A Personalized Profile

Stephen Williams

B.A. M.A. GCFP LMT

Honolulu, HI USA

and thanks Dad, for everything !

In 2017 I revisited the master's U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships with the lofty goal of winning 3 national titles. I succeeded twice, and was happy with Bronze in the final effort! These events had been the perfect "Field Test", and I was the perfect "lab rat". In those few years, starting with 'unable to walk' and ending with a #3 World Ranking, I discovered what was possible simply by practicing what I was teaching. With the help of an unfriendly dog, I again set sports aside (likely forever) and began to overhaul of my entire practice, fully committing to somatic learning and breath. It was clear what it had done for me, and I saw what it was doing for my clients. There were holdouts among them and I respected that, but I'm sad to this day, seeing the condition some are presently in and knowing how they could've been...if only! Sports accolades had felt great, but so does having someone express their gratitude while seeing them improve in ways they hadn't before. In 2018 I chose to enter the Feldenkrais Professional Training, a 4-year certification program that became 6yrs with the COVID pandemic, and added an Advanced Breathing Instructor certification during that period. Given my age, travel distance and logistics, cost, time away, and the daily grind, it would've been difficult even without the Covid shutdown! I'm sure everyone faced their own hardships at the time. I chose to embrace the challenge as opportunity, and still do so still. The physical and physiological benefits became obvious. but it's the profound links to recent NeuroScience discoveries that now fascinate me the most. The path that leads to functional somatic awareness (breath included) does not end there...make of that what you will! I hope this personal introduction provided some insight into both myself and the website.

Thanks for visiting,

SDW

As a Somatic Educator, Practitioner, and Breathing Instructor, I use the term Somaticist (not to be confused with Somatist) to best describe those who work in the field of Somatic Awareness. Having come full circle to the behavioral and cognitive aspects that interested me first, I now use the term Neuro-Somaticist a lot. Regardless, it all begins with the sensing of movement, position, and feelings or emotions. Over the years, I've noticed the tendency to treat Somatics and Breathing separately. However, I see them as one and the same, and often present both within a session. For me, every aspect of breathing is somatic in nature, and every aspect of Somatics involves the breath. The two are inseparable.

My undergraduate degree is in Psychology, and my early career was in Media, as a researcher & analyst, and Director, always focused on psychographics more than demographics. Soon after arriving in the islands, I enter the personal care sector as a licensed Shiatsu Therapist, and resumed post-grad study in Neuro Psychology, while also earning an M.A. in Chinese Medicine. Eventually I settled on combining Shiatsu, guided movement, observation, and verbal exchange, as a novel approach to somatic therapy. Now, several decades later, it's common practice worldwide, in different formats. Truthfully, most clients had no interest in the somatic content. They just wanted their sore back or stiff neck fixed while they slept. But the few who came onboard helped grow my interest and understanding of what was possible

In early 2007, a bike accident changed everything! A painful limp ended any physical activity for 18 months. Eventually, with my limited knowledge of functionally-applied somatics, I began to walk , but in a newly focused and purposeful manner. I was shocked to discover one day that jogging was less painful than walking, and eventually came to understand why. Thus in August of 2008 I began running (sorry..."jogging") daily, something I hadn't done for 40 years. When I one day mentioned to several runners that it would be cool to "run Boston someday", they laughed at me! With stringent time-qualifying brackets, the Boston Marathon often remains on one's "bucket list" for a lifetime. As a once decent runner, that burned in me all the way home ...so that very night I registered for a December marathon that could qualify me for Boston. I did reach that goal, and returned to Boston 5 more times, winning the silver medal for my division in 2012, and gold in another big event that year. Sadly, I never again saw those three who had laughed at me.

Life happens, and time becomes precious, so in 2015 I moved to shorter events. On a hot July morning, I won a 2nd National Championship title (10,000 meters), a half century later, to honor my father. Fifty years earlier, our newspaper showed him lifting me at the airport, having Quarterbacked the 1960 Pop Warner World Champions in football. I had sat and talked with Walt Disney in his office and been kissed by teen heartthrob Annette Funicello). Does it get any better for a 12yr old? Now it had all come full circle, gifing my father on his 100th birthday, to match his black eye from a fall. So glad I didn't wait, as he died soon afterward. The following year, I happened upon a series of online posts from a woman in Berlin who was critiquing top finishers in major events. The observations and comments were almost identical to my own. Eventually I reached out to connect, and realized I had seen her chosen format, "Feldenkrais", profiled in a news article 10 years earlier but had brushed it off. If I had read further I would have seen how closely it resembled what I was already doing, and how genius the creator was. He had literally been a pioneer in Neuro-Plasticity, as much so as Paul Bach-y-Rita had been, just differing in approach. So a shout out to Jae Gruenke for giving me a reason to look again.