The Value of Movement Work

November 20, 2021

In treating clients, the vast majority of my practice focuses on helping people improve posture and pain. As a practitioner, my hands are my primary tool to manipulate tissue and create change. But because the tissue is attached to a whole mechanical system, even more change happens when clients actively participate through movement on the table or around the treatment room. Movement very literally tells the brain to tell the tissue to create organization among the actual tissue fibers. When movement is done at or around the time of bodywork (or stretching), a synergistic effect is created. ⁠

Still, the most successful clinical strategies I have found don’t involve tissue manipulation and/or movement alone. The most successful strategies help bridge the gap between appointments, eventually extending time between visits, and (ideally) ultimately eradicating the need for my help... The most successful strategies for improving pain and posture involve a development in awareness: of what is, of what could be, and how to get from one to the other. ⁠

After all, a client and practitioner only spend - what - an hour or so together? After that hour, clients are whisked back to the real-life of their day-to-day worlds, free to revert back to their old patterns given an opportunity. That's why ensuring clients have the tools in place to maintain or thrive until our next visit is always on the to-do list. Each and every visit I have with each and every client involves developing and enhancing and refining body awareness. Because by developing our body awareness we can moderate our activities, we can prevent injury or strain, and we generally have more agency toward feeling better.

Teach a person to fish, right?⁠