Research: Hanna Somatic Education
Peer Reviewed Articles
Bennett, B. C. (2020). The somatic work of Thomas Hanna, tai chi, and kinesiology. Kinesiology Review, 9(3), 236-244.
Huang, Q., & Babgi, A. A. (2022). Effect of hanna somatic education on low back and neck pain levels. Saudi Journal of Medicine & Medical Sciences, 10(3), 266-271.
Costa, P. R., & Strazzacappa, M. (2015). To whom it may concern: Somatic Education in academic research. Revista Brasileira de Estudos da Presença, 5, 39-53.
Lee, H. I. (1998). Understanding Somatic Education and Exploring Its Class Format. 움직임의 철학: 한국체육철학회지, 6(1), 235-253.
Abstract: The field of Somatics is currently at a constructive point in its development. Although one can identify leading philosophers and practitioners who have done much to promote somatic practice such as FM Alexander, Thomas Hanna, Moshe Feldenkrias and Seymour Kleinman, Somatics has resisted precise definition. As a result, those interested in Somatic are challenged, by the field itself, to engage in a process of critical exploration, regarding its very definition.
It is not surprising the fact that Somatics resists definition. A unique characteristic of Somatics, as opposed to other philosophies, is that its significance lies in its practice rather than in its narrative description. In fact, many aspects of Somatics defy verbalization and rely solely on experience. As a result, the field of Somatics has a comparatively sparse collection of writing debating its form and definition. Consequently, this paper is an attempt to expound Somatics and to its position as one of education theories. This paper is a result of personal experiences which occurred during my attempts at somatic teaching and research as a graduate student and instructor at the Ohio State University. I will draw from these experiences freely in elucidating my position and in beginning to construct an emergent paradigm for Somatics.
Hanna, E. C. (2020). Somatics research bibliography: A working tool for somatics and somatic psychology. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 39(1), 24.
Drury, L. (2022). What's in a name? Somatics and the historical revisionism of Thomas Hanna. Dance Research Journal, 54(1), 6-29.
Knaster, M. (1989). Thomas Hanna: mind over movement. East West, 19(2), 56-66.
Abstract: What is somatics? Somatics is the name given to the field of western mind-body methods, encompassing ways of working with the body that are therapeutic, educational, artistic, and physically expressive. This study analyzes philosophies of somatic movement educational methods to observe what scientific principles and processes ground somatic work. An extensive literature review investigates five historical pioneers of somatics and explores influences on somatic theory from the fields of somatic psychology, neuroscience, the human potential movement, physiology and human anatomy, and psychoneuroimmunology. Qualitative analysis studies from mind-body medicine and the somatics field are compared. Using an interdisciplinary theoretical approach, I attempted to bridge and consolidate ideas to explore the philosophical and scientific foundation of somatics as a field, focusing on the principles behind somatic educational methods. In this qualitative study I am looking for information that supports the hypothesis that somatics is a human science. Through this research I found somatic work to have a distinct, traceable history of evidence proving its efficacy.
Saumaa, H. (2020). Somatic practices: Going beyond the classroom to build resilience and gain new insights. Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 26(3), 106-108.
De Giorgi, M. (2015). Shaping the Living Body: paradigms of soma and authority in Thomas Hanna's writings. Revista Brasileira de Estudos da Presença, 5(1), 54-84.
Takamatsu, M. (1996). Analyses of the Concepts and Framework of T. Hanna's Somatics. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education, 18(1), 21-32.
Saumaa, H. (2024). Letting Go with Bodily Awareness and Somatic Movement. Integrative and Complementary Therapies, 30(2), 73-77.
Gim, J. M. (2018). Sensory-motor amnesia and somatic solutions. The Asian Journal of Kinesiology, 20(1), 54-63.
Fernandes, C. (2015). When Whole(ness) is more than the Sum of the Parts: Somatics as contemporary epistemological field. Revista Brasileira de Estudos da Presença, 5, 9-38.