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Resources: Applied Anatomy


What Is Somatic Integration Analysis (SIA) / Applied Anatomy?

Somatics:
Soma refers to the body.
Somatics defines a broad umbrella of movement and awareness techniques that help the participant experience their body from the inside.
Somatics is a term coined by its founder, Thomas Hanna, as "exploring one's body from within."

Integrate:
to form, coordinate, or blend into a functioning or unified whole

Analysis:
an examination of a complex whole, its elements, and their relations

SIA helps participants gain a proprioceptive, kinesthetic and experiential awareness of their applied anatomy. Awareness gives way to understanding which yields empowerment; the hands-on, movement-based and educational process underlying Somatic Integration Analysis gives participants the tools they need to live healthy lives. Analyzing the somatic integration of the body is done through hands-on (passive) movement, full body (engaged/dynamic) motion, and education.

Many people simply state that they are in pain, but when asked to qualify the pain or make any intuitive assumptions about its origin they do not have the proprioceptive repertoire to answer those questions. SIA provides a rich, kinesthetic tap into the mind-body interplay. As we come to learn the unique nature of different tissues and tangible sensory cues from different systems, we become good consumers of our bodies. We can then make better choices about what to do for ourselves. You are at such an advantage when you can keenly discriminate the sensations your existence delivers to you.

What Can You Learn?
SIA can answer many questions for you, including some of the following:

  • What do muscles feel like, how do they move?
  • What does fascia (connective tissue) feel like, how do I stretch it?
  • Is the pain caused by my skeletal system? Perhaps a chiropractor is the best tool.
  • Is it lymphatic pain/tenderness? What am I fighting off?
  • Is there something I can do or do I need to go in for testing / medication?

How Does SIA Work?
SIA looks at the integrative and applied state of functioning human anatomy to analyze chronic pain, overuse injuries and ongoing health concerns. Each structure in the body has unique wisdom. Structures represent the functions they carry out and function determines how the structure looks and moves. This structure - function relationship is a general premise of human anatomy and physiology and SIA looks to explore the functional anatomy of the body. This approach can be applied to chronic pain syndromes, overuse injuries, postural imbalances, developmental movement malpatterning, rehabilitation and health maintenance.

Who Can Benefit?
In general, SIA is a helpful tool when dealing with issues of:

  • chronic pain
  • body alignment
  • balance and coordination
  • strength and flexibility
  • injury / trauma
  • fatigue / diminished energy
  • stress

Specifically, people with the following conditions say they have been helped by SIA:

  • Abdominal Pain
  • Arthritis
  • Back Pain
  • Whiplash
  • Balance / gait concerns
  • Carpal Tunnel
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Constipation
  • Dislocations, frequent
  • Displaced Patella
  • Dizziness
  • Endometriosis
  • Foot Pain / Tired Feet / Dislocated tarsal bones
  • Frequent Urination
  • Gastroesophageal Reflux (GERD)
  • Hamstring Pulls
  • Joint Pain
  • Migraines / Headaches
  • Nausea
  • Neck Pain
  • Obesity
  • Pain, Chronic
  • Sciatica
  • Scoliosis
  • Shoulders, tight/painful
  • Sleeping Trouble
  • Spinal Stenosis
  • Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
  • TMJ
  • Wound Healing, delayed/slow

What SIA Resources Does YOUR-CENTER.com Have?

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