Structural bodywork

Question 1

How is Structural Bodywork different from massage?

Answer

Swedish or sports massage targets muscles of the body that may be causing you pain or discomfort. Your therapist may use Hands-on therapy on those areas to help improve blood flow, healing and promote relaxation. Structural bodywork on the other hand targets the fascial system (better known as connective tissue) and combines hands-on techniques with movement from the client in order to work towards re-aligning the body, restoring balance, improving posture, body awareness and movement efficiency. SB creates space within the body, allowing for movement in "stuck" areas. This movement allows the body to heal itself! Rather than me healing you, im helping you to heal yourself!

Question 2

What makes Structural Bodywork so unique?

Answer

Structural Bodywork is truly holistic, meaning it focuses on the entire system. Rather than only chasing symptoms or pain, a practitioner looks at the way you stand, walk, and LIVE to find the root causes of your discomfort. Working to integrate the whole system can help bring balance, decrease symptoms and facilitate your bodies own healing capabilities through structural balance.

Question 3

Is Structural Bodywork for me?

Answer

Anyone and everyone can benefit from Structural Bodywork! We all have some forms of postural dysfunctions, whether that be from repetitive strain in sports, sitting in the same positions for hours on end, or just the way we live our lives day to day. Utilizing structural integration in conjunction with movement education can help to get you out of those long-standing patterns that may be causing you pain, discomfort or predisposing you to injury.

Question 4

How many sessions will I need to attend?

Answer

Unlike some other modalities, structural bodywork is meant to educate you to inhabit your body over a series of sessions, then put you out into the world to learn and feel for yourself. Rather than spending months or years of constant appointments, our goal is to systematically work through different sections of the body, then integrate the body as a whole for optimal health.

Question 5

What are the benefits of Structural Bodywork?

Answer

- Improved posture - Improved body awareness - More efficent/coordinated movement - Possible resolution of symptoms/pain - Improved overall balance and resilience - And more!

Question 6

What exactly is fascia?

Answer

Fascia is the spiderweb-like system that connects every single single nook and cranny of the body. It connects muscle to muscle, bone to bone, bone to muscle, houses all our nerves and blood vessels and holds all our organs and structures in place. It is our organ of form.. It gives us our shape!

Question 7

Why have I never heard of fascia?

Answer

Since the start of human existence, fascia has been a vital part of our form and function. However until recently, the scientists and anatomists who study the body have always discarded fascia as “the stuff to cut through to get to the muscles and bones.” We have recently become aware of the importance of the fascial system and the role it plays in movement, posture, and many other aspects of health!

Question 8

Why is fascia important in bodywork and movement therapy?

Answer

Fascia is the system that TRANSMITS FORCE throughout the body. This means it’s what allows for efficient movement, and holds postural patterns. So performing bodywork and movement therapy can help balance and re-align the fascia throughout the body to allow for optimal posture, movement and overall function.

Question 9

What are knots or adhesions?

Answer

Commonly thought to be always originating from the muscle itself, adhesions often come from the fascia (connective tissue) instead. All the layers of your tissue (skin, fascia, muscles, etc) all should slide and glide to create efficent movement. However, poor movement patterns, sedentary lifestyles and traumas can lead to a reduction in mobility of tissues in certain areas, aka tissues getting "stuck." Adhesions are areas where the tissue has become stuck/immobile and structural bodywork and movement can help to restore proper tissue hydration and mobility!

Question 10

What does a typical session look like?

Answer

After a comprehensive health history and intake, your practicioner will complete a "bodyread" which is a series of visual and movement assessments to help paint a picture of what areas of the body may need attention. They then use this information to create tissue strategies specific to your body's needs, which they will apply during the session. Structural bodywork utilizes the clients movement along with the tissue techniques to help faciliate change in the body. Sessions typically last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half and end with "integration" that helps the body tie together all those new changes

Question 11

What is a 3 series?

Answer

A structural bodywork 3 series is a sequential series of 3 sessions of bodywork and movement therapy, each targeting a different area of the body. This way, the practicioner and client are able to create change in specific areas of the body seperately, then integrate them together as a whole for improved posture, movement and health.

Question 12

How do I prepare for a session?

Answer

Please arrive 10 minutes in advance, wear either underwear or tight fitting clothing (ex. sports bra and spandex shorts for women/spandex shorts for men) and try to avoid eating a large meal or doing strenuous physical activity prior to the session. Also, make sure to hydrate well in the days leading up to the session, as it can drastically affect your tissues!

Question 13

What is Anatomy Trains?

Answer

Created by Thomas Myers with influence from Dr. Ida Rolf, Moshe Feldenkrais and Buckminster Fuller, Anatomy Trains is a map of the continuous soft tissue around the human body. Like the tracks of a train, the anatomy trains run in different continuities around the entire body, connecting you from head to toe! Seeing the body through this "map" of continuous soft tissue creates a holistic view of the body and helps manual/movement therapists to better faciliate healing in their clients.

Question 14

Why is Anatomy Trains important to movement?

Answer

It is often thought that "muscles pull on bones" to make us move. However, recent research has begun to shift that thinking to a more holistic view involving the transmission of force from muscle to to muscle through these continuous lines of connective tissue (aka the anatomy trains). With this view in mind, movement can be seen through an entirely new lens, as force is transmitted from the ground all the way up through the head via these continuous connective tissue lines!

Structural bodywork

3 session Series

Anatomy Trains 3 Series

Session 1:

Lower Body

Session 2:

Upper Body

Session 3:

The Spine