Written: 1st August 2025

MYNDR Somatics Script 01

Theme: Train your brain to let go
Length: ~ 60 minutes, can dip in and out
Tone: Calm, clinical and grounded
Goal: Reduce habitual muscle tension and improve neuromuscular efficiency

Opening Grounding

“Let’s start by arriving. Find a comfortable lying position, on your back, knees bent if that feels better for your low back. Let your arms rest by your sides or on your belly. Nothing has to look a certain way, just begin to settle.”

“Close your eyes, and without changing anything, simply begin to observe sensation.
Where do you feel your body making contact with the ground? Can you feel the back of your head? Your shoulders? Your heels?”

“Bring your attention to your breathing. You don’t have to breathe any special way, just notice how your breath moves your body. See if you can feel the breath, rather than think about it.”

“You’re not here to stretch or strain or fix anything. You’re here to explore how your brain and body communicate, and how we can use that awareness to create more ease.”

Introduction to Theme

“Today’s class is about control, not effort. We’re exploring how the brain regulates muscular tension and how we can retrain it to release habitual contraction. You’ll be doing small, intentional movements. But what we’re training is your nervous system.”

“When a muscle is ‘tight,’ it’s not usually short, it’s contracted, often without your permission. This is a habit stored in the motor cortex, and we can unwind it by bringing it back under conscious control.”

Somatic Differentiation

“Let’s explore the idea of differentiation, being able to move or activate one part of the body without unintentionally recruiting others.”

“Lie on your back and bend your knees. Now gently squeeze your right glute, just enough to feel it activate, without lifting or moving. Try to keep your left glute completely soft.”

“Now release. Do it again, squeeze just the right glute. If you notice the left side joining in, or your leg tensing, that’s okay, observe.”

“Switch sides. Gently contract the left glute, keeping the right side quiet. This type of fine motor control trains your brain to work more precisely, which often means you can use less effort in daily movement.”

Fascia Tension Drift

“Your body isn’t just a stack of parts; it’s an interconnected system. Sometimes, releasing one area creates changes somewhere unexpected.”

“Let’s test that. Gently clench your jaw, just a little, and hold it for a few seconds. Now slowly release it. Feel your breath. Feel your shoulders. Did anything shift?”

“Try again, but this time clench the jaw while holding your breath, then release both together. Notice how the ribcage or even the hips respond.”

“This is a form of fascial and neurological ‘tension drift’, where one area of tightness influences another. It’s the nervous system trying to create stability through global co-contraction. When we interrupt that pattern, we free up movement elsewhere.”

Reciprocal Inhibition

“Let’s start simple. Bring your right arm up so your elbow is bent at 90 degrees and your palm is facing up toward the ceiling.”

“Gently contract your biceps, like you’re trying to curl the hand toward your shoulder, but don’t move much. Just feel the muscle engage. Hold it and release. Do that one more time.”

“Now this time, we’ll reverse it. Gently contract your triceps, as if you’re trying to extend the elbow, but again, don’t move much. Just feel that back-of-the-arm effort. Hold for 5 seconds... and let it go.”

“Now check in: do your biceps feel softer? That’s reciprocal inhibition. When one muscle contracts, its opposite automatically lets go.”

Repeat on the left arm, or move on to:

Hamstring vs Quad Version:

“Straighten your right leg on the floor. Now, slowly press the back of your knee toward the floor, like you’re trying to activate the quads. Hold for 5... and release.”

“Now reverse it. Gently dig your heel into the mat, activating the hamstrings. Hold 5... and let go.
Now let the leg go completely and just notice: has the tension changed? Is the leg resting differently now?”

Global Release

“Let’s explore how something very small can create a much larger release, not through force, but through specificity.”

“Begin by bringing your awareness to your right hand. Without lifting it, slowly spread your fingers apart, just a little, and then let them come back together.”

“Now isolate just your pinky. Try to lift it slightly, even if it barely moves. Notice what other parts of your body want to help. Maybe the shoulder tenses, the breath holds. Just observe.”

“Now try again, lift the pinky, but this time see if you can do it without recruiting anything else. Let the rest of your body stay soft. Then release.”

“Now pause. Feel your right arm compared to your left. Maybe your shoulder feels lighter, maybe the chest is more open.
That’s because the nervous system often uses global patterns to execute local tasks, and when we isolate, we give the brain a more efficient strategy.”

Repeat with each side & toes.

Pandiculation Reset

“Come onto your belly. Let your forehead rest on your hands. We’re going to reset the muscles along the back, especially the low back.”

“Very gently, lift your head and chest just an inch or two off the floor. Feel your back engage. Now, slowly, slowly lower back down like you’re unwinding a spring.”

“That’s called pandiculation. You contract, then you release with full control. This tells your brain it’s safe to reduce the baseline tension.”

Repeat 2–3x.

Then do a hip version:

“Lying on your belly, bend one knee to 90 degrees. Lift that leg just slightly, feel the glute engage. Then slowly lower, releasing with awareness. Try these two more times. Keep the effort small, this isn’t about lifting high, just engaging and unwinding.”

Switch sides.

Optional: Neck version in supine

“On your back, tuck your chin slightly and press the back of your head gently into the mat. Hold… then slowly release. You’re waking up the neck flexors and teaching the extensors to let go.”

Functional Re-integration

“Before we settle into rest, let’s gently reintegrate what we’ve reset, bringing your body back into functional coordination, but without tension.”

“Start by slowly rocking your knees side to side. Let the movement stay small. Notice how the pelvis responds, how the low back participates, how the ribs stay calm.”

“Now gently lift your hips into a small bridge, not for strength, just for sensation. Feel the feet pressing down, glutes activating just enough. Then slowly lower down with control.”

“Now, slide one shoulder slightly forward and back on the floor. Then the other. Feel how your scapula glides on the ribcage.”

“These small reintegrations tell the brain where you are on the map. I’m using less tension now.
The system recalibrates based on experience, not commands.”

Body Mapping + Control

“With your eyes closed, take a moment to imagine where your pelvis is. It's shape, size, and position. Without moving yet, can you feel your tailbone? Your hip joints?”

“Now gently touch your pelvis with your fingers, trace your hip bones, feel your sacrum. Give your brain a clearer map of where you are.”

“When your brain knows where a part of the body is, it can control it more accurately, and stop using global tension to stabilise.”

Then move to foot and toe isolation (difficult):

“Now stretch your legs out. Try lifting just your big toes off the floor. Leave the others down. Now switch, lift the four little toes, leave the big toes down.”

“This might be hard. The more you try, the more your motor cortex refines its control.”

Proprioception Reset

“Let’s shift from movement to sensation, and give your brain more precise information about where the body is in space.”

“Take your right hand and gently brush or lightly tap your left arm, from shoulder to hand. Try to make it rhythmic and consistent. You’re not massaging, just stimulating the sensory nerves that feed into your brain’s map of your arm. Now rest your arms, close your eyes, and notice: does your left arm feel more present? More clearly defined?”

“The more your brain can sense a part of the body, the more efficiently it can move and relax that area. This is proprioceptive feedback.”

Repeat on the other side.

Move yourself into Shavasana

Closing & Final Rest

“Hug your right knee toward your chest. Feel that stretch in the back of the hip or thigh. Now, release it just a little.”

“This time, gently pull your knee in using your hip flexor, like you’re doing the work without the arms. Hold for 5 seconds… then relax, and let your arms gently bring it in again.”

“You may notice it goes further, that’s because you’ve told the nervous system that you’re in charge.”