CERTIFICATION

Are you passionate
about teaching
Clinical Somatics?

Start your teaching journey with
the SMC® CEI Level 1, 2, & 3 Courses.

CERTIFICATION

Are you passionate about teaching Clinical Somatics?

Start your teaching journey with the SMC® CEI Level 1, 2, & 3 Courses.

CERTIFICATION

Are you passionate about teaching Clinical Somatics?

Start your teaching journey with the SMC® CEI Level 1, 2, & 3 Courses.

Somatic Movement Center®

Certified Exercise Instructor Level 1 Course

SMC® CEI Levels 1, 2 & 3 is a series of online courses that teaches Clinical Somatic Education self-care exercises, principles, and theory as developed by Thomas Hanna. The courses are designed for highly motivated, self-driven students who are comfortable with distance learning. The CEI program is open to health and movement professionals as well as those with no background in healthcare or movement instruction.

The CEI program prepares you to instruct Clinical Somatics self-care exercises in both individual sessions and group class settings. Clinical Somatics exercises give you a highly effective way to help your clients and students who suffer from chronic muscle and joint pain, postural distortions, movement limitations, and many common musculoskeletal conditions. The exercises retrain the nervous system to release involuntary muscular contraction and change dysfunctional posture and movement patterns, undoing years of tension and pain.

Read this article to learn about the diverse ways in which SMC® CEI Instructors use Clinical Somatics to help their students.

Read the SMC® CEI Course Series Prospectus

CEI Level 1 Course Tuition: $475 USD

Or four interest-free installments of $118.75 with

In the ten-week online CEI Level 1 Course, you’ll learn:

  • How to teach a series of ten Clinical Somatics exercises that address pain and dysfunction in the core of the body, including conditions such as back pain, hip pain, disc problems, sciatica, scoliosis, hyperlordosis, hyperkyphosis, and functional leg length discrepancy
  • How to teach your clients and students to retrain their nervous system with the movement technique of pandiculation

  • The theory, principles, and neurophysiology of Clinical Somatic Education as developed by Thomas Hanna

  • How to teach Clinical Somatics self-care exercises in a variety of settings while being true to Clinical Somatics teaching principles and best practices
  • How to assess a client or student, and work with them in partnership to address their unique issues
  • How to sequence a group class or individual session in order to address specific patterns of pain, dysfunction, or diagnosed musculoskeletal conditions
  • How to instruct your clients and students to develop their own ongoing home practice

You can change people’s lives with Clinical Somatics.

Sarah, I can’t say enough good things about your SMC® CEI program. As a certified yoga therapist, I have participated in many kinds of educational initiatives, both in-person and from a distance, so I know very well what a challenge it is to deliver high-quality remote teacher training. This is especially true in a discipline that focuses on subtle, nuanced movement of the body. You have really figured out how to make distance learning work. The combination of the videos, academic material, your excellent book, teaching scripts, and generous support and feedback have given me everything I need to feel successful as an instructor. As we both know, the bedrock on which teaching these exercises rests is a robust, on-going personal practice. I very much appreciate your decision to require students to complete the Level One Course as a prerequisite to the CEI courses. That meant I began the training with a level of familiarity with the exercises that allowed me to focus on discovering how to teach them, even as I deepened my own understanding of their value for me as an individual. The material is well-paced and divided up in such a way so that it never feels overwhelming. Truly, this is one of the best online courses I have ever done. I thank you for your thorough and meticulous approach and for your obvious passion for Clinical Somatics. I am inspired daily to take what I have learned from you and to offer it to others. The response has been most gratifying–my students are finding ease and relief from chronic pain, and are discovering so much about themselves and their habits, not just postural, but habits of attention and how they respond to their environment. It’s no exaggeration to say that these seemingly simple exercises are life-changing.”

Lisa Sack, SMC® CEI Level 3 Instructor, C-IAYT
“I found Clinical Somatics through my Psoas Release practice (a form of somatics) that I started doing on myself on a regular basis since January 2018 after a low-back disc injury (caused by a chronically tight psoas muscle). When I realized how much chronic pain I was in versus now, and that it was part of a bigger picture and the mind-body-soul connection/reintegration, I became passionate about teaching this to others.

I did not realize the level of chronic pain I had been in for about 10 years. I pandiculate on a regular basis (every morning now)! I feel it is moving me into a new somatic awareness of embodying my body. I want others to feel good in their bodies. I want to help others with whatever challenges (be they physical or emotional/mental) they face due to not knowing about somatics (yet). I want to heal others. I’m envisioning a world without back pain and anxiety!

Cara Duryea, SMC® CEI Level 1 Instructor

“Sarah, I am so glad that I found you. I became a somatic yoga instructor 2 years ago, and I am so happy I found you because I love the way you explain the movements. I have been very active all my life. I overuse my body. I was a professional Cuban marathon runner for 9 years, but I was a runner for 17 years and fitness and dance instructor since I was 20, and now I am 50. I’m still fit and strong, but I had a bad pain in my hips and after 4 days of practicing Clinical Somatics exercises I was fine. Now I follow your instructions every day, morning and night and still I feel more AMAZING. Thanks a lot Sarah. Every day I say you thank you in my mind. Thanks a lot again for your wonderful work. Your amazing website that I always learn something from. Almost every day I read one of your articles. You are awesome. Thanks again and again!”

Isabel Arias Santos, SMC® CEI Level 3 Instructor

“I can’t overstate how impressed I am both in terms of content and ease of use. I’d recommend these classes to anybody wishing to be free from chronic pain whether due to repetitive movement habits, poor posture and/or injury rehabilitation. As a yoga instructor, I fully concur that musculoskeletal release created through pandiculation rather than stretching is more permanent in nature and much less likely to incur adverse effects such as over-stretching and resulting injuries. Thus, when combining somatic movements with yoga poses the sum of the total by far exceeds the sum of the parts promoting optimal wellness physically, mentally and emotionally. I find that the work that you’ve done with Somatic Movement Center is absolutely phenomenal. My students love it, as do I. So thank you, and much, much gratitude for your work.”

Anne Hoffman, SMC® CEI Level 1 Instructor, E-RYT 500, YACEP
Somatics has brought back my quality of life. I have a spinal condition called spondylolisthesis with pars fracture (Grade II). I have been using the daily Somatics exercises consistently for the past two months. I can say without hesitation these exercises work. Moreover, living without the pain and discomfort is life altering.”
Bill McKinney, SMC® CEI Level 1 Instructor

Somatic Movement Center®

Certified Exercise Instructor Level 2 & 3 Courses

SMC® CEI Levels 2 & 3 teach students how to instruct 30 advanced Clinical Somatics exercises. Students learn how to effectively connect with and coach each individual client in order to help them overcome common musculoskeletal conditions, including sciatica, idiopathic scoliosis, functional leg length discrepancy, plantar fasciitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, frozen shoulder, thoracic outlet syndrome, and many more.

Students in CEI Levels 2 & 3 learn about the neurophysiology of pain, pain perception, motor learning, and involuntary muscular contraction. To complete certification at each level, students complete a six-week case study with a volunteer client. Case studies are assessed on how the student worked with their client based on symptoms, reported experience with the exercises, and challenges encountered during the learning process.

CEI Level 2 Course Tuition: $475 USD
CEI Level 3 Course Tuition: $475 USD

Students may enroll for CEI Level 2 after they have completed their CEI Level 1 certification. Students may enroll for CEI Level 3 after they have completed their CEI Level 2 certification.

In the ten-week online CEI Level 2 & 3 Courses, you’ll learn:

  • How to teach 30 advanced Clinical Somatics exercises that address pain and dysfunction in the core and the extremities of the body
  • How to work with common functional disorders, including sciatica, idiopathic scoliosis, functional leg length discrepancy, plantar fasciitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, frozen shoulder, thoracic outlet syndrome, and many more

  • The neurophysiology of pain sensation and perception
  • How we learn motor patterns and develop involuntary muscular tension
  • How to modify exercises for students with movement limitations
  • How to connect with each student and address their unique needs
  • How to coach students to make changes in their habits in order to help them get out of pain and change their posture and movement
  • How to work with trauma sufferers
  • The potential benefits of Clinical Somatic Education for people with joint hypermobility, osteoarthritis, painful autoimmune conditions, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome (AMPS), and neurological movement disorders

Get started today!

You’ve experienced in yourself the life-changing effects of Clinical Somatics: relief from tension and pain, prevention of recurring injuries and degeneration, and highly developed muscular control and body awareness. Now you can help your students and clients be free from pain by teaching them Clinical Somatics exercises. Start learning today!

Get started today!

You’ve experienced in yourself the life-changing effects of Clinical Somatics: relief from tension and pain, prevention of recurring injuries and degeneration, and highly developed muscular control and body awareness. Now you can help your students and clients be free from pain by teaching them Clinical Somatics exercises. Start learning today!

Clinical Somatics training