Insights

In the hustle of modern medicine and our modernized world, a simple truth is often overlooked: our bodies hold wisdom that only our minds can access. Too often diagnosis, treatment, and exercise are being determined and prescribed from images, labs, and computer screens.

Thomas Hanna said, “First-person human experience must be considered of equal scientific and medical importance as outside, third-person observation.”

I had the privilege of experiencing Hanna’s work firsthand, and his insights continue to shape our approach at the institute. His book, Somatics, published in 1988, remains a cornerstone of our team’s training, reminding us that true understanding must include the client’s experience. It becomes more clear with each week that the better we teach our clients to explore and discover their sensory awareness the more success they have.

One of Hanna’s original concepts was that of Sensory-Motor Amnesia (SMA). He hypothesized that due to trauma, mental and/or physical, the nervous system and body forget how to move. His approach involved teaching the individual how to sense the area of the body so they could learn how to move in a better way. And, once you are moving in a better way, you will have a better sense of your body. At the institute we have embodied this approach: Learn to move. Move to learn. Repeat.

Another favorite phrase that I borrowed from Hanna is, “Aging is a myth.” He proposed that SMA was the cause of slumped postures, pain, limited mobility, and ultimately poor health. The myth is that these developments are normal aging. It is exciting to see new science and methods agreeing with Hanna’s theories. Many of our clients are part of this evidence.

Longevity is certainly trending. Perhaps what Hanna and others suggest is deliberately exploring our sense of how we used to move, what we have maybe forgotten.

Thomas Hanna’s pioneering work in the field of somatics reminds us of the vital connection between mind and body. His quote and book are over thirty years old. His declaration remains part of the curious gap between what is known to improve pain, injury, and resilience and what we do. Frequently it comes down to asking the right questions. When you are walking, doing a lunge, or lifting a box, “Where do you feel that?”

The answers are usually right in front of us.