Somatics

Book excerpt: When our bodies start to feel stiff, sore, or tired, we often say that we're "getting old." But is that really the problem? In this groundbreaking work, Thomas Hanna shows that much of the physical decline associated with aging is not inevitable but avoidable. Building on the work of Moshe Feldenkrais, Hanna's practical program for the mind and body proves once and for all that problems you've always thought of as the symptoms of age--stiffness, bad back, chronic pain, fatigue, and, at times, even high blood pressure--need never occur if you maintain conscious control of your nerves and muscles. He shows how the body can turn a habitual action into an involuntary, destructive pattern called sensory-motor amnesia, and demonstrates a simple but effective method for conquering these habits with sensory-motor awareness. With only a five-minute routine once a day, you can maintain the pleasures of a limber, healthy body indefinitely and escape the confines of age or injury. Practical and easy to use, Somatics is the essential guide to reversing the physical effects of aging--or staving them off before they even begin.