Restorative Bodywork and Orthopaedic Massage
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What is Orthopaedic Massage?
Orthopaedic Massage is a lineage of training that spans many generations of certain bodyworkers and medical professionals. Contrary to some of the popularized styles of massage we know in this culture, the orthopaedic approach prioritizes the complex world of movement and the musculo-skeletal relationship. It is the tracking of pain and restrictions caused by injury, habitual posture, and learned somatics. By focusing on the core causes and effects of these influences on our bodies, and by the releasing of these tension patterns and tissue dysfunctions, we restore the body to its fullest range of motion possible. |
Some people think that therapeutic styles of bodywork such as this are not relaxing like spa styles, but I firmly disagree: What could be more relaxing than freedom from pain and stress? Once you have felt the structural release and restorative approach of orthopaedic massage, you will understand the difference.
How Does Bodywork Impact Stress?
There is an undeniable relationship between our stress and pain, and because our somatic imbalances and our pain are connected to our habits and history, it is possible to not only view the body as capable of physical healing, but also it is possible to free stressors from our lives by liberating the body from tension patterns that arise in our day to day lives.
Consider for a moment, or drop in and feel it next time you get the chance:
How does your body change form when you are in a stressful, peaceful, anxious, fearful, angry or happy state? When we spend significant amounts of time in stressful conditions, we begin to chronically embody the stressed-out posture. Over time, as this (or any) state becomes our chronic state, we develop muscle memory that locks our tissues into this form. Unfortunately, this leads to any range of painful imbalances, depending on the individual. Even when the stressor is removed, the painful imbalances may continue to exist in the tissues of your body. Further, these become energetic holding patterns: places where our energy can become blocked from flowing freely, and they may serve as constant somatic reminders of our stressors, malfunctioning holding patterns below our conscious awareness.
While your bodyworker is not your therapist or your solution to your outside stressors, we can identify and facilitate the release of these tension patterns, both physical and energetic. Paired with the client's personal commitment to stress management, bodywork becomes a valuable part of a liberatory practice.
There is an undeniable relationship between our stress and pain, and because our somatic imbalances and our pain are connected to our habits and history, it is possible to not only view the body as capable of physical healing, but also it is possible to free stressors from our lives by liberating the body from tension patterns that arise in our day to day lives.
Consider for a moment, or drop in and feel it next time you get the chance:
How does your body change form when you are in a stressful, peaceful, anxious, fearful, angry or happy state? When we spend significant amounts of time in stressful conditions, we begin to chronically embody the stressed-out posture. Over time, as this (or any) state becomes our chronic state, we develop muscle memory that locks our tissues into this form. Unfortunately, this leads to any range of painful imbalances, depending on the individual. Even when the stressor is removed, the painful imbalances may continue to exist in the tissues of your body. Further, these become energetic holding patterns: places where our energy can become blocked from flowing freely, and they may serve as constant somatic reminders of our stressors, malfunctioning holding patterns below our conscious awareness.
While your bodyworker is not your therapist or your solution to your outside stressors, we can identify and facilitate the release of these tension patterns, both physical and energetic. Paired with the client's personal commitment to stress management, bodywork becomes a valuable part of a liberatory practice.
What are the Concepts and tools of East West Therapeutic Arts?
We may utilize any of the following applications and approaches, depending on the unique needs of each client:
We may utilize any of the following applications and approaches, depending on the unique needs of each client:
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-Postural and habitual movement analyses
-Home exercise and self care suggestions -Postural shifting and yoga suggestions -Considering the effects of personal history and injury -Understanding of medical diagnoses, limitations and contraindications of conditions and surgeries -Kinesiotaping -Heat or hydrotherapy -Gua Sha -Cupping -Stretching |
-Deep release & normalization of muscle tone
-Addressing of scar tissue, deep adhesions, and a range of tissues -Myofascial Release -Trigger Point Therapy -Acupressure -Mechanical stimulation -Somatic Experiencing -Cranio-Sacral methods -Energy grid work and bio-harmonics -Qigong -Breath work -Herbal medicine |
What is Shiatsu?
Shiatsu, also known in the West as acupressure, is an ancient practice of bodywork traditionally performed on a cotton batted floor mat, but is frequently practiced as a table style by many of our practitioners here. It is characterized by deep compression into muscles, working along energy meridians that have been mapped and studied by practitioners of bodywork in the East for thousands of years. Joint space and soft tissue mobilization can be achieved via stretching and range of motion, deep tissue release in areas of imbalance, and energy balancing.
The body, mind, and spirit are not considered to be separate entities in Eastern philosophical approach to wellness, or in any indigenous tradition. If you allow yourself to deeply consider this for a few moments, it becomes clear that life is actually a profound experience of immersion, within us and all around us. In a state of inseparability, we become channels, conduits, or vessels of a life essence that is also shared by all that lives. In contemporary times we have begun to catch up to this wisdom of ages. Since there is no separating body, mind, and spirit, conditions of psychological, emotional, and spiritual imbalances- not just physiological ones- are considered highly treatable via the bodywork philosophies and medical observations of Chinese Medicine.
The philosophical approach to health and wellness in Chinese Medicine suggests a harmonious relationship with Nature. Indeed, we as humans are not superior to Nature or immune to natural laws, and we are susceptible to the same inner imbalances that can be metaphorically or literally found in the natural world. Thus arise elemental theories of fire, earth, metal, water, and wood; the yin-yang of lightness, darkness, wet, dry, etc.; and the natural states of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, all of which can help us understand our ever-flowing state of being and how to influence our health through natural principles based on our individual excesses and depletions.
In this approach to bodywork, a practitioner learns to understand and respect these laws, and interpret the cues present in the client's body about what approaches and techniques might best be used in any given session. Shiatsu sessions change seasonally depending on the needs of the client's body, mind, and spirit throughout the seasons of the year.
Longer sessions allow the recipient to relax further and more deeply integrate the work within a single session. Some things should not be rushed! The quest for health, balance, and wellness is an ongoing journey, not a destination. What a lovely invitation to come home to yourself.
Shiatsu can be a lovely way to check in with oneself throughout the year wheel. The invitation is to immerse with the living world around you, and notice when your body craves care. Some clients feel more of a need arise at the cusps of the seasons; others may feel more of a need arise mid-season. Clients should bring loose fitting comfortable clothing (such as sweats or leggings) to wear during treatment.
The body, mind, and spirit are not considered to be separate entities in Eastern philosophical approach to wellness, or in any indigenous tradition. If you allow yourself to deeply consider this for a few moments, it becomes clear that life is actually a profound experience of immersion, within us and all around us. In a state of inseparability, we become channels, conduits, or vessels of a life essence that is also shared by all that lives. In contemporary times we have begun to catch up to this wisdom of ages. Since there is no separating body, mind, and spirit, conditions of psychological, emotional, and spiritual imbalances- not just physiological ones- are considered highly treatable via the bodywork philosophies and medical observations of Chinese Medicine.
The philosophical approach to health and wellness in Chinese Medicine suggests a harmonious relationship with Nature. Indeed, we as humans are not superior to Nature or immune to natural laws, and we are susceptible to the same inner imbalances that can be metaphorically or literally found in the natural world. Thus arise elemental theories of fire, earth, metal, water, and wood; the yin-yang of lightness, darkness, wet, dry, etc.; and the natural states of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, all of which can help us understand our ever-flowing state of being and how to influence our health through natural principles based on our individual excesses and depletions.
In this approach to bodywork, a practitioner learns to understand and respect these laws, and interpret the cues present in the client's body about what approaches and techniques might best be used in any given session. Shiatsu sessions change seasonally depending on the needs of the client's body, mind, and spirit throughout the seasons of the year.
Longer sessions allow the recipient to relax further and more deeply integrate the work within a single session. Some things should not be rushed! The quest for health, balance, and wellness is an ongoing journey, not a destination. What a lovely invitation to come home to yourself.
Shiatsu can be a lovely way to check in with oneself throughout the year wheel. The invitation is to immerse with the living world around you, and notice when your body craves care. Some clients feel more of a need arise at the cusps of the seasons; others may feel more of a need arise mid-season. Clients should bring loose fitting comfortable clothing (such as sweats or leggings) to wear during treatment.
