Somatic Unwinding/Terra Cotta Studio

Join me!

Somatic Unwinding/Karen Clay's FREE classes in May!

There are only Two ways to live your life.
One is that nothing is a miracle.
The other is that everything is a miracle.
Einstein

read more about the Feldenkrais Method®

The Feldenkrais Method® A b o u t t h e M e t h o d A victim of pogrom & persecution, Moshe Feldenkrais lost his voice in fright at 11, & then taught himself, by himself, how regain its function. More than anything,...

With the idea of giving me plenty of room to grow well into my 70's as a Manual Therapist and Somatic Educator, I am enrolled a four-year certification training in The Feldenkrais Method (FM) as of October 2018.
The FM is the branch of the healing arts that addresses how our functions affect our posture, attitudes and lives using movement education as a means to change unconscious habits into better choices.
This training is a once-in-a-century opportunity to study with some of the very best, all of whom studied directly with the master, Moshe Feldenkrais. The work lands in a richly fertilized layer of loam inside me & I expect it to take root & really grow me as a human being and as a practitioner of the Healing Arts.

A b o u t t h e T r a i n i n g
Four years, 2018-2022, 35+ weeks/year
Live 2-week segments, 4 times/year, in Seattle
100 hours Functional Integration practicum
100 hours ATM practicum
Competency-based learning environment
On-line meetings every other week with mentoring group
Monthly classes with Educational Director
Ongoing self-assessment
In-depth Study of Feldenkrais’ Amherst Trainings
Weekly homework
Marketing and Business training
Brain and Neuroscience training

Why Do Cats Purr?

The rhythmic sound of purring, made both on the inhale & exhale by a cat’s diaphragmatic and laryngeal muscles, happen at times of pleasure (being petted) and calm (nursing kittens) and also at times of stress (at the vet). The vibratory frequencies they create improve healing to tissue, bones and organs by creating micro-currents which stimulate, hydrate and replenish.

We humans can use sound to enter into internal territory which cannot be touched by the hand. Similar to the cat, when we make vibratory sounds and direct them into our interior we can achieve a shift to a calmer, more resonant state.

It is in this open, potentiated state that healing is maximized.

Fascia is the organ of shape.
Erase your bones, muscles, organs, nerves and vessels and your recognizable shape would still remain intact, because of the fascial web that creates your shape. It is a continuous, three dimensional collagen matrix which surrounds every bone, muscle, muscle fiber, organ, vessel and nerve. Fascia is the environment which informs our tissues, similar to the paint which surrounds and qualifies every fiber of a paintbrush. It is its elasticity, or lack of such, that maintains the shape of our bodies, and our posture. When strained by trauma, injury or habit this fascia toughens and holds the body in aberrant postures, ones that are taxing to the vitality and efficiency of the whole system.

Undulation is the universal language of the forces of life.

Water travels this way: waving back and forth, to and fro, side to side, in and out. Our bodies are mostly water, were gestated in water and are one of the expressions of evolutionary development, which began in water.

All creatures use some form of undulation as a means of locomotion. The cell expands and contracts it boundaries as it exchanges with its environment. The slug compresses and decompresses its tubular structure to inch along the ground. The tiger whips its tail side to side to stabilize the forces of its quadrupedal run. The human twists and untwists its upper body in oppositional harmony to the legs to remain balanced in walking.

Undulation is an easily maintained movement pattern, perpetuated as it is by the oscillatory properties of the connective tissue of our bodies. It is a form of renewal which balances stability and flexibility in three dimensions. It is highly regenerative for the spine, allowing spring, span, lift and integrity to return to this segmented chord. It creates fluid in our tissues by melting stiffened sliding surfaces.

Undulation allows us to reconnect to our fluid origins,
where rejuvenation can happen.

New Fall Class Wednesdays 7-8 pm !
Let Sensory Information tickle you out of your habitual slumber.
Movement is the teacher. Sensation is the messenger.

Fall Quarter 2014: Sept 17 – Nov 19. 10 weekly 1-hour classes
Wednesday Mornings 9:30-10:30 am
also
New! Wednesday Evenings: 7:00 – 8:00 pm

Tuition for either morning or evening:
Take advantage of early registration to save $25
$150 before Sept 1, 2014, $175 after
(preregistration required)
http://somaticunwinding.com/weeklyclasses.html

"Karen’s classes are an insightful way to learn from the inside out for anyone who has fallen prey to chronic discomfort in some part of their body. I have found Somatic Unwinding to be mentally challenging in a fun way and very relaxing; the movements one learns in class are easy to repeat at home - handouts are available. Karen is well trained in anatomy and bodywork and is an experienced, caring teacher that I cannot recommend highly enough." - JB