The Principle and Process of Somatic Learning: a Comaparative Study of Bodywork Systems in the U.S. and Japan

Somatics, the science of first-person perception, is one of the underlying concepts of Karada-Hogushi, exercises for releasing the body and mind, in PE in Japan. The main purpose of this study is extracting the principle and the process of somatic learning explained by T. Hanna by examining his terminology. I also consider four bodywork systems in the U.S. and Japan from the viewpoints extracted from Hanna’s theory. It is clarified that the learning process is triggered by focusing one’s awareness on an area and proceeds according to the sensation of synergy of feeling of comfortableness from within, and the principles are awareness and synergy of sensory-motor system. The term, awareness, is also found in Karada- Hogushi, but as the meaning of self-reflection. To trigger somatic learning, focusing one’s awareness is considered as the key for self-regulation.