ANYTIME FITNESS
$44.95 $1.00
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We are ANYTIME FITNESS and each facility is independently owned and operated and open to members 24 hours a day..
Here in Lake Havasu City, we strive to entice you to look after your health in a fun and affordable way. We offer you try us for $1.00, then you can decide the path you feel comfortable with.
We offer starter and optional classes and our fees are $44.95 per month for a 12 month membership or we’ll drop the price to $34.95 for an 18 month membership.
We also offer personal trainers for that 1 on 1 experience.
Call us: (928) 302-3883 and let’s get you ROCKING!!!
Description
Everyone seems to be talking about somatic workouts. But what are somatic exercises and how can they boost your overall wellness?
But what are somatic exercises, and do they really hold the key to mind-body balance and wellness? Turns out there’s much more to somatic exercise than just a trending topic.
The Somatic Movement Center gives the following somatic definition: A somatic movement is a movement that’s practiced consciously with the intention of focusing on the internal experience of the movement rather than the external appearance or the end result of the movement.
Meaning, you move your body based on how you feel rather than to reach a specific goal or stretching sequence like in yoga. Somatic stretching includes gentle, mindful movements that help you reconnect with your body, better manage stress, and regulate your nervous system. Practitioners have long touted the routine as an accessible way for people to experience somatic stretching without special training or a big time commitment. It’s also simple enough to do every day, making somatic exercise worth exploring as part of your holistic path to wellness.
The history of somatic movement
Professor Thomas Hanna coined the term “somatics” in the late 1970s to define a field of movement studies and bodywork focused on the body’s internal physical sensations, perceptions, and experiences.
In his groundbreaking book, Somatics: Reawakening the Mind’s Control of Flexibility and Health, Hanna outlines how many chronic issues like stiffness, backaches, and fatigue can be avoided if you can consciously control nerves and muscles — which Hanna called “sensory-motor awareness.” Hello, mind-body connection!
Since Hanna founded the field nearly 60 years ago, somatic movement has gained a massive following — there are even global organizations and medical subspecialties dedicated to the practice. It wasn’t until recently that somatic exercise started showing up everywhere, with everything from fitness apps dedicated to somatic exercise to medical professionals touting benefits like pain relief and trauma recovery.
Let’s take a closer look at these benefits, including specific trauma-release exercises, and how you can try somatic exercise for yourself as part of a well-rounded training, nutrition, and recovery routine.
The fundamentals of somatic exercise
Somatic exercises include both calming and activating practices, depending on how your body feels.
Calming practices
Taking a moment to scan your body for tension or pain can help you be aware of what’s happening in your body. You don’t need any special equipment to do a self-body scan, just get in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and move your awareness from your feet up to your head.
Once you’re aware of any tension or pain in your body, you can begin to move however it feels good to release tension in those areas. Remember, there is no stopwatch with somatic exercises — they are intended to be slow and mindful, so take your time.
Activating practices
Activating practices such as free-form dancing and full-body stretching are great mind-body exercises that bring more energy and movement into the body, allowing you to release tension and have a little bit of fun with your mindfulness.
Somatic exercise and its effect on weight
Some of the biggest buzz around somatic movement is its purported positive effects on helping those who regularly practice somatic exercise to experience noteable weight loss — particularly those who carry excess weight around their waistline which is often correlated with stress.
Using somatic exercise to help release stress and tension may lower stress hormones like cortisol, allowing people to lose weight more easily and avoid being trapped in a high-stress cycle. But there are no scientific studies that support specific claims around using somatic exercise for weight loss, so keep that in mind when you consider adding somatic exercises to your wellness routine.
Far from a get-thin-quick scheme, somatic workouts are focused on grounding your mind and body so you can go deep inside to help heal and recover. After all, being able to lower stress and find better internal balance in everyday life is a real win.
Connecting the body and mind with trauma exercises
According to the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM), somatic exercise focuses on a bottom-up approach to trauma recovery.
“Rather than starting in conversation about emotions or cognition, this approach focuses on how the body responds to trauma and how that, in turn, affects the brain.” The nonprofit notes that people who experience trauma often disconnect from their body as a means of self-protection and preservation. “Trauma causes the sympathetic nervous system to go into overdrive, and it’s hard for people who have experienced trauma to regulate their nervous system back into a state of calm awareness.”
Whether you’ve personally experienced a traumatic event or have been part of collective trauma like the coronavirus pandemic, there are many promising studies that associate the power of mind-body exercises with effective trauma release. Learning stretches to release trauma might be key to unlocking more peace and healing in your life.
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