Sotai or sotai ho

The relief of pain with painless exercises

  Sotai is a Japanese form of movement therapy based on returning natural body alignment by moving joints and muscles in a comfortable way rather than adjusting towards pain.

This permits the practitioner to teach very simple and easy exercises for the patients that are painless and help with many of their concerns.

  These exercises are disconcerting for some patients who believe that the only way to reduce or get rid of pain in the body is by going beyond the pain threshold.

It is however quite easy to demonstrate the value of the exercises that in most cases are only done to one side, to the painless side and it is easy to demonstrate that both sides improve.

  Sotai ho provides a method for neuromuscular re-education and promotes healing in the circulatory, nervous and endocrine systems by untwisting muscular holding patterns.

It is thus a very good complement to shiatsu sessions because it gives patients an opportunity to do something for themselves and it helps them regain the capacity to exercise without pain.

  Sotai has certain similarities with propioceptive neuromuscular facilitation although they appear to have developed separatley. Both increase flexibility and joint range of motion. Unlike PNF, sotai is mostly used as home exercises for the relief of chronic pain.

    Check our videos by clicking on our sotai video page.

The wiper.

Sotai ho exercise for deep breathing