*Advantages of Side Lying: 
Over the years, having given thousands of sessions, I realize that side-lying offers so many advantages that it could arguably be used in every session, not only in Trager but also in every bodywork modality.
Here are some of the advantages that I found:

*Most clients, when properly bolstered, are more comfortable and less resistant when lying on their sides.

*Clients who have been abused usually feel much safer, less vulnerable in the semi-fetal position that side-lying offers.

*Gravity can be used to great advantage because of the way it loads the joints and muscle tissue, hips, shoulders, abdomen.

*The therapist benefits from all the positioning advantages and thus doesn’t have to work so hard.

*There is comparatively little body surface in contact with the table so one can introduce movement with very little effort. Like a pendulum, the further away a body part is from the table the easier it is to keep in motion.

*The shoulder girdle and hip that is not on the table can be decompressed and tension in the joint released non-reflexively with the help of gravity.

*Small amounts of motion can be transmitted through the joints with very little effort and very pleasurable effect to the client.

*The body in a side-lying position is similar to a piano keyboard with various body parts readily accessible at the same time.

*The body in the sagittal plane is asymmetrical from back to front so you can take advantage of the different way the body moves. For instance, the pelvis and shoulder uppermost move independently of the torso. When anyone is put into motion, a gentle and freeing torque is created along the spine.

Why Somatics? 
When the conscious mind starts to pay attention to the full language of the body, things change.
This is the basis of all somatic approaches.
Until then the mind only pays attention to what it likes and tries to eliminate what it doesn’t.

Ordinarily we pay attention to the autonomic;
sympathetic and parasympathetic impulses when they engage or soften.

Part of the role of the somatics practitioner is to help the client pay a different kind of attention to the body than preferences, demands, and avoidances.
As we attend to our clients in these ways, we also start to change.

Our senses are heightened.
We become aware of different kinds of information that guide us in our work and our lives.
As we help our clients discover the connections between their conscious and unconscious minds through the simple tool of presence, we too become aware of those connections.
By so doing, we and our clients, get to partake of the Mind of the Designer.  

Side Lying Somatics -Torso to Abdomen –
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Three Two Hour Classes – 6CEs*
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