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Essential Somatics

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Manitou Springs, CO
Essential Somatics

Essential Somatics is a revolutionary approach to eliminating muscle pain. It's safe, easy, and common sense. Learn to move without pain!

It goes to the root of most chronic muscular pain: the brain and its control of muscles and movement. Since 2010, Essential Somatics® has grown from a small solo practice to a team of highly skilled and devoted Clinical Somatic Educators who teach multi-day introductory courses, clinical certification trainings, and embodied movement for corporate leadership. The trainings we provide are offered in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The teachings of Somatic Education have helped thousands of people worldwide to return to a more vibrant life of movement, self-agency, and awareness.

03/07/2026

How we choose retreat locations.

It’s not just about finding somewhere beautiful, though that matters more than you might think.

When we’re looking for a place to host a retreat, the first question we ask is whether the environment itself will support the learning. Clinical Somatic Education asks something of you that daily life rarely does: it asks you to slow down, turn your attention inward, and notice what’s actually happening in your body. That’s genuinely difficult to do when you’re surrounded by noise, obligation, and the familiar pull of your usual routine.
So we look for places that make it easier.

Places where the pace is different. Where the air feels different. Where you can walk outside after a morning session and feel the ground under your feet without a single thing demanding your attention. Where the environment itself becomes part of the practice.

That’s why our retreats have taken us to the old growth forests of Hollyhock on Cortes Island, to the warm Pacific coast of Mexico at Mar de Jade, and now to the hills of central Portugal at Vale de Moses. These aren’t conference centers with breakout rooms. They’re places with their own rhythm, their own quality of light, their own invitation to be present.

We’ve found that people learn differently in these settings. The nervous system softens when it feels safe and unhurried. And when the nervous system softens, the work goes deeper than it ever could in a classroom or online.

That’s what we’re looking for every time. Not just a beautiful backdrop, but a place that does some of the work alongside us.

03/05/2026

After nearly a decade of leading retreats, here’s what we’ve learned.

People don’t come because they want to go to Portugal or Mexico or British Columbia. They come because something in their body has been asking for attention for a long time, and they’ve finally decided to listen.

They arrive carrying years of tension they thought was just part of getting older. Stiff backs they’ve learned to work around.

Shoulders that have forgotten how to drop. A general feeling of disconnection from their own body that they can’t quite name but can’t ignore either.

And within a few days, something shifts.

Not because we push them or put them through grueling sessions. But because we slow everything down and give them something most of us are genuinely starved of: time. Time to feel how they actually move. Time to notice the patterns they’ve been carrying unconsciously for years. Time to learn that their body isn’t the problem. It’s been trying to protect them all along.

What we’ve learned is that the setting matters more than people expect. There’s something about being removed from daily life that allows the nervous system to genuinely soften.

Learning happens differently when you’re not half distracted. You feel more. You retain more. You leave with something that stays with you.

We’ve also learned that people consistently underestimate how quickly things can change. Someone arrives convinced their tight back is just their reality now, and by day three they’re walking differently.

That’s what Clinical Somatic Education offers. And it turns out a week in a beautiful place, with a small group of people all learning the same thing, is one of the best ways to learn it.

Have you ever been on a retreat? What was your highlight?

02/18/2026

If you’ve got sciatica, you’ve probably been told it’s nerve entrapment or a disc issue or something structurally wrong that can only be fixed by a specialist.

And maybe that’s true. But before you assume the worst, consider this: tension in one part of your body almost always means there’s tension somewhere else.

If your sciatica is only showing up in one glute, that’s a sign you have a habituated pattern in the center of your body. We call it the Trauma Reflex, the protective twisting and guarding your nervous system does when you’re startled or trying to avoid pain.

The problem is, your brain never turned it off. So you’re still holding that twist, still compensating, still pulling everything slightly to one side without even realizing it.

Here’s what to do:

Lie on your belly with your legs straight and your head to one side. Slowly lift one leg a few inches and feel the contraction, not just in your glute but in your back and down your leg. Slowly release it.

Notice if your pelvis rocked to one side as you did that. Keep your pelvis evenly on the floor. Repeat. Now do the same with the other leg.

Make sure your belly is soft, your pelvis is flat on the floor, and you can feel your glutes contract. Go slowly. This isn’t about lifting your leg high. It’s about feeling what’s actually happening in your body.

If you haven’t already, this is a good time to start building a daily somatic movement practice. That’s the best way not only to reduce the tension that keeps creeping back in, but to enhance your self-awareness so you can actually understand why the sciatica developed in the first place.

Martha has dealt with sciatica many times. It was usually compensatory, from an accident or injury or the way she was sitting slightly tilted to one side without noticing.

Your sciatica might not be about your spine at all. It might just be about a pattern you didn’t realize you were holding.

And you can release it.

02/14/2026

Every human responds to stress through three full body patterns.

Not just tight shoulders. Not just a stiff back. Full body reflexes that happen automatically, without you even realizing it.

Thomas Hanna discovered these patterns decades ago. And once you understand them, you’ll start recognizing them everywhere. In yourself. In the people around you.

The Green Light Reflex

This is your go-go-go pattern. Leaning forward. Rushing through life. Your back arches, hip flexors tighten, shoulders pull back.

You feel it as lower back pain. Tight hips. That constant backward pull even when you’re trying to rest.

The Red Light Reflex

This is fear. Withdrawal. Bracing. Your shoulders pull up and forward. Your chest tightens. Your whole body contracts inward.

You feel it as neck and shoulder tension. Shallow breathing. That sense of being constantly on guard.

The Trauma Reflex

This is how you adapt to injury or avoid pain. One shoulder higher than the other. Weight shifting to one side. Twisting through your waist.

You feel it as one-sided hip pain. Imbalance. That nagging sense that something’s off but you can’t quite fix it.

Here’s what matters:

You’re probably holding all three right now.

Years of stress have layered these patterns on top of each other. Your nervous system learned them so well, you can’t even sense them anymore.

That’s sensory motor amnesia.

But Clinical Somatic Education teaches you to recognize these patterns. To sense where you’re holding. And to release.

Not through force. Through awareness. Through gentle movements called pandiculations that reset your nervous system.

Once you learn this, you can’t unsee it. You’ll notice when you’re in Green Light at your desk. When Red Light kicks in during a stressful conversation. When Trauma patterns show up in how you stand.

And you’ll know how to release them.

That’s the power of understanding your stress reflexes.

02/12/2026

“Those years are behind me.”

How many times have you told yourself this?

That adventure is for younger people. That your body just can’t do what it used to. That it’s too late to feel different, move differently, be different.

You’ve accepted it. Made peace with it. Adjusted your expectations.

No more hiking. No more getting down on the floor to play with grandkids. No more spontaneous trips because your back can’t handle it.

But here’s what we know:

Chronic pain and tight muscles isn’t aging. It’s sensory motor amnesia.

Your muscles have learned to hold tension over years of stress, repetitive movements, and adaptation. Your nervous system has forgotten how to release.

And that? That can change. At any age.

We’ve worked with people in their 60s, 70s, even 80s who’ve regained mobility they thought was gone forever.

Not through extreme interventions. Not through pushing harder or forcing their bodies.

Through gentle, mindful movements that re-educate the nervous system. Through learning to sense what they’d been ignoring. Through understanding why their bodies held tension and how to let it go.

The difference isn’t their age. It’s their willingness to try something different.

Clinical Somatic Education doesn’t care how old you are. Your nervous system is still capable of learning. Still capable of releasing what it’s been holding. Still capable of change.

Those years aren’t behind you.

They’re ahead of you. Waiting. Ready.

If you’re willing.

What have you stopped doing because you thought you were “too old”? Tell us in the comments.

02/08/2026

September in the Portuguese mountains.

Perfect autumn weather. Not too hot, not too cold. Just crisp mountain air and golden light.

This is where our Portugal retreat happens.

Why September?

The summer crowds have gone. The harvest season begins. Nature is at its most beautiful, transitioning into autumn with vibrant colors and abundant local food.

The days are warm enough to practice outside. The evenings are cool enough to rest deeply. The pace of everything slows down naturally.

Why the mountains?

Because when you’re surrounded by beauty, your nervous system relaxes. When you’re away from daily demands, learning deepens. When nature holds you, transformation happens differently.

The Serra da Estrela mountains aren’t just a backdrop. They’re part of the experience.

Quiet trails for afternoon walks. Fresh mountain air during morning practice. The kind of stillness that’s impossible to find at home.

And here’s what makes it special:

The entire venue is ours. No other groups. No distractions. Just you, the mountains, and focused time to learn Clinical Somatic Education.

This is where you’ll understand sensory motor amnesia. Where you’ll practice pandiculation. Where you’ll learn skills that last long after you leave.

September 2026. The mountains of Portugal.

Registration opens soon.

02/06/2026

Your chronic pain is like climbing a mountain with a backpack full of rocks.

Each stressor adds another rock. Work deadlines. Family responsibilities. Old injuries you’ve compensated for. Repetitive movements from your job.

Year after year, the backpack gets heavier. You adjust. You adapt. You keep climbing.

But your body? It’s exhausted.

That’s sensory motor amnesia.

Your muscles have learned to hold tension. Your nervous system has forgotten how to let go.

And no amount of willpower or “just relaxing” will empty that backpack.

You need to learn how to release what you’ve been carrying.
Clinical Somatic Education teaches you how.

Not by forcing. Not by powering through. But by re-educating your nervous system to sense what it’s holding and let it go.
Gently. Mindfully. Effectively.

The rocks don’t disappear overnight. But for the first time, you understand how to set them down.

One by one. Until the backpack gets lighter. Until climbing becomes easier.

Until you remember what it feels like to move without that weight.

What rock are you carrying that you’re ready to release?

Address

Manitou Springs, CO
80829

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Website

http://essentialsomatics.com/, https://www.unionsquareandco.com/9781454953173/the-mindful-motion-deck-by-martha-peterson

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Our Story

Essential Somatics is grounded in the revolutionary approaches of Hanna Somatics, Moshe Feldenkrais and other modern day somatic pioneers. We teach people to eliminate their own muscle pain and create more freedom and ease in their bodies and their lives. Essential Somatics gets to the root of most physical discomfort and restriction: the brain and the way it communicates with the muscles through movement. Come learn safely and gently to move through life with mastery and joy.