Dr. Thomas Hanna, (1928-1990), Philosopher & Pioneer, Field of SomaticsDr. Hanna completed his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in the early 1950s. He was a Philosophy professor and Department Chairman at the University of Florida. As Dr. Hanna deepened his knowledge of existential and phenomenological traditions, he started realizing that they were deeply rooted in the bodily structures. So he took a year off as a Chairman of the Philosophy Department at the University of Florida, to study neuroscience in medical school. Dr. Hanna obtained permission to study with first-year medical students at the University of Florida. After studying with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais (originator of "Awareness Through Movement"), this same course helped him lay the foundation for the Field of Somatics.
Dr. Hanna was passionate about knowing and understanding "freedom," "independence," and "autonomy." He understood that being trapped in the prison of a crippled state of the body and not being able to move freely is the confinement that most of the human race cannot avoid. He also viewed it |
As we grow older, our bodies and our lives should continue to improve, right up until the very end. I believe that all of us, in our hearts, feel that this is how life really should be lived.
- Dr. Thomas Hanna |
as the entrapment that is socially accepted all over the human race. His understanding of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and hands on practice of the Feldenkrais Method (Awareness Through Movement) created a unique foundation for his passion in life. He brought these seemingly unrelated fields together and solved the mystery of imprisonment of life due to muscle tightness, chronic pain, and aging.
Dr. Hanna understood humanity from the medical and philosophical perspectives. He was incredibly flexible until his death from a car accident at the age of 60. His clients were those whom physicians with all their medicine, surgery or physical therapy had been unable to help.
One of the ways he described himself was "always asking questions but not stopping at conventional answers."
Today Dr. Hanna's work lives on....
Dr. Hanna understood humanity from the medical and philosophical perspectives. He was incredibly flexible until his death from a car accident at the age of 60. His clients were those whom physicians with all their medicine, surgery or physical therapy had been unable to help.
One of the ways he described himself was "always asking questions but not stopping at conventional answers."
Today Dr. Hanna's work lives on....