A FREE INTRODUCTORY SESSION
Neuroscience for Somatics
Tim Cacciatore Ph.D., MSTAT
Sebastian Zahler PhD
Register at the bottom of this page to Access the Free Introduction Video
This session will introduce the 8-week class series, which bridges the fields of modern neuroscience and Somatics. The series presents the most recent neuroscientific findings in an accessible format and offers a research-based exploration of embodied practices. This course is specifically designed for somatic educators, practitioners, and movement professionals. Both neuroscience and Somatics aim to understand the human experience—one through objective research, the other through direct experience. Despite their complementary nature, dialogue between these fields has been limited. This course seeks to bridge that gap, connecting scientific insight with lived experience to open new pathways for learning and growth.
Live participation is encouraged. However, if you are unable to attend on that date, the recording will be available as long as you register in advance.
The full course will run for 8 Thursdays Beginning in May.
- May 1 – June 19, 2025 from 12 – 1:30 pm ET
Find your local time here.
Registration for the full course will open soon!
LEARNING GOALS FROM THE FULL COURSE INCLUDE:
- Becoming a better educator by learning to communicate the science of Somatics to students and clients.
- Deepening your practice by building an appreciation for the underlying neurophysiology.
- Building confidence in your practice by understanding its effects on the body and mind.
Tim Cacciatore
Ph.D., MSME, MSTAT
Tim Cacciatore, studies the neuroscience of postural tone and its relationship with movement coordination. He became interested in postural control because of the lack of plausible scientific explanations for how the Alexander Technique affected posture and helped his own back pain. His research has aimed to use somatic methods as a tool to reveal properties of the motor system. He has held research positions at University College London, Oregon Health Sciences University, and the University of California, San Diego.
Dr Cacciatore later trained as an Alexander Technique teacher with Shoshana Kaminitz in London. His two decades of research and numerous peer-reviewed publications about how the Alexander Technique affects postural tone and movement make him a leading expert on mechanisms underlying somatic practices.
Sebastian Zahler
PhD
Sebastian Zahler is an expert in the neuroscience of sensorimotor control and movement coordination. During his graduate studies at the University of California, San Francisco, he was motivated to study movement because he wanted to understand how something so complicated could feel so effortless. Prior to his PhD, Sebastian spent two years as a research scientist at the National Institutes of Health studying how the brain regulates the autonomic nervous system. He has authored multiple peer-reviewed scientific articles and published in top-tier scientific journals.
In 2021, Sebastian discovered Contact Improvisation, a dance form and somatic research practice. Since then he has spent three years in full-time study of somatic movement practices. In addition to his work with Science of Somatics, he co-organizes a space for somatic research in Northern Thailand with his partner, Julie.