Neuro sensory integration in a nutshell. Why it matters to everyone treating pain movement?
Tuesday, 27th January 2026 @ 7 p.m.
Presenter: Paul Coker
Synopsis: We’re biologically wired to turn scraps of sensory information into adaptable movement, all in service of one goal: staying alive. This session takes a fresh look at pain and movement through a neurosensory lens, exploring how the brain, eyes, and inner ear shape muscle tone, protective responses, and the way clients experience pain.
We’ll cover an accessible biological and evolutionary overview of pain and movement, why simple eye and vestibular (inner ear) exercises can influence the whole body, and how manual therapy can be viewed as a product of evolution as much as science. You’ll also learn why sensory “homework” can be just as important as movement work, and how to add more “neuro” into your soft tissue approach, including simple tests and drills for the visual and vestibular systems that you can use straight away in practice.
Biography: Paul is a physiotherapist, with 25 years of clinical experience. He has spent a lifetime chasing an understanding of human movement, pain and injury.
He thinks it’s fair to say that he thinks quite differently about these things from many his colleagues and the therapists who have tried to help in the past.
He quotes on his own biography: "Before we get cracking with UNBROKEN allow me to explain a little about why. I tried literally everything as a kid, constantly chasing new movements and physical challenges. I remember still my fascination with my own body’s lack of consistency across different sports; decent in cross country, terrible at sprinting, a lost cause at football. I found my thing in racing windsurfing boards. At 16 I finished 21st at the Worlds Champs (1996!!) and the only Brit who beat me now has 3 Olympic medals! I didn’t have the discipline, resources or desire to keep it going much after that, new challenges beckoned.
As a grown up I surf a lot, run and ride the local trails, and continue to throw my ageing and imperfect body at any new movement challenge I see. So I have spent a lifetime in sport and movement, but I have also dealt with chronic back and neck pain throughout my adult life. These 2 things qualify me as much as degrees to guide you on this journey.
I didn’t really mean to be a physiotherapist. My first passion was (and in some ways still is) biology, evolution and specifically evolution of us; the primates and humans. Cards of the table I am a child of Dawkins and Attenborough as much as of my wonderful parents. So evolution captivated my wandering mind in my teenage years before physio school had even begun. I fell into physiotherapy through circumstance more than burning passion (full story another time). Throughout physio training and my early working years I struggled with much of what I was being taught; it did not pass through a basic biological filter, or help my sore bits much. To this day I believe much of where we go wrong in physical therapy and medicine is to forget that we are animals evolved for a wild existence."
Chair of the SMA, Yvonne Blake, will open the event at 7pm. We're looking forward to seeing you there!
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Yvonne Blake
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Paul Coker
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We ask you to ONLY register for this event if you are able to attend LIVE.
All SMA Study Events are recorded and made available to eligible members after the event has taken place.
If you are NOT an SMA member, attending this event will cost £25. We will then register you as a Friend of the SMA and you will gain access to all the SMA's live Study Events for the following 12 months.
