Structural Integration (KMI: Kinesis Myofascial Integration) and Visceral Manipulation (Barral Institute) are the main types of bodywork that I practice.
Having studied with Tom Myers since 2010, I observe the body with a postural analysis and structural integration mind to see how we can bring the patient’s alignment into a better functioning unit.
Unburdening the connective tissue of the body is deep work that allows for liberated movement and improved physical function as a whole. Visceral manipulation is a very subtle form of bodywork where we work directly with the organs to feel their ability to have proper motility and proper mobility. I have had many incredible teachers including Tom Myers for Kinesis Myofascial Integration, Tom Banasiak for Shiatsu, Sharon Wheeler for scar tissue, Ken Frey for visceral manipulation and James Earls for gait analysis. Myofascial release is the method I often use to coax the body into a better functioning unit.
While still practicing the 12 Series, I usually combine bodywork with acupuncture as historically done in Japan. It’s no surprise, but still exciting, to see the correlation between the Anatomy Trains and the Chinese Meridians. It would be a mistake to separate the two. Instead, I consider acupuncture a form of bodywork and bodywork a form of acupuncture. In my work, my goal is to marry the concept of the myofascial connections as dissected by Tom Myers with the Chinese meridians discovered close to 5,000 years ago.
While my style of bodywork is not a typical massage, but rather a hands on myofascial technique, it’s always humbling to witness how we can down regulate the nervous system through this practice. The more obvious treatment plan is to bring the patient into better alignment which enables better movement patterns; the less obvious, but just as important, is that through reworking a client’s fascial patterns, we can manipulate the nervous system which innervates it.
I also have a passion for working with scars. I integrate so much of what I learned from Sharon Wheeler into my sessions if there is a scar present. Gentle but effective scar tissue work can make a world of difference with surgical scars (knee, abdominal, C-section, etc.) or a battle scar from a sports injury or accident.