Advanced Myofascial Techniques: Thinking Structurally in Myofascial Work
Instructor: Pamela West, LMT, M.Ed.
Dates: Saturday, June 27, and Sunday, June 28, 202
Time: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Cost: $345 – Price goes up closer to class!
CE: 8
Location: 521 E Hector St, Conshohocken PA 19421
This course will explore the dynamics of our upright, bipedal posture. Our postural birthright has afforded us tremendous advantages, but it also presents challenges. Can we fine-tune how well this works for us?
As a massage therapist, it helps to understand how posture and tension dynamics work together in the body. Areas of tension or strain can be the result of the body working hard to stay in balance. Every person has a way they “live in” or “use” their body. Observing how they organize their physicality can help you understand where tissue work is needed.
Using observation and reviewing principles of structural theory, students will gain experience in evaluating patterns. This class is an immersion in seeing, discussing, and familiarizing yourself with body patterns and their impacts on your clients. You will learn strategies for unraveling patterns from head to toe.
Class will include time for hands-on work in the tissue, with attention to how your work affects postural structure.
Students will learn:
- The stacking and tensegrity models of postural alignment
- The meaning of “habituated body use”
- Principles of structural theory
- How to sense your own posture using bony landmarks
- How to evaluate body patterns
- Concepts of length and internal spaciousness
- The locked-long / locked-short tissue imbalance
- How to observe tissue drift and its effect on bones
- How to plan your work in the tissue
- How to evaluate the effects of your work
Please bring:
- 2 sheets
- 2 pillows
- 2 towels
- Massage cream (not lotion or oil)
What to wear:
- Comfortable clothing that allows easy movement
- A bathing suit or lycra workout clothing (light colors preferred) for the structural observation portion (optional participation)
