IMS Curriculum
summary

TAP HERE: DETAILED IMS CURRICULUM

TAP HERE: WHAT IS SOMATIC GROUNDWORK?

 

Themes

To skillfully guide others in somatic movement activities we need to: gather somatic techniques, movement vocabularies and cue strategies; learn to contain safenough and creative learning spaces; understand client assessment and movement design; and experience embodied learning through personal movement practice. The following themes are braided through IMS to support the process:

• systems sensing
• somatic patterning
• developmental movement
• trauma-informed inquiry
• tensegrity based kinesiology
• fascia oriented research
• interdisciplinary approach
• decolonial somatic processes

 

Goals & Objectives of IMS:

• Generate rapport and safety with clients and students and create effective learning spaces through trauma-informed somatic inquiry 
• Create membership with clientele and student groups that encourages individual autonomy and responsibility
• Maintain scope of practice and ethical and legal business operations
• Apply decolonial processes to somatic movement education and embodied research in lived experience
• Articulate the grounding resources and learn how somatics, fascia and touch intersect
• Combine sensing channels and somatic techniques to guide others through systems sensing
• Explore the process of teaching (and change) as a dynamic system that allows for emergent ideas to be revealed between members (teacher and student) of a class or session
• Articulate movement experiences for gentle and intentional neuromyofascial repatterning
• Guide clients and students to experience embodied active rest through Somatic Groundwork yielding practices
• Facilitate movement activities to downregulate nervous system defense responses for receptive learning and embodied relating
• Demonstrate a commitment to self practice and “being your own client”
• Apply somatic patterning recipes to guided movement practice to help with improved function, support and stability in movement  
• Design interdisciplinary movement sequences that encourage sensorimotor and neuromuscular patterning
• Conduct reliable and valid movement assessments and translate findings to individualize client program
• Learn the science of bottom-up sensing practices and somatic movement unwinding through neuromyofascial science
• Learn the developmental movement sequence and how these patterns are the base of Somatic Groundwork
• Learn how to invite both process-oriented and goal-oriented perspectives to a movement session 

 

Modules

Guiding others in somatic movement activities is a unique skill-set that includes applying somatic techniques, movement vocabularies and cue strategies; learning to contain safe enough and creative learning spaces; implementing appropriate movement assessments, sequences and design. Further, Somatic Groundwork teachers are committed to their own practice and realize this learning necessity for guiding others. The Modules in IMS are like nodes in a system – each one connects to the other- and the interactions between is how the learning happens.

 

1: Somatics, Systems & Change

Learn the history of somatic movement and how it came about as a response to the body-mind split of Cartesian Dualism. Get an overview of systems thinking and complexity science. Learn about somatics as a decolonial process, basic literacy around social somatics, how worldview shapes our perceptions and our unique scope of practice as somatic movement educators.

 

2: Authentic Offer

Embodying our authentic offering helps us communicate out into the world why we do what we do, the solutions we offer to help people move and feel better, and the process we use to help others reclaim their personal experience of wholeness. Create a vision for your work and articulate your somatic offering.

 

3: Somatic Way

Somatics is a modern field to help us return to and remember the wisdom of embodied relationality. Somatic Groundwork calls this systems sensing. The somatic way describes how we envision supporting personal and social change through somatic movement practice. Learn and experience the science of sensing and touch through movement and how to apply the Somatic Groundwork ‘first teachings’ for a trauma-informed somatic movement approach. Discover the history of tensegrity and how these structural princples relate to somatics, fascia and the forces that shape us. 

 

4: Movement Science

Take a deep dive into movement science: the sciences that got us here and the paradigm shift of 21st century movement science. Learn concepts from structural kinesiology that help us understand the neuromuscular system. Take a learning leap from classical anatomy and biomechanics to biotensegrity. Explore the web of fascia science and how our living architecture is a fabric of function, form and sensation.

 

5: Somatic Patterning

Nervous system rhythms, developmental patterns, core support, unwinding methods, and functional adaptations are presented as contributing views in the process of somatic patterning. Learn how to apply the SPA cycle and basic patterning recipes to gently and effectively uproot holding patterns and facilitate healing and repair.

 

6: Client Process

Here you will find everything you need to onboard a new client. Through movement assessment and analysis, learn a step-by-step approach to discover both functional and structural relationships that influence body movement. A comprehensive set of presentations, videos and clear instructions will take you through the steps to conduct a reliable and valid movement assessment, synthesize the findings and create a client Movement Profile.

 

7: Movement Design

Movement design is a system or plan designed to meet the needs, abilities, preferences and motivations of your participants and to provide meaningful and sustainable change. Program design includes the specific movement sequences in a single session, the series of sessions over time and the lifestyle practices adopted by your client to promote well-being. Learn a unique framework for weaving movement modalities together to offer cohesive classes and sessions.

IMS Enrollment Pathways

There are 2 pathways for learning the art and science of teaching Somatic Groundwork: IMS Core and IMS Total. Both pathways have a 2 year membership. The membership includes access to the robust Education Site + Live Events.

The Education Site is organized in Modules and Movement Libraries. The learning path weaves together conceptual learning (watching, reading, analyzing, synthesizing) and embodied practice (somatic movement and inquiry).

Live Events happen in two yearly sessions: Spring and Fall. Spring events are February to May. Fall events are September to December. January is a month of rest.  June, July and August is guided by self-study and research. Live events include Community Circles, pop-up class series, workshops and guest teacher appearances. Tap here for the Live Events schedule for the Spring Session 2025

IMS Core is recommended for individuals who are looking for personal and professional development as a teacher and/or human. You have the motivation and interest to integrate the concepts and skills over time through guided video learning, reading and study + self-research and application. This path leads to recognition as an inspired Somatic Groundwork teacher.

IMS Total is for individuals who align with the above + desire a specific and efficient evolution of their professional craft with Somatic Groundwork as the base.  IMS Total provides a 1:1 mentorship with Kaila that includes 6 mentorship sessions + open email communication with Kaila for 2 years.  Members enrolled in IMS Total will be required to submit small projects and a Final Project. At completion, you will graduate from IMS as a qualified Somatic Groundwork teacher. Members with a 2025 Spring enrollment will begin their mentorship with Kaila in the fall of 2025. 

 

see a list of Somatic Groundwork teachers here

 

* 1:1 Mentorship occurs over 9 – 12 months and needs to be complete within the 2 year membership. Includes: five 75-minute mentoring sessions, one 90-minute movement assessment, regular email support, individual feedback for all small projects and review of the Final Project.  

**’Certificate of Completion’ is not the same as a ‘Certification’. A certification program (common in Yoga and Personal Training) is generally accredited by a third-party organization and requires renewal every 2-3 years. IMS offers an optional ‘Certificate of Completion’ indicating the completion of an assessment-based professional learning program. In some cases, a ‘Certificate of Completion’ may serve to fulfill a category for required CEU’s for some organizations (see your organization for requirements). You can also list ‘Certificate of Completion’ programs on your resume detailing your education.

*** The Final Project demonstrates a synthesis of the IMS themes + Somatic Groundwork and its relationship with your interdisciplinary craft. For the Final Project choose between the: ‘Comprehensive Client Program’ or ‘4-part Class Series’. The Final Project must be submitted within the 2 year membership.

 

TAP HERE FOR 2025 FEES & REFUND POLICY

Frequently Asked Questions (about the somatic movement training)

Read More about the Philosophy

 

overview

Interdisciplinary Movement & Somatics is a 250-hr somatic movement training for teachers and therapists who want to skillfully teach somatic movement and patterning activities to help people resolve and reduce cumulative injury (chronic stress, pain, repetitive injury, emotional dis-ease) and to cultivate curiosity, creativity and equanimity. Learn how to guide movement experiences with a developmental, fascia-oriented and trauma-informed approach through Somatic Groundwork. Weave the teachings with other modalities through interdisciplinary movement, or teach Somatic Groundwork as a stand alone practice.

The somatic movement training is 100% online and is designed with a balanced mix of science, philosophy and movement practice relevant to the somatic skills needed to guide therapeutic movement experiences. Interdisciplinary Movement & Somatics (IMS) provides a framework for applying the art and science of somatics to your movement classes, client sessions or workshops. Discover how Somatic Groundwork applies systems sensing to movement practice for gentle myofascial re-patterning.

Somatic Groundwork explores natural movement and patterning from the inside-out and ground up. The experiential and progressive practice leads with sensing ground, gravity and space. Our presence with the moving process helps to improve movement quality, function and efficiency. By applying somatic techniques to specific movement vocabularies, we develop a sensory skill-set to study fundamental forces and their relationships to our tensegral bodymind architecture.

The movement vocabularies in Somatic Groundwork are based on developmental patterns and natural movement skills with a focus that oscillates between specific forms and creative improvisation. The gentle and nourishing approach influences global organization providing mental and emotional benefits like calm, safe and nourishing feelings. The method is effective for reducing (and eliminating) low back, hip, neck and shoulder pain, calming the nervous system, increasing vagal tone and improving neuromyofascial patterning. Further, Somatic Groundwork also reduces chronic pain and other unfavorable symptoms from daily stress overload, repetitive injury and illnesses.

Interdisciplinary is a process of seeking to find collaborations and integration between various disciplines and perspectives to create new understanding. Somatic movement training is a wide and varied study. IMS seeks to bring ideas together from different sciences, explore the relationships between systems, honor knowledge that is generated from more than one worldview, and understand and implement both evidence-based and discovery-based research and learning. Interdisciplinary approaches challenge traditional ways of perceiving and encourages creative participation in the learning process. The process of building bridges to link ideas is about researching the spaces in between the elements and learning about their relatedness.

somatic patterning