Elevated Somatics

06/01/2026

Here we come, New Jersey! 🙌

That client who walks in holding their breath, jaw clenched, neck tight as a board?

Or the one whose lower back keeps going out — who's seen everyone and gotten only temporary relief?

Less than 10% of this type of issue is structural. Usually it is functional — a pattern of tension maintained by a nervous system that never learned how to let go. You can work the tissue all day long, but if the neuromuscular system is still gripping, you're fighting an uphill battle.

Complete, lasting change happens when the body remembers how to release — not because you forced it, but because your client found it themselves. That's the shift. Somatic Foundations of Therapeutic Touch and Movement is coming to New Jersey — and I'd love to see you there.

This 2-day, 16 CE course will give you:
— Approachable neuroscience to understand why postural patterns and chronic pain persist
— Somatic principles that shift you from working on bodies to working with whole humans
— Clinical techniques to quickly help restore functional resting tone
— Self-care practices that will have you feeling better and better the longer you teach them
No forcing. No pushing. No stretching.
Just powerful, precise work that gets results — for your clients and for you.

📅 August 8-9, at the Therapeutic Massage & Therapy Training Center, 560 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090

🔗 Registration link in comments, including the dates of two free short intro workshops.

MTs — are you already working somatically? Drop a comment and tell me how it's changing your practice. New to this? Tell me what you're curious about. Let's get a conversation going. ⬇️

An introduction to clinical somatic techniques that will transform your practice and enhance your self-care.

05/18/2026

Hi Denver, somatic work is not just about nervous system regulation, it's about mastering your physiology. I've got a few openings in my calendar for people who want to get the most out of their summer. I'm looking for people who want to resolve their chronic muscle tension/pain with clinical somatic techniques so they can hike, swim, cycle, or static wave surf all around this gorgeous state!

Send me a DM or comment below now and I'll send you the link to schedule.

For most people, getting out of pain is the first step. Old injuries and chronic stress create discomfort, a cycle of pain, and dysfunction. Reversing that cycle is critical. Once out of pain, the question then is what happens if you keep improving, refining your movements, balancing muscle tone and...

05/18/2026

You probably learned at some point that you have 33 bones that construct your spinal column. But have you ever considered how many of the joints formed by those bones you can move? Very likely, when you try to bend your spine one way or the other, you'll find that there's movement in a few places and other parts, whole regions of your spine are stuck and braced. Go ahead and try it!

See what I mean? You likely weren't even aware that some parts of your spine are currently stiff, outside of your awareness.

This imbalance, areas of movement and areas of stuckness, leads to discomfort, pain, and an even greater restriction of movement.

But this is not a structural issue, this is your neuromuscular system maintaining whatever you have inadvertently taught it to do. You're stiff because you stopped moving all parts of your spine, and now you're uncomfortable because the joints are overloaded and the muscles are exhausted from keeping your spine locked up!

What do to about this?

Join me tomorrow for Comfortable, Moveable Backs—a 75-minute live somatic movement class designed to help you map out those blind spots, regain conscious control of your spine, and finally let that deep tension go. You will be shocked by how much better your will feel.

https://www.elevatedsomatics.com/elevatedonline

🎥 Can't make it live? All registered participants get the video recording to keep practicing.

04/30/2026

May 1st is the last day to sign up for the Myth of Aging 6-week Movement Series. At the end of this series, you'll be better , because being a Soma means this is what you are designed to do. and are in your DNA, we just aren't taught how to access these powers on demand. We wait and hope to improve, to get relief, we try to pull, twist, force ourselves into comfort, or get medications and procedures that just cover up the issue and all that gets us only so far. Well, if you want to take the reins of your healing and determine how you want to be feeling at the end of June or the end of 2026 or the end of 2039, then don't skip this course. Instead of force you will ease your way into comfort. Instead of stretching, I'll teach you how to unwind. And Instead of numbing what's going on, you'll learn to amplify your internal experience and become in charge of your physiology. I'm cramming a lot into this 6-week course, and I expect nothing less than dramatic, life-changing outcomes!

https://ismeta.org/course/hanna-somatic-education-and-the-myth-of-aging

04/24/2026

Here we come, Maryland! 🦀

That client who walks in with their shoulders practically touching their ears? Or the one with a back arched in a seemingly permanent lordotic curve?

It’s likely not a structural issue 🩻. It’s a functional one, maintained habitually. They’ve lost the ability to "switch off" those muscles 💪. You can work the fascia and the tissue until you're blue in the face, but if the nervous system doesn't let go, then it might feel like trying to sink your elbow into concrete.

June 20th and 21st, this game-changing CE course in coming to you. Somatic practices are the NOW of healthcare and massage therapists are perfectly situated to apply these principles in their sessions to predictably and reliably deliver incredible results.

What if you could help your client learn to fully relax their muscle again?
Without forcing, pushing, or stretching!

This is part of what you will learn in this 2-day, 16 CE course.
What else is included?
-Approachable neuroscience to understand the nervous system's role in creating and maintaining postural issues and musculoskeletal pain.
-Somatic principles and techniques to help you shift from working on bodies to working with Somas (fully integrated, alive humans).
-Self care techniques to help you feel better, and better, and better
-Somatic principles for transforming your massage techniques as tools for improving awareness and control
-Clinical Somatic techniques you can use to quickly help restore functional resting tone.

My goal is that, at the end of this course you will have skills you can immediately apply to your practice and your self care that will make a dramatic shift in your work. You become a faccilitator, not a fixer. Your client gets the results their desiring and you work less. 😀

Check out the PMTI website for more details including a registration link for the next info session where you can get a discounted rate on the full course.

MTs, are you already working somatically? Share in the comments how this is changing your practice. Not working somatically yet? What are you curious about, excited for, or questioning? Let's get a conversation started. Share, like, and comment if you feel inspired.

https://www.pmti.org/somatic-foundations-posner

04/23/2026

Myth of Aging Virtual Course starts May 7th

My grandmother turned 96 years old in January.

She's one of my favorite people and she's an inspiration. She's seen so much and done so much. To celebrate this recent birthday, she took a trip to Iceland. In the airport, a stranger learned how old she was and was so excited that he asked if he could kiss her on the head. She was perplexed. "Why would a stranger be so excited that I'm 96 years old. All I did was get older. Who cares?" I suggested to her that he wasn't amazed about her age, but that she was still up and about and travelling for fun. At the age when most of her contemporaries have passed away and others are too frail to travel or partake in the activities they once enjoyed, my grandmother is dancing, playing cards, visiting with family, every chance she gets and travelling internationally! Who knows how much longer she can keep doing that, but she's got the right mindset. Life should be lived.

If you're reading this newsletter, you probably already embrace that mindset and you will go far with that. The services I provide, I believe, can be an important piece of wellness and healthcare to help people carry through on their goals, because so often we hit a physiological snag and start to modify our dreams and visions. You wanted to run a marathon but got plantar fasciitis. You wanted to keep hiking in retirement but started getting knee pain. You wanted to garden more but that nagging back pain got in your way.

Most of these types of issues, somewhere around 90% according to the WHO stats, are avoidable and reversible, because there is no major underlying pathology. The vast majority of what sends people to their primary care physician is idiopathic, of unknown origin, in the Western medical view. But in my experience, the origin is not unknown; it is unconscious. It is the unconscious tensions, imbalances, and bracing that we do in response to stress and injury that create the common aches and pains associated with aging. And whether you come in for a 1-on-1 session, or participate in a group class, the goal is the same. We work to bring your unconscious patterns and tension up to your awareness so you can restore functional muscle tone and and regain freedom of movement at any age.

When we achieve this goal, there's little to limit you and what you want to do with your years on this planet. I'm looking forward to running the Bolder Boulder next month. What are you looking forward to doing? If you're putting off an activity or goal because of a musculoskeletal complaint, let's work together and put that behind you.

6-Week Myth of Aging Series

Speaking of aging, I have a powerful course starting in May. This is being co-produced through the International Somatic Movement Educators and Therapists Association (ISMETA) in their Professional Development Center, but it's open to the public. This class will be a mix of philosophy, science, and movement experiences to help you explore the full range of what Thomas Hanna created in this Clinical Somatic Education method.

I'm so excited about this, and we've got a good crowd signed up so far, but truly, the more the merrier. This class will take place 6 Thursdays in a row (except June 4th) at 10:00 am M.T., and if you can't attend live, it will be recorded. But, better than that, if you want to sign up but can't attend live, I will help you set up regular 15-minute check-ins to make sure you are getting what you need out of this course. If you are interested, do sign up soon, though, as registration closes May 1st.

There are a lot more specifics and a full intro video I recorded with ISMETA on their website, so head over there to check that out and register. (https://ismeta.org/course/hanna-somatic-education-and-the-myth-of-aging)

ismeta.org/course/hanna-somatic-education-and-the-myth-of-aging

That's all for now. Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom of this! - Gabriel

Click here for an update from Elevated Somatics!

04/22/2026

You're injury is healed, but does your body know it? Much of trauma work focuses on the autonomic dysregulation, and that's important. But what about the musculoskeletal component?

Intense injury or trauma creates a reflexive cringing and that cringing can become stuck pattern of tension maintained unconsciously. Hanna Somatic Education offers a way to reestablish your mindful connection and control over your muscles, so you can fully, completely, finally let go. Join me for a 6-week course, a deep dive into Hanna Somatics and the Myth of aging with starting May 7th. Until you experience that it is safe and comfortable to move freely, you will continue to brace and protect.

Click here for more info, to view the full intro video and to sign up. https://ismeta.org/course/hanna-somatic-education-and-the-myth-of-aging

04/13/2026

Just announced, 2-days of somatic bodywork at the Potomac Massage Training Institute. I'll be there June 20/21, sharing insights in how to adapt massage techniques to awaken awareness and help your clients unwind. But that's just the start. This will also involve clinical somatic techniques, usually reserved for 3-year training programs. I will teach you these techniques and show you how you can apply them within therapeutic massage sessions. And beyond that, there will be some self-care and also neuro-mechanics of touch and movement you'll wish you learned in your foundational training. As my colleague Martha says "This is the course I wished I had access too when I was starting my massage practice."

The course is in June, but next week, I'll be offering the first of two free webinars, explaining more about this workshop and answering questions. All details can be found by clicking on this link. If you can't make it to Maryland, I'll be in NJ in August, and after that, still TBD. Please share broadly with any LMTs who might be interested.

In addition, these two FREE online seminars are being offered as an introduction to the Somatic Foundations class; They are not required but are highly recommended:

04/11/2026

Feeling tension around your spine, pelvis, hamstrings, and neck? I've got your back! This monday morning, a virtual Somatics class focused on all the posterior muscles on the body. Relief is less than 48-hours away!

https://secure.acuityscheduling.com/admin/scheduling-page?clickLocation=left_nav

03/31/2026

Hanna Somatics and the Myth of Aging

"The myths of today were the facts of the past" - Joseph Campbell

The concept of a myth of aging was central to Thomas Hanna’s 1988 book, *Somatics*. To say there’s a myth of aging isn’t to say we don’t die; rather, it's that the "script" we follow from birth to death is often based on outdated beliefs that become embedded in our culture and society.

For example, In the mid-20th century, it was widely believed that running more than 800 meters was dangerous for women. Shocking, right? Today, we have a mountain of evidence proving that this is an inaccurate myth, thanks to athletes who have demonstrated that women are capable of incredible feats of strength and endurance.

And yet there are other myths that we still fall prey to. When we feel stiff and achy in our 40s, we tell each other "that’s just what happens when you get older." We might believe that we have an arched back because our mom or dad had an arched back despite the fact that posture is not hereditary. And when a knee starts to ache, it's easy to jump to the conclusion that it's arthritic and probably needs to be replaced, contrary to the data that shows only about 10% of musculoskeletal pain is due to actual structural pathology.

Somatic practices are about changing the trajectory of aging and debunking those myths through direct experience. Thomas Hanna himself, even in his 60s, would demonstrate the functional range of motion of his hips by putting his leg behind his head—proving that physical decline isn't an inevitable script. Hanna developed a clinical practice whereby people could direct their energy inwards towards developing heightened awareness of tension patterns and employing focused, functional movements to release that tension and restore free movement.

This is the essence of what I have been teaching for over 2-decades now, and I'm thrilled to be partnering with ISMETA, the International Somatic Movement Educators and Therapists Association, to offer a course starting May 7th (https://ismeta.org/course/hanna-somatic-education-and-the-myth-of-aging) for 6 Thursdays that explores this powerful practice of redefining the aging process. Mixing functional movement, neuroplasticity, mindfulness, and biofeedback over 9-total hours, you will discover that much of what limits you is not structure, meaning it is not a fixed thing. Our limitations are primarily perceptual. We believe we can't move freely because, after years of being tense, we forget what free movement even feels like. This is a practice of rediscovering what functional movement is and learning how to continually improve your abilities throughout your years.

Next week, I am hosting a free introductory session with more info about the course.

**Hanna Somatic Education and the Myth of Aging with Gabriel Posner, PhD, RSME**
**Thursday, April 9, 2026 • 12:00-1:00 PM U.S. time*

**Special Bonus:** Everyone who registers for this free introduction will receive a **COUPON CODE for a $50 discount** on the full six-week course (valid through April 16).

You can Enroll Now to join us and start rewriting your own story.

Best regards,
Gabriel Posner, Ph.D., RSME, LMT

Want to exploring Hanna Somatics but can't commit to 6-weeks? Check out the variety of virtual classes I have scheduled for April. These classes are non-sequential.

Click here to register. (https://www.elevatedsomatics.com/elevatedonline)

Looking for more personalized attention? The heart of my business is still one-on-one sessions, offered in-person or virtually. These sessions are filling up quickly though so don't wait until you're in dire needs.

Click here to schedule ahead because no matter how you're feeling the day of your session, you'll walk away feeling better.

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