HOW I WORK

Where do we begin?

Every session begins with a conversation.

I usually start by asking something simple:

• What brings you in?

• What can I help you with?

• What do you want to work on today?

I listen to what you’re experiencing, what you’ve tried, what has helped and what hasn’t. I’m also paying attention to how you sit, stand, move and breathe, and trying to understand both where you are now and how you got there.

There isn’t a predetermined sequence that I use with everyone. The session develops from what I notice, what you feel and how your body responds as we work.

A Comfortable Place to Work

My office is located at my home with a separate entrance on the side of the house.

The waiting area includes a Pilates reformer, Rogue Echo Bike, weights and a hanging bar. I sometimes use this space during sessions when it makes sense to explore a movement in a larger setting.

The therapy room has a hydraulic treatment table along with blocks, bolsters and pillows that allow us to work comfortably in a variety of positions.

Anatomy is an important part of how I think and work, so you’ll also see skeletal, muscular, nervous system, lymphatic and connective tissue anatomy represented throughout the room.

Most people wear loose, comfortable clothing during a session. Shorts and a T-shirt, tank top or sports bra generally work well. The important thing is that you can move comfortably and that I can work with you in different positions.

Beginning the Exploration

Most sessions begin with you lying comfortably on your back.

I may look at how your legs and pelvis are relating to one another, how you breathe, how easily your joints move and how your body responds when i move it passively.

For example, I might gently pick up your head or move a leg and notice whether you easily allow the movement or whether certain areas automatically tighten, assist or resist.

None of these observations are a test that you pass or fail. They simply give me information.

I’m looking for patterns.

Where does movement seem easy? Where does it seem limited? Where might an area be working harder than necessary? What areas are very sensitive, and where might you have very little awareness at all?

Looking at the Whole Body

The place that hurts matters, but it isn’t always the whole story.

Sometimes the source of discomfort and the place you feel it are closely related. Other times, changing movement somewhere else alters what the painful area has to do.

A hip that isn’t moving easily may change what happens at the knee or lower back. A stiff rib cage may influence the neck and shoulders. The way the foot interacts with the ground can affect movement throughout the leg and pelvis.

Rather than assuming where the problem is coming from, I prefer to explore those relationships and see what actually changes how your feel and move.

Hands-On Work and Movement

During a session, we may work with you lying on your back, stomach or side.

At other times, it may make more sense to explore sitting, standing, walking, squatting, hinging or hanging.

I often begin with some basic ideas: helping the breath become a little easier and better coordinated, encouraging movement through the ribs and spine, giving the hips or shoulders more options and reducing unnecessary effort where I find it.

I also spend time working with the hands, feet and scalp. The ends of the body can tell us a great deal about how the rest of the body is organizing itself, and changing something at an extremity can sometimes influence movement closer to the core.

Sometimes I’ll ask you to actively move one part of our body while I work with another.

For example, if I’m working with tension through the upper back and neck, I may have you gently rotate your pelvis from side to side. That movement can travel naturally through the spine, creating a natural lever to help efficiently influence the area I’m working with.

I use this kind of active participation often. A movement at the hips, feet, ribs, arms or head can give us another way to explore how different parts of the body relate to one another.

It also allows you to feel the relationship as it is happening rather than only receiving the work passively.

Hands-on work and movement are not separate parts of the session. They continually inform one another.

I may work with an area and then ask you to move. We see what changed. We may try something else and reassess again.

The process is exploratory.

More Options, Not a Perfect Pattern

I’m not trying to teach you one correct way to stand, breathe or move.

Bodies are adaptable, and there are many useful ways to accomplish the same task.

Sometimes a movement pattern that has worked perfectly well for years simply becomes overused. An area may be doing more than its share while another part of the body isn’t participating as easily.

In those situations, the goal isn’t necessarily to eliminate the old pattern.

It is to give you another option.

If your hips can participate a little more, perhaps your back doesn’t have to work quite as hard. If your rib cage moves differently, maybe your neck and shoulders can respond differently too.

Rather than asking, “What is the correct way to move?”

We ask, “Can we give your body another way to do this?'‘

Taking Something With You

Toward the end of a session, I usually look for one simple movement, breathing idea or piece of body awareness that connects to what we discovered during the session.

I don’t want to give you a long list of exercises to remember.

I’d rather find something simple that helps you recognize a different way to use yourself. Something you can explore for a few moments during the day and see how your body responds.

You don’t have to think about your body constantly in order to feel better, understand yourself a little more clearly and have more options available when you move.