Hanna Somatics uses pandiculation, a slow contraction and release, to address the chronic muscular holding Thomas Hanna called sensory-motor amnesia. Syntropic Core also trains awareness, but starts with a felt sense of safety and sensing internal pressure, so you learn to read and organize your own body. Both are education, neither has controlled trials, and they can combine.
If you have found Hanna Somatics, you already know something most of the posture world misses: the problem is often not weakness or tightness, it is a pattern the nervous system has stopped feeling. I agree with that. Hanna and Syntropic Core are cousins. This post is about where they overlap, where they part, and how to choose. For the full map, see the hub: Syntropic Core vs Schroth, PRI, DNS and somatics.
Conflict of interest: Posture Dojo Research is funded by Posture Dojo memberships, and I teach Syntropic Core, one of the methods compared here. That gives me a reason to want it to look good. So its evidence row says what it is: no trials and no outcome data, and a framework that is my own synthesis [T3]. Where another method has better evidence, I say so.
Quick comparison
| Hanna Somatics | Syntropic Core | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Somatic education (Thomas Hanna) | Somatic education and skill training |
| Starting point | Chronic muscular holding the brain has stopped feeling | A felt sense of safety, then sensing and organizing internal pressure |
| Signature tool | Pandiculation: slow contraction, then slow release | An ordered practice: safety, pressure, attention, framing, then movement |
| How it treats posture | A learned muscular pattern, mapped in the brain | An output the nervous system generates from what it senses |
| Who delivers it | Certified practitioners, classes and self-practice | Self-practice with live sessions |
| Who does the work / what you walk away with | Self-directed practice, learned from a practitioner or in classes | Self-practice, with live sessions for questions and practice; the aim is the skill to sense, read and organize your own body |
| Built for scoliosis? | No | Built around scoliosis, kyphosis and chronic bracing; not curve-specific |
| Best evidence | Uncontrolled chart review in back and neck pain [T4] | No trials and no outcome data; framework is our own synthesis [T3] |
What each one trains
| Capacity | Hanna Somatics | Syntropic Core | Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shape or curve | No | No | Not applicable |
| Breath and pressure | Not a stated aim | Yes: sensing and organizing pressure inside the trunk | Diaphragm’s postural role [T1]; that training it changes posture [T3] |
| Developmental motor control | No | Yes, last in the order | Developmental sequence as a base [T2] |
| Awareness and interoception | Yes, central: awareness of muscular holding | Yes: interoceptive attention | Interoceptive attention as an amplifier [T3] |
| Safety and self-regulation | Implicit in slow, gentle work | First in the order | Threat-gating of postural change [T3] |
| Attention | Slow, attentive movement | Non-demanding attention | Self-produced sensation is turned down [T1]; that effortful work limits updating [T3] |
How to read the evidence tiers: T1 independently replicated research, stated directly. T2 frontier research or clinical synthesis, sound but not yet unified, so one degree of hedging. T3 theoretical synthesis or our own contribution, always framed as synthesis. T4 unknown or mixed evidence. T5 an anti-pattern we recommend against. A compound claim gets a tier per part.
What Hanna Somatics is
Hanna Somatics, or Hanna Somatic Education, was developed by Thomas Hanna, who set it out in his book Somatics (Hanna 1988). Its central idea is sensory-motor amnesia: chronic muscular contraction, often learned in response to stress or injury, that the brain has habituated to, so it no longer feels it or knows how to let it go. The tool is pandiculation, a slow, voluntary contraction followed by an even slower release, the same pattern you see when an animal wakes and stretches. Certified practitioners teach in person, online and in group classes, and people practise on their own. The Association for Hanna Somatic Education lists certified practitioners and classes (AHSE).
I go into the mechanism in pandiculation: meaning and why it works, and compare Hanna with Feldenkrais and Alexander in somatic exercises for scoliosis.
What Hanna Somatics does well
- It names the right problem. A pattern the nervous system has stopped feeling cannot be changed by force. Sensory-motor amnesia puts that in plain language.
- A concrete, teachable tool. Pandiculation is simple, gentle and something people can do on their own.
- Self-authorship. The person does the work, not the practitioner. You learn to feel and release your own patterns.
- Early outcome data. A retrospective review of a hospital Hanna service found pain and pain-medication use fell after a few sessions (Huang 2022) [T4]. It is a start.
Where it stops
The evidence is early. That chart review had no control group, so it cannot separate the method from time, attention or expectation (Huang 2022) [T4]. There are no randomized trials of Hanna Somatics, and nothing in scoliosis.
The model has a scope. Hanna’s focus is muscular holding: find it, feel it, release it. What it doesn’t include is the inside of the trunk. Release with nothing organized underneath can leave a body that lets go and then grabs again, because something still has to carry the spine. And Hanna Somatics has no scoliosis-specific model, which matters if that is why you are here.
How Syntropic Core differs
The key difference is where the learning starts. Hanna Somatics already teaches self-practice, and it deserves full credit for that: it is education, learned from practitioners or in classes and practiced on your own. Syntropic Core starts further upstream, with safety, interoception and pressure, and trains you to sense, read and organize your own body, so you become the practitioner of your own body, the one who knows how to read it. The aim is that you walk away with a body you know how to drive, not a protocol you depend on.
Syntropic Core shares the somatic premise: change the information, not the tissue. It adds two things and an order.
The first is pressure. I teach the deep core as a canister of pressure, with the diaphragm above, the deep abdominals around it and the pelvic floor below. Sealed and full, it carries the spine from the inside. In scoliosis that canister twists, the pressure leaks, and the outer muscles rush in to brace and grip. That bracing is a large part of the pain and stiffness people feel. The diaphragm’s postural role is established (Hodges 2000) [T1]. That organizing pressure changes long-term posture is our synthesis [T3]. Where Hanna releases the grip, Syntropic Core also trains what can carry you once the grip lets go: held from within, instead of holding yourself up.
The second is safety, named first. The method trains, in order: a felt sense of safety; then interoception, sensing and organizing pressure inside the trunk; then non-demanding attention, because attention, not load, is what makes posture editable; then mindset and framing; then the developmental sequence [T3]. That comes from the Generative Posture Framework, where posture is generated, not held. Your brain keeps a working map of your body and generates posture from what it can sense [T3]. The foundation course, the Syntropic Core Reset, moves through Listen, Organize, Explore and Flow.
For scoliosis, the Neural Generation Hypothesis proposes that an idiopathic curve is one the body keeps generating from its own map of itself, not just a bent bone. It is a hypothesis [T3], it keeps progression during growth as a separate mechanical problem, and it promises no change in any curve.
So Hanna isn’t wrong. Releasing holding is part of the work. The question is what comes before it and what comes after. Wrong order, not wrong method.
Why Syntropic Core is a place to start
I built Syntropic Core as a place to start, not as one more method to choose between. Wrong order, not wrong method. In our framework, whether your nervous system feels safe enough to change, and whether you can sense the inside of your trunk, are conditions other methods depend on too [T3]. So the practice starts there: safety, then sensing and organizing pressure, then attention, then movement. No trial has tested whether starting here helps other methods work better.
It is education, not treatment. Nothing is done to you. You learn to notice, read and organize your own body, and the practice becomes your own. The aim is that what you keep is the skill, not a reliance on sessions. If you also practice Hanna Somatics, you bring that skill into it.
It is a starting point, never a replacement for clinical care. It is built to work alongside medical care, never instead of it, and it sits alongside bracing, monitoring or surgery where those are indicated. If your specialist recommends a brace or a check-up, follow that advice.
Who should choose which
- General back or neck tension, and you want a gentle tool you can learn quickly: Hanna Somatics, with a certified practitioner or a class.
- Scoliosis in a growing adolescent: follow your specialist on monitoring and bracing; scoliosis-specific exercise has the evidence. You can find a PSSE therapist in the Navigator.
- You release the holding and it comes back, or you have scoliosis, kyphosis or a body that works hard to stay upright: Syntropic Core is built for that person. It asks for daily attention, not effort.
Can you combine them
Yes. Both are gentle self-practice built on attention rather than force, and they ask similar things of you. If you do both, keep each one slow, and notice whether a change still lasts an hour later, when you have stopped paying attention to it. That is the test that matters for any method.
Who Syntropic Core is for
Syntropic Core is a self-guided nervous-system practice. It is somatic education, not treatment, and it can sit alongside Hanna Somatics rather than replace it.
- It may suit you if you want to learn to notice, read and organize your own body, and you are comfortable practicing on your own, with live sessions for questions.
- Lead with clinical care if you have a diagnosed spinal condition, have had spinal surgery, are pregnant, are the parent of a teen whose curve is being monitored, or have new or worsening symptoms. Follow your clinical team on monitoring, bracing and surgery. Syntropic Core does not replace any of them.
- Evidence status, plainly: Syntropic Core has no trials and no outcome data. The Neural Generation Hypothesis (doi:10.5281/zenodo.19342098) and the Generative Posture Framework (doi:10.5281/zenodo.19580170) behind it are our own work, published as open-access preprints on Zenodo. They have not been through journal peer review, and they are hypotheses, not established fact [T3].
Frequently asked questions
Should I do Hanna Somatics or Syntropic Core?
Hanna Somatics uses pandiculation, a slow contraction and release, to address the chronic muscular holding Thomas Hanna called sensory-motor amnesia. Syntropic Core also trains awareness, but starts with a felt sense of safety and sensing internal pressure, so you learn to read and organize your own body. Both are education, neither has controlled trials, and they can combine.
What is sensory-motor amnesia?
Sensory-motor amnesia is Thomas Hanna’s term for chronic muscular contraction the brain has habituated to, so it no longer feels it or knows how to release it. Hanna Somatics uses slow, attentive movement to bring those patterns back into awareness and voluntary control.
Is there evidence for Hanna Somatics?
Limited. The main published study is a retrospective chart review of a hospital service, which found pain and pain-medication use fell after a few sessions. It had no control group. There are no randomized trials of Hanna Somatics.
Is Syntropic Core a somatic method?
Yes. Syntropic Core is somatic education and skill training, not treatment. It differs from most somatic methods in its order: a felt sense of safety, sensing and organizing internal pressure, non-demanding attention, and framing, then the developmental sequence.
Can I do Hanna Somatics and Syntropic Core together?
Yes. Both are gentle self-practice built on attention rather than force. If you have a diagnosed spinal condition, check with your clinical team before starting either. Syntropic Core is a self-guided practice that can sit alongside it rather than replace it. It has no trials of its own, and its framework is published only as open-access preprints, not journal peer-reviewed.
Do I need a practitioner for Syntropic Core?
No practitioner delivers it. Syntropic Core is self-practice: the Syntropic Core Reset is a course with live sessions for onboarding, questions and practice, and the aim is that the practice becomes your own, so you become the one who knows how to read your body. It is education, not treatment, so keep your clinical team involved if you have a diagnosed spinal condition.
This article is education and research, not medical advice. Sam Miller is not a doctor, physical therapist or licensed clinician, and Syntropic Core is somatic education, not treatment. If you have a diagnosed spinal condition, have had spinal surgery, are pregnant, or are the parent of a teen whose curve is being monitored, talk to your clinical team first. Nothing here is a reason to delay or decline a brace, surgery or the check-ups that track a curve.
Sources
- Hanna T. (1988). Somatics: Reawakening the Mind’s Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health. Book.
The founding text of Hanna Somatics: sensory-motor amnesia and pandiculation. A book, not a study. - Huang Q, Babgi AA. (2022). Effect of Hanna Somatic Education on low back and neck pain levels. Saudi Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences, 10(3), 266-271. doi:10.4103/sjmms.sjmms_580_21 [T4]
Retrospective chart review of a hospital Hanna Somatic Education service: pain and pain-medication use fell after a few sessions. No control group. - Association for Hanna Somatic Education. associationforhannasomaticeducation.com (accessed 21 October 2026).
The professional association for Hanna Somatics, with a practitioner directory and class listings. - Hodges PW, Gandevia SC. (2000). Changes in intra-abdominal pressure during postural and respiratory activation of the human diaphragm. Journal of Applied Physiology, 89(3), 967-976. doi:10.1152/jappl.2000.89.3.967 [T1]
The diaphragm has a postural role alongside breathing, and its postural activity raises intra-abdominal pressure. - Blakemore SJ, Wolpert DM, Frith CD. (1998). Central cancellation of self-produced tickle sensation. Nature Neuroscience, 1(7), 635-640. doi:10.1038/2870 [T1]
The brain turns down sensation it predicts from its own movement. This is why you cannot tickle yourself. - Miller S. (2026). The Generative Posture Framework: A Unified Account of Postural Generation, Persistence, and Change. Open-access preprint on Zenodo, not journal published. doi:10.5281/zenodo.19580170 [T3]
Proposes that posture is generated by the body schema as a prediction, and names conditions under which that prediction updates. - Miller S. (2026). The Neural Generation Hypothesis of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Converging Evidence from Genetics, Proprioception, and Predictive Coding. Open-access preprint on Zenodo, not journal published. doi:10.5281/zenodo.19342098 [T3]
A hypothesis about how idiopathic scoliosis starts and keeps going. It makes no claim that any intervention changes an established curve, and it does not replace monitoring, bracing or surgery.