Aches and pains, body stiffness; the inevitability of aging? Not so, says Thomas Hanna, author of "Somatics-Reawakening the Mind's Control of Movement, Flexibility and Health".

This book is a god send If you are a weekend warrior, runner, golfer, tennis player or just someone wanting to have a supple, healthy body at any age. Hanna says that three fourths of Americans suffer from sensory motor amnesia (SMA) and few know about it. SMA is the cumulative memory loss of how certain muscle groups feel and how to relax them. He gives a detailed psychophysiological explanation of the phenomenon and provides 8 somatic exercises to alleviate the aches and pains. These, simple, gentle stretches are best practiced for 5 minutes when you get up in the morning and 5 minutes right before going to bed. The stretching is analogous to how a cat stretches when waking up. It is a basic "use it or lose it" option. The connective tissues surrounding the muscles in our body shorten if not stretched.

This is a prescription for a life long habit of conscious relaxation. How often does a cat stretch when he wakes up? That is how often we also need to retune our capacity to naturally stretch and relax.