About Susan Koenig
Born: March 11, 1945, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Lived and went to grammar school, junior high, and high school in North Hollywood, CA.
1967: Bachelor of Arts, University of California (UC) Berkeley, CA.
1968: Teaching Credential kindergarten-eight grade (K-8), UC Berkeley.
1968-1975: taught K-2.
1975: took my first training in massage therapy from Dean Associates, a school owned and run by my first mentor, Judy Dean. Judy started the school in the back bedroom of her Oakland home. Then she moved it to the living room and used the dining room as the administrative office.
1976: quit teaching elementary school and started doing massage therapy full time. I practiced professional Massage Therapy, 1975 - 1993.
1978: Carol Carpenter bought Judy Dean’s massage school and Carol and myself and a couple of other women basically taught the 100 hour curriculum created by Judy Dean.
1978-79: Carol Carpenter changed the name of the school to National Holistic Institute, and rented the first real campus on Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA.
1980s: During the decade of the 1980’s I was the Academic Director of National Holistic Institute. Over time we made many changes, added hundreds of hours of curriculum and moved to larger and larger locations. National Holistic Institute is still a thriving school with more than six campuses throughout California.
1990: I took the Hanna Somatic Education (HSE) Professional Training taught by the creator of HSE, Thomas Hanna. I converted my massage practice solely to Hanna Somatics and I continued to teach part time at National Holistic Institute until about 1995. Thomas Hanna died in a car accident, August 1990. Eleanor Criswell Hanna, Thomas Hanna’s widow, took over the Hanna Somatic Training program so that those who wanted to could complete the 3 year program as planned by Thomas Hanna.
1993: A small group of us under the leadership of Eleanor Criswell Hanna began teaching the professional program in Hanna Somatic Education. I taught in the program part time for a couple of years. As time went on Eleanor Criswell Hanna conferred licensure on an even smaller group of us, including me, and we, along with Eleanor became the backbone of the professional training team.
1993 - present: the Professional Training Program in Hanna Somatic Education continues. Currently the professional training program consists of six, 9 day Modules, taught over 3 years. We run three simultaneous programs at any one time. For more information go to: www.somaticsed.com and click on Hanna Somatic Education & Training.
1995 - present: a group of us formed an informal Association for Hanna Somatic Educators. We formalized this group in 1997 as a 501-c-3 non profit organization, in the state of California. It continues today and sponsors a yearly convention for its members to upgrade and receive continuing education in the field of “Somatics.”
1993 - present: I have a private practice in the clinical hands-on work of Hanna Somatic Education. I am a licensed trainer in the Hanna Somatic Education Professional Training Program. I have an on-going Saturday morning class (for over 15 years!) in Somatic Movement in Emeryville, California at National Holistic Institute, my massage Alma Mater - how great is that! You must request to be on my Somatic Movement class email list to receive the specific dates, <susankoenig@earthlink.net>.
Personal Statement: I was attracted to Hanna Somatic Education for a number of reasons. Perhaps first and foremost I loved that this is an educational process and any one could learn somatic movements and help themself. Even with the hands-on work in my private sessions, I am not working “on” you, I am working “with” you, to teach you how to use your brain to release musculoskeletal tension and therefore become pain free or at least manage your pain and stiffness with somatic movements. You learn to move better, walk better, and generally find freedom and ease in your everyday activities.
I offer the following for free and for your own somatic education. Release your pain and learn to move with ease and comfort:
Free audio recorings of my some of my past classes: SoundCloud link: https://soundcloud.com/susan-koenig
Free short videos of Somatic Movements: YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/user/somaticsforyou/videos
Free: link to receive my Somatics Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/FMnkD
Free: link to access my Somatics Newsletters
thank you