The Friday Reset
Somatic & Yin Yoga Movement Class

Most chronic pain, joint degeneration, and recurring injuries are caused by the way we use our bodies – the habitual way we sit, stand, and move throughout our lives. Our nervous system is responsible for telling us how to use our bodies, our nervous system tells us which muscles to contract, when to release them and how to hold our bodies when we’re just sitting or standing still.

As we grow up, our nervous system actually learns how to make us do these things. The more we repeat a certain posture or movement, the more deeply learned that muscular pattern becomes. After a while, our patterns become so deeply learned that we don’t even have to think about them - they become involuntary, they're stored in a different part of our brain. This is what we call muscle memory. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing, because it allows us to get through our daily lives efficiently, saving energy to other processes - energy for conscious actions. But unfortunately, sometimes we learn patterns that damage our bodies – like sitting hunched over at a computer, these hunches start to become painful, then become habitual over time . The only way to change these deeply learned muscular patterns is to re-educate the nervous system.

And that is what Clinical Somatics does. It engages the nervous system in an active learning process that consists of very slow, focused, conscious movements. The movement techniques used in Clinical Somatics teach the nervous system how to release chronic muscle tension and stand and move in natural, efficient ways so that you aren’t putting yourself in pain or doing damage to your body.

Yin Yoga is a slow, floor-based practice where poses are held for longer (up to 5 minutes), giving your body time to soften rather than strive. Instead of stretching muscles with effort, we gently target the deeper connective tissues; fascia, ligaments and joints - helping to improve mobility and ease. It’s less about how it looks and more about how it feels, with space to breathe, notice and unwind.

The Friday Reset blends clinical somatic movements with Yin Yoga to help you release tension, restore natural movement and properly switch off at the end of the week. Clinical somatics gently retrains your brain-to-muscle connection (so your body can let go of habits it’s been clinging onto), and Yin Yoga then allows that new ease to settle in. It’s the perfect way to leave the week behind — loosening the grip of desks, stress and “I’ll just quickly do one more thing”; and arrive into your weekend feeling lighter, calmer and more like yourself again. No forcing, no pushing; just a well-timed exhale to finish the week.

First, have you and your doctor ruled out disease, infection, or structural damage as being the cause of your problem?
If the answer is yes, then it’s fairly safe to say that your pain, recurring injury, or posture or movement issue is a result of the way you’re using your body. Second, do you like the idea of being self-sufficient and not relying on others to relieve your pain?
If you like the idea of engaging in a learning process and taking care of yourself by practicing gentle exercises, then Clinical Somatics is a good fit for you!