- Hanna Somatic Education® proposes that we habitually tend to stand in characteristic postures because chronically contracted muscles hold us there.
- When our muscles are balanced in tonicity -- front, back, and sides -- we stand in a comfortable, upright posture. When our muscles are more contracted on one side than another, we are pulled in that direction.
- Muscles contract in response to signals from the nervous system. When our nervous system continuously sends "contract" messages, habitual patterns of hyper-contraction occur in certain muscles.
- This can lead to improper posture and unpleasant symptoms such as painful muscles/joints, headaches, etc.
- To explain the origin of our tendency to forget certain movements or balanced ways of using our muscles, Hanna put forth the concept of Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA).
- SMA occurs when we learn to hold ourselves tightly in reaction to a pain, injury, or emotional stress.
- SMA reflects a loss of the ideal neuromuscular control of our postural state.
- SMA often leads to the creation of pain and always leads to the experience of less comfort and ease in our movements.
In his work with clients, Hanna noticed that SMA and its attendant postural distortion manifested within three broad patterns of reflexive contraction. Hanna identified these reflexes as: the green light reflex, the red light reflex, and the trauma reflex.
SOMATICS