The Realization: I Couldn't Feel What Was There All Along
For a long time, I didn’t realize how much I couldn’t feel.
Not just emotionally, but physically.
My shoulders were always tight, but I thought that was just normal. My back hurt, but I assumed it always would. I didn’t realize I was disconnected from entire regions of my body—because I had gotten so used to tuning out the discomfort. And that, in essence, is what Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA) is.
Coined by Thomas Hanna, SMA refers to the loss of voluntary control over muscles due to habitual contraction. It isn’t that the muscles are injured—it’s that they’re stuck in a pattern your nervous system has forgotten how to release.
And because sensation and motor control are two sides of the same coin, we lose the ability to feel those areas as well.
This Is Why We Start with Awareness
The Pneuma Yoga Method begins not with performance, but with perception. The first thing I teach isn’t a posture—it’s awareness.
Because until you can feel what’s there, you can’t begin to change it.
As I progressed through my somatic journey, I realized I wasn’t just holding pain—I was holding tension in places I didn’t even know existed. My hips, my neck, my jaw, even my tongue. The moment I started paying attention, I saw that my body had been whispering for years. I just hadn’t been listening.
This work invites you to start listening again.
Going Slow to Feel Deeply
This is where interoception becomes vital. Interoception is the capacity to sense the internal state of your body. It’s not just a yoga buzzword—it’s a neurological skill that can be developed.
In somatic yoga, we use small, slow, deliberate movements to bring sensation back online. This is not about flexibility. It’s not about achieving a shape. It’s about sensing.
"If you can sense it, you can change it." — Thomas Hanna
Every time we move with awareness, we are laying down new pathways in the brain. We’re reminding the nervous system that we are safe, present, and able to choose a new response.
This is how we rewire old habits and begin to heal.
When It Feels Worse Before It Feels Better
Sometimes, this work stirs things up.
Because when you start to feel again, you may notice just how much pain or numbness you've been living with. But this is a necessary step. Just like cleaning out a wound, awareness can sting before it soothes.
You might find yourself thinking:
I had no idea I was this tight
I can’t believe I was walking around like this
How did I not notice this before?
The answer is simple: you couldn’t feel it. But now, you can.
That’s progress.
The Power of Moving From the Inside Out
The Pneuma Yoga Method teaches you how to move from the inside out—with breath, sensation, and intention.
You don’t need to force your body into compliance. You just need to invite it back into awareness.
From there, mobility improves. Pain decreases. Stress unwinds. And most importantly, you reconnect with the part of yourself that knows how to heal.
Your soma remembers.
Want to Explore This More?
Try the Red Light Stress Response Class on YouTube or in the Pneuma Yoga Method series.
Download the "I Am Not This Body" meditation to begin sensing without judgment.
Attend a class or schedule a private session to reconnect with your body's wisdom.
You don’t need to fix yourself. You just need to feel yourself again.
Explore more at pneuma-yoga.com
