SOMATRAINING
Spinal Stenosis is no longer my master. It is my opponent. Geoff literally gave me the strength to stand up and the exercises to fight back.” - Glenn D.
Soma is an approach to training that treats the body as an intricate system of moving parts, structurally and neurologically. It respects the fact that a given movement sets off a chain affect putting certain muscles, joints and ligaments into tension, while giving information back to the brain.
The goal of Soma training is to use those intricate systems to our advantage by giving them the right amount of stimulation to create and maintain change in the body. This stimulation is designed to eliminate tightness, weaknesses, and structural imbalances. This is accomplished with precise coaching, repetition, and programmed exercises.
So whether your goal is to wash away aches and pains, enhance performance, or improve posture and stress management Soma can fulfill those needs for you
Soma training is based on the pillars of:
Myofascial stretching
While it makes sense to stretch muscles that we’ve used after a workout, it’s important to remember that our muscles are encased in a tissue called fascia. This casing is extremely important to our structure and function as it acts as a system of links throughout our body to provide tension that keeps us upright, assists in our athletic performance, and even keeps our organs intact. Fascia is organized like a complex spider web from the top of our skull down to our toes. If there is an imbalance in the system it can cause poor posture as well as joint pain. The more mobile and hydrated the facsia is, the less pain we will have and the more mobile we will be. Myofascial stretching is a great way to preserve healthy joints and ligaments by ensuring gliding of tissues for optimal movement.
Proprioception
Proprioception is an understanding of where your body is in space. It’s a concept in which joints and ligaments transmit and receive information from the brain. The information can be targeted to a specific joint or ligament’s responsiveness to movement in practice in order to bring nutrients to the area. This practice is vital post-injury and post-surgery.
ELDOA
The ELDOA Method is the epitome of self-help or what some call “self normalization”. It is a technique that can help reverse the effects of gravity, athletic wear and tear, as well as poor posture.
The ELDOA method was created by world renowned osteopath, Dr. Guy Voyer. It is a French acronym for Longitudinal Osteo-Articular Decoaptation of the Spine. His technique uses principals of tensegrity, biomechanics, and anatomy to create space at targeted junctions in the spine. These postural exercises use an extremely important connective tissue called “fascia” to fix and put into tension parts of the body in order to create separation at a specific junction in the spine. This creates a chain reaction that pulls moisture, nutrients, and oxygen to the disc in between the junction. This reaction promotes a larger environment for the disc to breathe, better disc positioning, and an increase in hydration levels. These exercises can be used for any junction in the spine; L5-S1, C1-C2, S2-S3, etc.
