• Single w/ensuite Oceanfront* – CAD $2,842.50
  • Single w/ensuite* – CAD $2,427.50
  • Single w/shared bathroom* – CAD $2,217.50
  • Couple w/ensuite Oceanfront* – CAD $4,270.00
  • Couple w/ensuite* – CAD $3,875.00
  • Couple w/shared bathroom* – CAD $3,480.00
  • Twin w/ensuite oceanfront* – CAD $2,137.50
  • Twin w/ensuite* – CAD $1,937.50
  • Twin w/shared bathroom* – CAD $1,737.50
  • Women Dorm – CAD $1,287.50
  • Male Dorm – CAD $1,287.50
  • Mixed Dorm – CAD $1,287.50
  • Tent Site Single – CAD $1,262.50
  • Tent Site Couple – CAD $2,275.00
  • Commuter – CAD $1,087.50
  • (All prices include CAD $962.50 base amount)

Date & Time Details:
Starts with dinner on September 2
Ends with lunch on September 7

Click here for full program schedule

Location: Cortes Island

Tuition: $595 CAD

Package Price: $1,150 - $2,385 CAD / 5 nights. Includes tuition, room, all meals, and Hollyhock activities (depends on accommodation choice). Taxes and fees are additional. A $395 deposit is required at registration, with the balance due on your departure day.

Scholarships: Full and partial scholarships are available based on financial need. We prioritize Indigenous people, people of colour, people who identify as LGBTQ2IA+, youth, elders, and those who can articulate how their Hollyhock experience will support positive impact in their life and communities. A $195 refundable deposit is required (please contact us if you are unable to pay this deposit). Apply within your registration form.

Health & Safety: Learn more about our Covid-19 policies and procedures here.

Email us about program

Move Without Pain: Essential Somatics

With Martha Peterson

September 2 - 7, 2021

If you have “tried everything” to relieve your back, neck, shoulder, or hip pain for the long term and have only experienced short term relief (or none at all), then this program is for you. 

Eliminating muscle pain, stiffness, and the feeling of ‘getting old” starts with the brain. Trauma, stress, and postural compensations change the way the brain senses and moves us, and how we experience ourselves on a physical and emotional level.

Essential Somatics teaches you to restore fluid, effortless, and joyful movement – on your own, wherever you are and whenever you need it. Come and learn to be more present and comfortable in your body and in your life.

An all too common myth is that limited movement, disability, and pain is the inevitable result of aging. In reality, it is the way in which we unconsciously adapt to the stresses of our lives – the accidents, injuries, surgeries, and emotional and psychological stresses – that determines whether we become “creaky and old” or maintain our physical freedom, self-awareness, and independence. The choice is yours. To learn to maintain freedom of movement requires a new perspective on movement, ourselves, our habits, the brain, and how it controls us from the inside out.

Through lectures, movement sessions, and interactive participation learn:

  • The root cause of most chronic muscle pain (Sensory Motor Amnesia) and how to reverse it
  • How to retain voluntary muscle function and fluid movement with gentle, safe somatic movement
  • How trauma, daily movement habits, and reflexive responses to stress disconnect us from our bodies and contribute to common pain conditions and limited movement. such as low back pain, neck, shoulder, hip and joint pain, anxiety, headaches, and limited movement
  • How our thoughts, emotions, and physical stresses create either restriction and pain, or freedom and ease in the body
  • How all humans respond reflexively to stress within three full body reflex patterns
  • How to lengthen muscles and reset muscle function without stretching
  • A basic routine of easy, safe, and profoundly effective Somatic Movements that, when practiced daily, restore muscle control and self-awareness, eliminate chronic muscle pain, and keep you moving freely in your chosen activity for the rest of your life.

Martha Peterson is a fantastic presenter. She is a master at using analogies and descriptive language, and breaks down concepts beautifully so they can be understood by all. She is REALLY dedicated to helping her students. – S. Bewza, 2018

Schedule

You may find the full program schedule here.

Terms & Conditions

You may find our terms & conditions here.

Presenter

Martha Peterson
Martha Peterson is a Certified Clinical Somatic Educator and leader in the field of Somatic Education. She is the author of the book Move Without Pain, and founder and CEO of Essential Somatics®. Martha heads a growing faculty of Clinical Somatic Educators who present Essential Somatics trainings, retreats, and seminars…
Learn more about Martha Peterson