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Oldie but Goodie! | Somatics and Spirituality w/Cynthia Allen & Jon Nugent

Sometimes it is challenging to share anything more potent than one of our workshop participant's personal experience. This is one of those times.

Among the goals in the Somatic Education center is the intention enhance the traditional fields of physical and occupational therapy. We hope to expand therapists' options so they find their profession increasingly interesting and physically do-a-ble as a life-long pursuit. Hand-in-hand, we aim to provide a way of thinking and learning through awareness that yields unusual results in some of the most challenging situations. Whether coming to a workshop for one’s own health or to be a better clinician, we seek to create conditions that allow growth on all levels.

Under the auspices of Integrative Learning Center, we also have a Spiritual center and for those of you who have been curious about this, Jonathan Nugent’s piece muses about this aspect. After attending our workshops with Integral Human Gait and Bones for Life, Jon communicated his experience in such a rich way on all of the above issues that we are making it the center of this issue. 

~Cynthia Allen, CEO

Jonathan Nugent on His Experience with Somatics and Spirituality

I am finding the learning method of somatic education very fascinating. I now find myself to be an experiential learner, although I am not sure that was true when I took my first Feldenkrais course.

Recently, I seem to be connecting a lot more of my "fragmented education" from various classes and seminars and integrating it into a movement- centered framework, as opposed to applying it to specific diagnoses and conditions. It is very different from traditional lecture-type education and makes me wonder if education, in general, could be significantly improved with a more action-oriented approach.

Upon returning from the Bones for Life workshop, I was working with a patient in the pool giving him postural cues, and explaining some of the weekend work to my PT student. The student seemed somewhat skeptical, but one of the aquatic staff practically jogged over to ask what I was working on and asked me to show her more. She also told me she immediately noticed I was moving differently and standing much taller (making me wonder what my baseline looked like).

My student wasn't that interested in the weekend content until I had a full discussion of the kinematics involved, but the wellness staff was immediately interested. I think people from a wellness background already know what they do from experiential learning and are open to anything that furthers their personal understanding, but people who are academically trained usually have to run it through the "is this consistent with what I have been told" filter.

I am rather philosophical after a Feldenkrais weekend, which is a bit unusual for me.

I have wondered why there seems to be a spiritual aspect to somatic work and why spirituality is a portion of the Integrative Learning Center of Mid America.  As I reflect on my Christian journey; I started out being told what to believe, later resented being told what to believe, decided  for myself what to believe, accepted Christ, and now I have an authentic belief framework which has changed my world view tremendously.

Somatic education seems to have some of that same quality of allowing a person decide for themselves how they can improve, rather than being told what to do, and therefore it can facilitate a much more "authentic" healing process.  In my work with patients, I am learning to become more patient.  Prior when an exercise or movement didn’t seem do-a-ble, I might immediately move on to something else.  I have begun to see the value in helping them struggle with the struggle, and the importance of experimenting. I recognize that this is the process of learning and also the more “authentic” healing process.

Back to the clinical setting, I am finding exciting results in applying my new learning to patients with  a variety of conditions, although I am finding it especially useful working with those recovering from a stroke.

Jonathan Nugent is physical therapist with 20 years experience and works for the Drake Center, a rehabilitation hospital.