Myofascial Release and Postural Awareness - A continued education workshop series for experienced massage therapists.
The purpose of this series is to share concepts and techniques that will improve the quality of your work for results that your clients will greatly appreciate while making the process more intellectually rewarding to you. My goal is to give you a better understanding of what might cause your clients’s symptoms, a greater confidence about what you can do to improve their condition and the ability to recognize serious problems that need to be referred to a specialist.
The series is build around three workshops that address many of the symptoms caused by the most common postural imbalances you will see in your practice as well as conditions that are the result of repetitive stress injuries (RSI) and post traumatic adaptation patterns:
Workshop I
Working with the back. Understanding Spinal Mechanics. 2 days.
Workshop II
Working with the neck, shoulders and arms. 2 days.
Workshop III
Working with the pelvis, hips and legs. 2 days.
In each class you will:
Review the anatomy and kinesiology of the different structures involved
Learn to visually and tactilely assess the asymmetries that have developed
Learn to test joints for proper versus dysfunctional range of motion
Improve the quality of your touch
Learn effective techniques that will improve your client’s condition
Learn to coach clients about how to improve their postural and functional habits
Develop proper and safe working habits so as to not get injured while trying to help others
The concepts and techniques I present are the same as those I use in my practice and come from the dedicated teachers I have been lucky to study with along with the experience I gained in the past 30 years.
Visual Assessment
Also known as Body Reading, this quick scan of your client’s posture should give you a good idea about their overall pattern. This is very useful as each pattern is associated with a certain array of common complains along with a very predictable set of muscles that are most likely to be involved. Understanding what particular pattern you are looking at gives you a very good idea of why they might feel the way they do.
Orthopaedic assessment
A variety of motion tests to determine whether a particular joint is moving properly or not. This is great information to add to what you already learned during the visual scan as, while the visual scan gives you a general pattern, joint testing will tell you what actually moves properly, and what does not.
Tactile assessment
The ability to compare how the tissues of one side of any body segment feel in relation to the other or which tissue moves freely, and which one doesn’t. This is very important information as myofascial restrictions are the most common cause of postural distortions and joint misbehavior, and a great place where to start working.
Myofascial Release
Very slow, specific strokes similar to those used by practitioners of structural integration therapies that aim at freeing congested muscle and connective tissues. The goal here is to restore ease of movement between the various layers of myofascia to improve function.
Ischemic and Trigger Points
Treatment of pain symptoms caused by disturbances within the myofascia that are located sometime right over (Ischemic), or sometime quite far (Trigger) from where they are being felt. Both are treated by applying various degrees of pressure to those points.
Muscle Energy Techniques
An osteopathic technique for joints and muscles where after appropriate positioning, a light contraction is asked from the client against the resistance of the practitioner. Following the release of that contraction, the segment is guided a little further into its range and the experience repeats itself until motion is improved or restored.
Somatic Education and postural awareness
The client’s education part, and a great way to maintain the results from a session while helping their general condition through better body understanding and usage.
Recommended Reading
Much of the material taught in my classes originates from the following authors: Dr. Philip Greenman, Dr. Vladimir Janda, Dr. Ida Rolf and Dr. Janet Travell whose contributions as researchers and teachers in the fields of Osteopathy, Manipulative Therapy, Structural Integration and Myofascial Trigger Points gave a fantastic boost to manual therapy professions.
Unfortunately, their writings are often quite dry and difficult for massage therapists to make sense of. This is a shame as their work provides a wealth of information and techniques that are perfect for us to use in our practices and we can thank, among others, Erik Dalton, Jeffrey Maitland, Tom Myers and Art Riggs for making those concepts and techniques more approachable.
Andrew Biel – Trail Guide to the body
Erik Dalton – Advanced Myoskeletal Techniques
David Gorman – The Body Moveable
Philipp E. Greeman – Principles of Manual Medicine
Dean Juhan – Job s Body: A handbook for Bodywork
Thomas Myers – Anatomy Trains
Jeffrey Maitland – Spinal Manipulation Made Simple
Art Riggs – Deep Tissue Massage and Myofascial Release
Ida Rolf – Rolfing: The Integration of Human Structures
Janet Travell & David G. Simons – Myofascial pain and Dysfunction
Ted Willemsen – Anatomy and Injuries
