Somatic Massage and The Parasympathetic Response - 8 hr. Course

Somatic Massage and the Parasympathetic Response

8 CE course description 

 This 8-hour course will prepare massage therapists to recognize and engage the parasympathetic response in their clients. The parasympathetic response allows the body and mind to release and integrate tension. Students will learn to use their awareness, support, presence, and language to facilitate parasympathetic responses. Students will learn the anatomy of the automatic nervous system and how to track both sympathetic and parasympathetic states. Upon completing this class, they will guide their clients in activating a parasympathetic response both in their sessions and daily lives. The active parasympathetic response is the foundation of somatic massage.

 The class will include lectures, demonstrations, hands-on practice, and group discussion. We will have two 30-minute breaks.

Learning Objectives:

Students will:

1. Define what a parasympathetic response is

2. List the benefits of creating a parasympathetic response in the client

3. Describe the sympathetic system that can interrupt the parasympathetic response from occurring.

4. Discuss the anatomy of the (ANS) Autonomic Nervous System

5. Discuss how the world around us influences our sympathetic and parasympathetic systems

6. Demonstrate a guided parasympathetic activation

7. Practice engaging the parasympathetic response in their learning partner

8. Demonstrate how to draw the flow of the ANS and talk about sympathetic to parasympathetic flow.

Outcomes:

Students will:

  1. Recognize and describe the process of a parasympathetic response.

 2. Explain the benefits of engaging the parasympathetic response.

 3. Explain to their clients how chronic and repetitive sympathetic states interrupt the parasympathetic response and the conditions and complications that commonly follow.

 4. Recognize and identify the anatomical regions of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).

 5. Name stimulants to both the sympathetic and parasympathetic responses.

 6. Experience and discuss an embodied parasympathetic response.

 7. Perform the activation of a parasympathetic response in their clients.

 8. Create a diagram to educate their clients and explain the sympathetic to the parasympathetic flow of the ANS.