How Somatics differs from other methods.....

Somatics and…..

Chiropractic
Like chiropractic, Somatics improves skeletal alignment and joint mobility to reduce pain and improve bodily functioning. Unlike chiropractic, Somatic Movement Education doesn't involve manipulations or adjustments; instead, it teaches your brain to make those adjustments from within. The idea being that your brain controls your muscles; your muscles move your bones. Therefore, your brain (nervous system) ultimately controls your skeletal alignment.

Physiotherapy
Many Physical Therapists are trained to manipulate a client externally whereas Somatic Education uses hands-on techniques designed to teach the client to make the changes through their own neuromuscular system. Somatics also always stays within comfortable ranges of motion and never attempts to impose change externally.

Personal Training
Although strength training can be an aspect of rehab or conditioning for people, it should ideally always be built upon a muscular system that is free of maladaptive patterns and habits. If people try to strengthen “weak” muscles, they can often magnify existing problems which are often in fact due to lack of freedom of movement & co-ordination rather than an actual weakness. 

Pilates
Somatics and Pilates are similar in their goal of a more controlled and intelligent mind/body. However in many cases, the building of strength within a Pilates practice, is on top of an underlying neuro-muscular base that needs more freedom, flexibility, and co-ordination. We encourage people to first learn the muscular control, freedom and ease of movement of Somatics, rather than potentially exacerbating existing areas of contraction by building additional layers of tension into the body. See the article link above for more information on current findings on the efficacy of 'core stability' exercises for low back pain.

Yoga
Most of the benefits of attending Yoga classes are also available through somatic movement classes or One2One sessions, where students will expand their flexibility, breath, peace of mind, emotional, spiritual, and physical health. Somatics does not seek to impose an external form (asana) on the body, or encourage us to emulate how movements or poses look from the outside in someone else’s anatomy (which some schools of yoga can); rather it seeks to teach us to move from within and re-connect with the uniqueness of our own embodiment. The combination of hatha yoga and somatics can therefore be a very powerful one: somatics gives you an increased awareness of your own body, and allows you to develop a self-guided and independent yoga practice much more readily.
 
Tai Chi
While Tai Chi truly can be a Somatic movement art, the tools and methods applied during Tai Chi typically do not have the same direct and intentional affect on the neuro-muscular system as somatic movements do; as with hatha yoga and any physical sport or form of exercise, performance and enjoyment can be greatly improved through the practice of Somatics.
 
Meditation
Sometimes, meditation practices inadvertently exclude “body” at the cost of “mind”, despite intending to integrate the two. During Somatics practice, by focusing inwards on your own bodily sensations, you automatically withdraw your senses and your mind becomes quieter as it is not being distracted by external stimuli. Somatics is a truly integrated practice that nurtures quiet of mind and the ability to be present to experience life more openly, as it actually seeks to enhance the ability of the nervous system to be more adaptable and present, sensing and responding appropriately to the environment in the present moment.