FREE 🧠 WEBINAR:

Rider Asymmetry, Habitual Posture & Solving Chronic Tension with Hanna Somatics

FREE WEBINAR REGISTRATION

LIVE EVENT January 22, 2026. Register now to access the replay and learn how to join the next LIVE CLASS!

FREE 🧠 WEBINAR:

Rider Asymmetry, Habitual Posture & Solving Chronic Tension with Hanna Somatics

After this class you will:

  • Ride with Less Pain & More Ease

  • Improve your Position in the Saddle

  • Increase your Resilience & Ability to Recover after Unplanned Dismounts

What you'll learn:

  • How Chronic Muscle Tension prevents you from riding correctly (and causes pain!)

  • Why Voluntary Pandiculation is the KEY to UN-learning your habitual compensations (so you can stop doing them).

  • How to Restore your NATURAL Neutral Posture with Self-Guided Somatic Exercises

What's it like?

Your standing POSTURE reveals your riding HABITS!

BEFORE: Always looking down at your horse's ears when you ride, and every horse feels heavy on the forehand..?

AFTER: With restored access to your core strength and natural spinal curvature, horses have more room to lift their backs, and you don't need to be reminded to "look up" anymore!

BEFORE: Always tipping forward and your heels keep creeping up because your hips & knees are unconsciously bending..?

AFTER: When your default posture is reset to neutral, sitting tall with a long leg, and perfect alignment of ear, shoulder, hip and heel becomes effortless!

BEFORE: Ever had one foot keep slipping out of the stirrup and the saddle always tipping to the other side..?

AFTER: Instead of controlling your posture, when you can relax with equal weight in both seat bones and stirrups, your legs drape comfortably and you can sit correctly, on autopilot!

Who are we, and why should you listen to us? (great question!)

Alissa Mayer BSc(Eq) C-EHSE

Director, Equine Hanna Somatics Education®

Hi, I'm Alissa Mayer. Horse-lover. Twin mama. Neuroscience nerd... I'm also the Director of the Equine Hanna Somatics® Professional Training Program started by Dr. Eleanor Criswell - creator of Somatic Yoga, Equine and Canine Hanna Somatics® and the co-creator of Hanna Somatic Education® with Thomas Hanna.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in Equine Science & Business Management in 2004 from Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island (USA), and I'm a graduate of the Novato Institute. I have over 30 years of experience in the horse industry across disciplines, from therapeutic riding, eventing and endurance to becoming a self-taught hoof trimmer, horse-first coach and trainer, riding instructor, and since 2012 as a Certified Equine Hanna Somatics® Educator (C-EHSE) and international clinician.

I've worked with thousands of horses and riders all over North America including Canada, mainland United States, and Hawaii. I have also taught and practiced EHS extensively across western Europe. Hanna Somatics gave me the tools to reverse and prevent my own back pain, to help my riding students make progress and comfortably follow the movement of their horses with less effort and more harmony...

I truly believe Hanna Somatics is the missing link in equestrian education, and the KEY to developing Feel, and I'm so excited to share it with you in this webinar, and introduce you to my esteemed colleague and brilliant co-teacher Ryan.

Ryan Moschell LMT CHSE

Sponsor, Hanna Somatic Education®

Hi, I'm Ryan Moschell. Muscle whisperer. Dog-dad. Chicken tender... I'm also one of the Core Team Teachers in the Hanna Somatic Education® Professional Training Program (for humans).

I graduated from the Baltimore School of Massage (BSOM) in 2000, have a degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), earned certification from the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training in 2013 and I've practiced Hanna Somatic Education full-time since then.

Since 2015, I have served on the board of directors of the Association for Hanna Somatic Education (AHSE). In January 2016, I published an article in Dressage Today titled "Hanna Somatic Education for Dressage Riders" which provides equestrians with self-care and injury prevention strategies.

In 2023, after an intensive apprenticeship, I was hired by Eleanor Criswell to join the core teaching team at the Novato Institute.

During that time, I helped develop the online education model that emerged out of necessity in 2020. In addition to teaching in the Hanna Somatic Education Professional Training Program and co-teaching with Alissa in the EHS Professional Training Program, I run a private practice teaching HSE in-person and remotely via my online membership.

Riding isn't supposed to hurt, and sitting 'correctly' is easier than you think!

Join us in this free webinar to learn more.

Safe. Gentle. Neuroscience-based.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hanna Somatic Education® the same as Feldenkrais®? (No...)

Hanna Somatics does have some similarities with Feldenkrais, as they share a lineage, but they are not the same method.

Whereas both Feldenkrais and Hanna Somatics emphasize the experience and exploration of self-mediated movement and developing more awareness, Hanna Somatics adds another layer of targeting the quality, quantity and accuracy of the motor output from the brain with the additional technique of Voluntary Pandiculation, a technique innovated by Thomas Hanna.

By consistently engaging one's own pandicular response during the somatic movement sessions, (which happens when we focus on staying deliberately slow during the eccentric phase of each muscle contraction to completion, and actively avoid interrupting our motor-sensory feedback loops by following the other HSE principles) we are able to achieve more profound and long lasting changes to our self-organization and baseline tension levels.

Many of our students who are familiar with Feldenkrais have shared that while they found Feldenkrais incredibly helpful, Hanna Somatics has helped them move beyond the previous plateau or limits to their progress, as well as that they report becoming less reliant on their hands-on practitioners for relief as they learn how to achieve the results on their own.

Can I participate if I am recovering from an injury? (It depends...)

Hanna Somatics exercises are the natural movements of the human (or animal) body and based on the principles of neuroscience. Done correctly, our somatic exercises are safe, gentle, and are NOT painful. However, to participate you will be moving your body, and if you have inflammation or an acute injury you should wait until your physician has cleared you to begin gentle exercise again.

Will there be a replay if I cannot attend LIVE? (Yes, IF you register!)

All registered participants (using the form at the top of this page) will get access to the recording of this FREE webinar for 7 days, so you can still participate if you have a schedule conflict AND so you can repeat the guided somatic movement class again, and enjoy cumulative results. ;)

Disclaimer: Equine/Canine/Human Hanna Somatics is not bodywork or manual therapy, and is not a diagnostic or treatment tool. The information included on this website and in any affiliated programs is intended for educational purposes only and is not meant to take the place of professional veterinary or medical advice, may not be current, and is subject to change without notice. We encourage all members of the community to seek guidance from a licensed veterinarian, physician or allied healthcare practitioner regarding specific medical concerns or questions about your own or your animal’s health.

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