years ago, when I was alot younger the expected discomfort of an ankle sprain would stay with me for a month or more. :)

Greg :)

[bernard]

Thanks Servaas and Greg,

It is just that I noticed about my "own" experiences. It is almost impossible to go beyond "natural" limits but it is possible to reduce many ones that we found earlier of "normal" durations.