Q&A Video #11: Can I practice Clinical Somatics while also doing other types of therapies?

Transcript of video:

Hi guys! Today I’m answering a question that I get pretty often. Can I continue doing other types of therapies while I practice Clinical Somatics? In other words, are there any types of therapies or movement practices that conflict with Clinical Somatics? The therapies I get asked about most often are acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, and physical therapy.

It’s absolutely fine to continue with acupuncture while practicing Clinical Somatics. The only thing I suggest is to be aware of how you feel after an acupuncture session, and after you practice Clinical Somatics. If you tend to have strong reactions to acupuncture sessions, then you may not want to practice Clinical Somatics on the day of a session. It may just be too much for your nervous system. But you are the best judge of that.

Now, as far as chiropractic, I know that chiropractors use a lot of different techniques these days, so I am only referring to manual adjustments, in which your bones are being forcibly shifted into alignment. One thing to be aware of is that the reason you’re out of alignment in the first place is that your tight muscles are pulling your skeleton out of alignment. So, most likely, shifting your bones back into alignment manually won’t have lasting effect until you release the tight muscles that are pulling you out of alignment. My suggestion is to pause getting manual adjustments while you commit to a daily practice of Clinical Somatics. This will allow you to be really aware of how Clinical Somatics is releasing your muscles and allowing you to shift your alignment on your own. The feedback I get across the board from students is that they can reduce and then eliminate manual adjustments after practicing Somatics for several months. If you do continue with manual adjustments while practicing Somatics, I do not advise practicing Somatics on the same day that you get an adjustment.

Next is massage. Gentle massage is wonderful. It stimulates circulation, stimulates the lymphatic system to improve detoxification, triggers the release of oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine, relaxes the nervous system and reduces stress, and it temporarily reduces muscle tension. So, I’m all for gentle massage as way to make you feel good, but you do need to recognize that the muscle release from a gentle massage is temporary, because it doesn’t retrain the nervous system. If you get a gentle massage, I suggest practicing Somatics at some point in the day before the massage, so that you can benefit even more from the massage.

Now, a deep massage in which you feel pain or a lot of discomfort is a different story. If you’re feeling pain during a massage, then the pressure is too deep. Your stretch reflex, or myotatic reflex, is being triggered, and your muscles will tighten right back up after the massage. You will likely feel sore within a few hours or the next day, because your muscles have responded to the overstretching by tightening up even more. This is just not productive. So if you get a massage, please make sure to speak up and tell your therapist when the pressure is too deep.

Last is physical therapy. Physical therapy uses a number of different techniques. It sometimes uses massage, which we just talked about. It sometimes uses static stretching, which I’ve talked about in other videos and articles. If you haven’t read or watched those, please do so that you understand why static stretching isn’t productive. And physical therapy sometimes uses strengthening exercises. Building strength with PT exercises is great, especially if you’re recovering from an injury or surgery. But, if you’re going to physical therapy for a type of pain related to chronic muscle tension and body use, like back pain, the PT exercises might be making your tight muscles even tighter, and that is not productive. Depending on your patterns of muscle tension and which PT exercises you’ve been prescribed, the exercises may actually make things worse. So my suggestion is: if you’re doing PT as a way to address chronic muscle tension or chronic pain resulting from muscle tension and body use, take a temporary break from practicing your PT exercises unless you feel like there are certain exercises that really help you. Clinical Somatics is an ideal precursor to physical therapy. The ideal situation is that you first practice just Clinical Somatics for a while, long enough that you relieve your pain and become very aware of your patterns of tension. Then, when you feel ready to build strength, go ahead and start PT exercises if you feel that you need them. Stay very aware of how they affect your muscle tension and body use, and only continue to do the exercises that feel beneficial for you.

So, I hope that was helpful! Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time!