Eric Beard: Corrective Exercise Specialist / IDEA FIT / Perform Better Presenter
I am a massage therapist and exercise corrective specialist. I just went through the soma system inaugural instructor training. I enjoyed myself tremendously; it was a very thorough view of anatomy assessment as well as self body work. The soma system is a very intriguing approach to the dilemma of muscle pain that most people experience at some point in their life especially if they are active or sedentary on the other side of it. So the soma system provides the sequential systematic approach to releasing adhesions throughout the body mirrored to concepts found in Rolfing and also gentle stretches found in yoga. So if you’re looking to learn more on how to restore movement quality of your body or to learn more about how to work netter with clients, patients and athletes — I would recommend the soma system.
Through the self bodywork exploration, I have always had chronic tightness in my right adductor complex related to a hockey injury that caused some imbalance around my lumbar-pelvic complex. By using the tools and going through the system, I found that there is a bit more neural restriction which before I thought was fascial and muscular. So now I will be able to get the treatment I need to get that nerve released.
The experience of teacher training is very positive – it was extremely organized and very well laid out and presented. The blend of application learning and then reviewing was excellent. Concepts were applied and then students had to demonstrate certain aspect of what they have learn throughout the day.
Soma System Instructor Trainees
Jeff Hill PT, DPT, MA, CSCS
I was recently introduced to the SpikyLife Mat and was very impressed with the design and performance. I often get myofascial tightness and pain in my neck / upper back and was amazed how quickly the tension was reduced. My sleep quality has improved substantially and not to mention my workouts (early morning) are more intense. I highly recommend this product to anyone looking for natural ways to reduce pain and myofascial tension and looking for overall improvement in health.
Kathy Hartsell: Ballet Dancer and PT Assistant at Boston Sports Medicine
We just finished our last day of the first soma system teacher training and I am so appreciative of this work both personally and professionally. I had a history of ballet so as a past dancer, I was a professional dancer with Boston ballet for several years. I can certainly understand muscle tension and muscle imbalance and the echo of that imbalance has stuck with me even as I retired from dance. So having this set of tools to really go in and work through those patterns and re-program those patterns is really instrumental and just building awareness and creating a better sense of balance and ease.
Certainly as a yoga teacher I also know that there are many gaps that yoga can’t directly address at times and I found that these tools really fill those gaps quite skilfully and also artfully. So I love that there is some really clear techniques that you can pull from and yet there’s also a huge amount of variability within each technique that you can adapt for each person that you’re working with whether it’s a change of the tools or a change of the position or tweak of the sequence. I love that there is that much depth to the program and that we spend so much time really understanding all those different layers.
I also love that it works for and extends beyond the yoga or dance population. I work at Boston sports medicine as a physical therapist assistant and I am always looking for ways to help people find a new sense of balance, a new way to work with their body, either as prevention or as the rehab from an injury or as they return to their sport or regular activities of their daily life.
I really love the idea that this is something they can take into their own hands so that they don’t feel like they are depending on someone else for increasing their health. So I have experienced a wide range of benefits directly from soma system work and I am really excited to help promote the system and bring it to a bunch of different people.
I would say my favorite thing about the system is that it is so articulate. There are these really nuanced tools and really intelligently designed sequences and at the same time it is so approachable and simple enough that it can be digested enough by anyone. My favorite tool I think, it changes depending on the day but for right now, my favorite technique is the psoas release using the big orange ball. I have a very mobile sacrum, so I get to use the ball set the sacrum back into its place. It really helps me restore a lot of my lower back shortening that I have experienced as a dancer.
Veronika Lipka, yoga instructor
I first used soma system® products at an intensive yoga teacher training. The release that they brought to my body and to my mind was so intense that I fell in love instantly. Now, as a busy yoga teacher who teaches 10 to 13 public classes a week, I find that the tools help students deepen their postures and lift their spirits. After class, I often can’t wait to go home and practice quietly with the tools myself. soma system® tools are like having your own yoga studio, your own massage therapist, and your own medicine man at home!
Melanie Burns, massage therapist
As a licensed massage therapist, yoga teacher, and studio owner, I am always looking for ways to help people have a better experience of being in their bodies. I am grateful to have found soma system® tools that truly awaken a deeper awareness of innate healing potential. Students’ eyes light up when I bring out the dual track balls and you can see lights going on as we work on opening lines of fascia throughout the body using these intelligently-designed products. I am a firm believer in the work of Tom Myers and Ida Rolf and am so thrilled to now have tools that invite, encourage and enlighten people to become their own body workers.
Lawrence Sullivan, yoga therapist
soma system® allowed me to discover areas of myofascial tension that I had not been aware of….It was amazing to experience the fascia release in all these different areas. This practice brought me to a wonderful place of relaxation that deepened my yoga and meditation practice.
Sara Kochanowski: Yoga Teacher
Lorilee Strom, yoga instructor
Yoga has helped to soothe my chronically tight muscles, but there are some knots that no amount of stretching can unravel. The use of soma system® props under expert guidance is like getting a deep tissue massage. It’s the next best thing to having my own personal massage therapist.
Petra Pikkelova, Yoga Teacher
My clients love the double-track roller, as I can attest from their alternating sounds of pain and pleasure– as well by the sparks in their eyes when they finish their practice. After I use the roller on my own back, I feel a couple inches taller. My back feels incredible.
Vera Ventura de Sousa, yoga instructor
soma system workshop was a completely transformative experience for my personal yoga practice. The multi-faceted self bodywork tools presented enhanced and deepened my understanding about my body and allowed me to experience new levels of sensation physically and mentally. I highly recommend their workshop to anybody looking to develop a self-administered therapeutic experience in conjunction with a yoga practice. The combination of the two can propel one’s yoga practice in new dimensions, especially regarding injury prevention.
Jan F., registered nurse
Although I am very flexible and do a lot of yoga, my body often feels “tight”. David addressed this at the start of the session. The fascial release using the assorted soma system® tools was amazing. I attended with four friends and we all left feeling very “light”. It lasted into the next day. I don’t think my body has felt that way since I was a child. Before leaving the workshop, I purchased some soma tools. The next day my adult daughter was home and we spent hours using them. She is a musician so her upper body tends to be tight. She was also amazed at the results. I am definitely going to take David’s suggestion and incorporate the release techniques demonstrated at the workshop into my daily yoga practice. Thank you for showing me how to be my own body worker!
Becky Hale, physical therapist
Sue Pentland, Yoga Instructor and Studio Owner
Can I tell you that I have no pain….first time in 7 years!!!!! I didn’t need to see the referrals you sent me, just used the big orange ball to work on my scalene!