SOMAJOY MOVEMENT
SomaJoy project aims to bring the somatic principles of body awareness, anatomy and movement into both JAMS’ creative sessions and people’s everyday lives. Each session explores a different body system, ie lungs and breath or blood and flow and uses JAMS playful approach to make experiencing this depth of movement and subtlety accessible.
By taking a little more time to stop, to sense and to breath, participants of the Somajoy community and care sessions were able to relax and release tensions and move more freely and fully with joy and ease.
Aimed at our elder audience, many of whom are living with dementia, JAMS artists coupled the investigative material with much loved music and props, where appropriate, to bring the somatic experiences alive. The pages below provide a framework for you to explore.
Each exercise is easily accessible from a variety of body positions and the safest most comfortable should always be chosen.
Disclaimer: It is your responsibility to run your own Risk Assessment, you make the judgements on how to work with the movement activities offered, by using these pages you accept responsibility for any accident or injury that may occur.
You can try the Soma Joy movement experiences in the following ways:
Seated
This can be done while sitting comfortably on a chair or on the floor. Ensure there is sufficient support (from the chair, cushions, wall or another body) and balance is stable. If possible, avoid high backed, winged armchairs which do not enable good posture, movement and strength.
Standing
If it is safe to do so, for a more grounded experience and to develop balance and help prevent falls, try the exercises standing up. Ensuring a solid base with feet hip-width apart and soft knees. You may wish to have the back of a chair within easy reach and a chair seat close behind. A wall is also a useful tool to aid balance and confidence when exploring exercises standing.
Lying
These exercises can also be experienced from lying in a bed and may offer some gentle relief to pain. Watch out for facial expressions and always use questions to help ensure warmth, comfort and ease.
These exercises are designed to be explored individually or worked through sequentially to provide a full body somatic movement experience.
The pages below (click on the images) provide a framework for you to explore.
“Somatic Movement enhances human function and body-mind integration through mindful and restorative movement.
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