Is Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA) or chronic, habituated muscle tension, the cause of numerous physical, mental, and emotional issues that people seek help for? If so, it could be a key to self-healing and enjoying life to the fullest! This solution would be accessible to everyone, regardless of age or fitness level.
Is it the opposite of muscle memory?
SMA represents the downside of muscle memory, or rather, the absence of it. We all know the saying, “use it or lose it.” Muscles that aren’t used become insensible. This applies to any task, skill, or activity. An instrument left unplayed, a language not spoken, or not routinely sitting on the floor are just a few examples. We reinforce our one-sidedness and grow comfortable with it, limiting our activities and movements. Worse, we often accept this process as aging.
But let’s clarify: muscles don’t have memory, so “muscle memory” is a bit of a misnomer. What actually happens is that information flows back to the spine and brain through a network of sensors in the muscles, guiding them to contract or relax. This feedback loop, part of the neuromuscular system, helps the body move. Over time, we build, reinforce, or neglect these neuromuscular pathways. Our muscles become more automatic, reliable, and stronger with practice, creating what we call muscle memory.
Our muscular system continually engages or resists gravity to maintain balance in the most energy-efficient way. The involuntary nervous system handles these functions in the background, allowing us to focus on other things.
From the first contractions in utero to lifting the head, crawling, and eventually standing up, gravity teaches while the neuromuscular system learns. This is just the beginning, even before trying a bicycle.
Life divides into animate and inanimate. Humans, as animate beings, move with gravity in space and time. Losing balance means falling, as does mistiming. Life is a balancing act. Some manage it naturally and effortlessly, while others appear uncoordinated. Long-term imbalances can have negative health effects.
Trauma, stress and postural distortion
Three main factors disrupt balance. The most immediate is traumatic accidents, like broken limbs or post-surgery immobility. The body finds new ways to function or stops using the injured side due to pain.
Chronic stress keeps muscles in a continuous state of alertness, with the nervous system trying to keep the body safe. Prolonged stress causes the body to lose the ability to sense which muscles are tense or relaxed, creating a false sense of balance.
Most postural distortions develop over time through the autonomic nervous system, influenced by our environment and habits. This loss of sensation and voluntary movement control is termed sensory motor amnesia.
Our bodies reflect long-term habits. We can easily recognize the swimmer’s physique, the computer operator’s crane neck, the stiff magistrate’s gait, the slouching couch potato, and the combat-ready stance of soldiers, athletes, and business leaders.
Imbalance can lead to pain
An imbalance in the body’s structure during standing, moving, and sitting can cause health and mobility issues. Do we always maintain perfect posture? Are there deviations from the plumb line? Functional imbalances can lead to pain, especially in the core and along the spine. In severe cases, pain can radiate to the extremities, causing further imbalance. Tight muscles become painful due to ischemia (low blood flow).
Somatic Education helps to regain sensory motor control
Habitual tension from sensory motor amnesia is a conditioned response, not an injury. By reawakening the brain and regaining sensory motor control, we can restore neutrality.
Somatic Education, taught in the tradition of Thomas Hanna, retrains the nervous system to release involuntary muscle tension and relieve pain by correcting damaging posture and movement patterns. All somatic distortions reflect issues in both the body and lifestyle.
While muscle-building programs, stretching classes, physiotherapy, massages, saunas, yoga, meditation, or hot baths can offer temporary pain relief, they are unlikely to correct postural distortions like pharmaceuticals can’t.
Set of guided exercises
In Somatic Education, students practice guided exercises, taking responsibility for their learning and functioning. The role of a somatic educator is to empower students with the tools to stay out of pain and improve their posture, movement, and function throughout life.
Releasing involuntary muscular contractions to reset them to a relaxed state is called pandiculation. These slow, gentle exercises, performed on a mat, engage the nervous system, creating lasting change. Reconnecting the brain and muscles eliminates sensory motor amnesia.
I can attest to the effectiveness of Somatic Education. After ten years of back pain, my condition improved within weeks of practicing the exercises. The simplicity still astonishes and embarrasses me.
To help others, you must first help yourself. Learning to appreciate Somatic Education is, initially, learning to appreciate yourself. Having helped myself, I am now passionate about helping others.
Sensory Motor Amnesia, a term coined by Thomas Hanna in his book “Somatics: Reawakening the Mind’s Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health,” encapsulates this concept.