IMSomatics Teacher Training

Learn the Art of Somatic Groundwork

Over the 2-yr IMSomatics program, you will learn how to teach Somatic Groundwork and discover ways to incorporate a somatic approach with your students, clients and patients. The Somatic Groundwork movement system helps improve regulation, feeling states and mood, coordination, mobility and stability. Somatic activities explore moving with awareness to influence sensory processing and interactions between the nervous system and tissue architecture/ fascial matrix. Yielding Practices, Unwinding Methods and Patterns of Connectivity are applied to basic movements to improve relaxation, recovery and movement quality.

Based on developmental patterns and natural movement skills, Somatic Groundwork begins with tuning the ‘rest and digest’ system for optimal learning and repatterning through ground touch with practices like pandiculation, rhythmic rocking, soft body rolling and gentle joint mobility. Movement activities happen on all levels (floor, mid-level and standing) and flow between specific forms and creative improvisation. Somatic Groundwork follows an inside out – ground up praxis and reveals recursive movement patterns at each stage of learning. 

Read more about Somatic Groundwork here

Be Part of a Contemporary Somatics

After 50 years of development, the somatics field is undergoing a phase-shift. Somatic research is context specific, meaning it is directly related to the ‘environment’ of the times including available knowledge domains, changes in technology, trends in health and wellness, current events, artistic expression and social movements. IMSomatics introduces a systems science that brings together concepts of bottom-up learning (systems sensing), structural integrity (biotensegrity, fascia science), developmental movement (dynamic systems theory, sensory processing) and social relating (somatic containing, decoloniality).

See IMSomatics Curriculum 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

How long does it take to complete IMSomatics?
If you join TOTAL and engage with the learning process for 3-6 hrs/week and attend most of the Live Events, you will easily finish the Graduation Requirements and earn the ISMETA credential in under 2 years. CORE is a self-paced path with ‘learning checks’ built in to each Section

 

Am I required to complete the Final Project if I join the program?
If you enroll in the TOTAL Membership you will complete 3 Small Projects and a Final Project. Completion of all Projects is required to Graduate IMSomatics and to earn a Certificate of Completion. 

 

Is everything recorded or are there live classes?
The Ed Site has pre-recorded and ondemand content. Live Events are ‘live online’ and happen in two seasonal Sessions: March- June and September- December.

 

Is there any kind of support available if I have questions or get stuck?
During your Membership, you are encouraged to email Kaila with your questions about content, reflections on process and needs for next steps or direction with the material. Additionally, there are opportunities for Q/A and discussion during Live Events.

 

How much time will I need to dedicate to the program?
The short answer to that question is 3 – 6 hours/ week on average. My recommedation is:

• schedule 2 – 3 dedicated study sessions/ week, each study session should be 1 – 2 hours with reading, watching and writing
• schedule 2 – 4  somatic practices/ week doing movement classes from the Ed Site
• attend as many Live Events as possible

 

What kind of movement is taught in IMS?
Somatic Groundwork is the base movement in IMSomatics. Somatic Groundwork (SG) is a movement system that incorporates Yielding Practices, Unwinding Methods and Patterns of Connectivity for inside out – ground up somatic patterning. This movement system is flexible in its delivery and adaptable to weave with your other modalities in yoga, dance and fitness.

 

Will I be able to teach Somatic Groundwork after I finish IMS?
Yes! The intention of the program is to develop somatic skills while learning to teach Somatic Groundwork. IMS TOTAL is a more rigorous path- it is specific, personalized and project-based. Members develop and demonstrate their abilities through somatic cueing, movement design, embodied anatomy and applied systems science. Teachers are therefore designated “Somatic Groundwork qualified teachers” when they graduate the program. IMS CORE teachers are designated as “Somatic Groundwork inspired teachers”. See here. 

 

I want to know more about human anatomy, is that covered in the program?
Understanding human anatomy and how to apply this knowledge to movement design is a fundamental skill set for the movement teacher. IMSomatics teaches movement science based on biotensegrity, fascia science and kinesiology. In Module 6, there is a dedicated 15-hr Embodied Anatomy Course that surveys the entire body. 

 

IMSomatics is a 2 year membership, will I have access to the education site after 2 years?
Your initial enrollment fee includes a 2-yr Membership with IMSomatics.  After 2 years, members have the option to renew their membership with a seasonal subsciption to maintain access to the Ed Site + Live Events. 

 

IMS sounds great, but I am not sure I have enough experience to join. Should I wait?
Members in IMSomatics enter the program with various levels of somatic movement and teaching experience. Some people have years of practice and inquiry and others are new to the field. If you are curious about movement as a healing approach and desire a fresh and contemporary perspective backed by science and experience, IMSomatics is a step in that direction. In the program you will learn a developmental and neurofascial approach to therapuetic movement.