“Doctor, I am having a lot of pain in my knee and it does not go away.”
“What do you expect? You’re getting old.” With these few words age had dictated the future of Martha Peterson’s knee.
Having been an active woman all of her 50 years she could not believe that her dancing days were over. She decided to study different approaches to flexibility and overall well being and her search brought her to Somatics, developed by Thomas Hanna.
In one of his books, Hanna shows that much of the physical decline associated with aging is not inevitable but avoidable. Hanna’s practical program for the mind and body proves that problems people have come to associate with aging—stiffness, bad back, chronic pain, fatigue, and at times, even high blood pressure—need never occur in a person who maintains conscious control of his or her nerves and muscles.
Peterson recovered from her original knee injury. Because of the profound nature of the wealth of information she discovered through the Somatics system, she decided to devote the rest of her days to helping others.
Theresa Evans was one of those people helped by Peterson and she too embarked on a three-year program to master this simple series of body movement.
Evans is a workshop leader and clinical therapist. She is coming to Powell River to conduct a short workshop on Somatics.
With a background as a critical care nurse and then as a registered nurse in a long-term care facility, she experienced her own health crisis and looked outside of the allopathic model for help. She was drawn to yoga and embarked on an 800-hour training which, on the heels of completing, pivoted her straight into Somatics without turning back. Finding the two systems complimentary and beneficial she blends them into all the work she does.
The community is invited to experience this gentle yet effective system of body awareness and movement and reclaim the life they had. As one of Evans’ teachers said, “If you don’t receive the benefits of your practice in the here and now, why do it?”
The workshop will take place from 6 to 9 pm on Friday, September 26, and 9 am to 5 pm Saturday, September 27, at the Yoga Garden studio, Powell River Academy of Music. For more information participants can call Penny Gelber 604.485.4829. Readers can visit online to learn more about Somatics.
