Elevated Somatics

A New-ish way of working together.

Hi

I'm writing to share some changes to how I'll be working with clients moving forward — changes designed to help you get better results and keep them.

A commitment to real, lasting change

Going forward, anyone who signs up to work with me will be encouraged to commit to at least 6 sessions, spread over 2–3 months. Here's why: lasting change doesn't happen in a single visit, and this structure reflects what I've seen consistently work. In line with this shift, single-session rates are increasing, but when the session packages are combined with the classes (see below), the rate change is minor and offset by the extra value I believe you will receive from this new model. Read on.

Sessions 1–3: This is where you can expect to start feeling significantly better — less pain, more ease, more freedom of movement. In the first 3 sessions, people start to become more aware of all the tension they've been holding and start to sense breaks from the chronic pain and tension. Often by the 3rd session, clients have extended periods of feeling really good.

Sessions 4–6: We shift focus to keeping you healthy and moving more comfortably on your own, so the changes hold without you needing to work with me as frequently. During the 4th-6th session, you are feeling more capable of dealing with your tension on your own and are starting to reintegrate activities you worried you wouldn't be able to do anymore. By the 6th session, you feel comfortable with a handful of somatic movements you can use to self-regulate/heal and are able to maintain and even expand upon the benefits you received from the one-on-one sessions.

Session 7-?: Many people will be good on their own after 6 sessions and others will still benefit from having ongoing check-ins. I'm never going to prematurely "graduate" a client, and depending on the extent of underlying structural deterioration you have, you may need ongoing support, with sessions spaced at a pace that fits your needs. 6-session packages can be re-upped at any time and spaced as close together or as far apart as you desire.

Weekly online classes — included with every package

To further support you in developing your ability to self-heal and self-regulate, everyone who signs up for a package of sessions will receive access to my weekly online classes, plus recordings of every class. These will include:

Focused classes addressing specific musculoskeletal issues

Currently, I have focused classes around shoulder and backs, but this may change over time, depending on the needs of this community.

Open classes are shaped in the moment around whatever issues participants bring that day

Is it your hips, knees, back, neck? Or perhaps you're feeling constriction in breathing and dealing with headaches? Show up live with whatever you are working through and I will weave it into the group class. All others will benefit from what you need.

Lunch-break resets — shorter 20–30 minute classes for those already familiar with the somatic movements who want a midday reset

Once you are familiar with somatic movements, you can get a ton of benefit from a 20- or 30-minute practice. So I will be mixing these into the schedule and, with the recordings, anytime you need a quick reset, you can lie down, hit play, and in a short time it will feel like a new day!

What are the new rates?

I'll keep this straightforward and to the point

A single session is increasing from $150 to $225
A package of 6 sessions with the group classes and class recordings included is $1050
A single virtual class and recording is $29-$34
Access to all virtual classes/recordings without buying a session package is $99/month
20-minute consultations for new clients continue to be free

Flexible options

Sessions and classes can still be purchased individually if that works better for you. And with Afterpay, you can create a payment plan to spread the full cost of a package over 6 weeks.

For current clients

While these changes take effect immediately for new clients, as a current client, you can keep your existing package and session rates through the end of August, unless you're ready to jump into this new format!

Why this matters

My goal has always been to help you become confident in your ability to self-heal and self-regulate. These changes give us enough time together to create real change, and provide you with the tools and ongoing practice to maintain it yourself.

If you have questions or want to talk about what this means for you, just reply to this email — I'd love to hear from you. And if you know someone who can benefit from this work, who wants to live and move freely without pain, please send them my way!

Warmly, Gabriel

Elevated Somatics [email protected]

Elevated Update! Click here for an update from Elevated Somatics!

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. ⬇️

Somatic Foundations of Therapeutic Touch and Movement - CE Course. An introduction to clinical somatic techniques that will transform your practice and enhance your self-care.

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.

Elevated Somatics 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...

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.

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

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

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

May you live until you die Click here for an update from Elevated Somatics!

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.

Somatic Foundations | PMTI 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:

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