Relieving Lower Back Pain “Integrating the Pelvis and Core Support”
Core support is about enhancing awareness of the spine. This support allows the spine to discover its own natural length with its necessary curves, protect the spinal cord, and create space for all the organs to function well. When the spine is habitually compressed, it puts pressures on the disks of the vertebra, the spinal cord and nerves, the diaphragm, and all the organs of the torsos. The body is three-dimensional and so is the spine. With coordinated use of the abdominals muscles, pelvic floor, and the back muscles, together with an aware use of the organs and limbs for support, we have effectively helped people to eliminate

Pain
Sacrum instability
Sciatica
Hip problems
Stiffness
Disks problems
Adrenal & burn-out

Awakening the Upper Spine

Alignment in the human body is often viewed as static. At Movement Addicts (Movements Afoot and the Center for Kinesthetic Education) we prefer to shift to an attitude of constant change. The body (and spine) is not a rigid organization like a building. Remember building structures with children’s blocks? Remember how easily they can be knocked down? The alignment of the bones and muscles changes constantly. Even when we are still we sway in subtle a figure 8 pattern from one foot to another and from our toes to our heels. Our alignment shifts even more in order for us to move. We learned from physical Therapist, Irmgard Bartenieff a key principle from Laban Movement Analysis that in every movement there are stabilizing forces and in stillness there are constant subtle movement adjustments. This is dynamic alignment. Dynamic alignment is about the changing organization of the bones and muscles in movement. There is a chain reaction up and down the entire body for every movement. The body has to stabilize certain joints to facilitate mobility of other joints. Keeping good posture at rest or when engaged in an activity is a constant interplay of this a “chain of muscle sequencing.” At our centers we teach you to discover dynamic alignment as well as how to engage the most efficient “muscular chains” for healthy movement and living. We also help you to coordinate the breath, use imagery or visualization to relax rib cage and shoulder tension, and to find out how to create and keep space alive throughout your spine. These methods result in improvements in:

Posture
Scoliosis and Kyphosis (Dowagers hump)
Stiffness
Spinally related shoulder and neck problems

Integrating Breathe

Breath gives us life. The movement of the breath creates a chain of events from intra-abdominal pressure on all of our organs, providing oxygen to all our cells and connecting us to our core and our own internal space. Breath can improve movement efficiency and flow. Movement can improve breathing.
The location, function, importance of the diaphragm
Use of accessory muscles
Interaction with the pelvic floor
Dynamic breathing to support movement expression

Integrating the Legs

The legs are our movers and shakers. When the joints are not well-aligned, the entire body has to organize around this poor structure. Poor alignment adds extra tension, which decreases flexibility and function. The legs have their own rhythms of movement. Improving alignment, balancing the use of the muscles and understanding the legs relationship to other areas of the body will free the legs as well as the body. We will address:
Hip pain
Psoas activation (core strength)
Knee pain

Integrating the Shoulders

The beauty of the arms lives in its increased range of motion that the shoulder gives. Conversely, the problems with the shoulders and arms come from its range of motion. The only attachment of the arms to the torso is on top of the sternum/breastbone! It is the muscles around the scapula, clavicle and the humerus bone that coordinates intricate movements of the arm and stability. Essential for a healthy shoulder is the timing and the control of the motion of the scapula, clavicle and humerus bone. This is called the scapular-humeral rhythm. Using exercises from physical therapist and somatic educator Irmgard Bartenieff as well as clear anatomical concepts we address issues of:
Shoulder discomfort
Rotator cuff problems
Repetitive stress syndrome in the wrists and hands
Round shoulders (hunched, slumped or heavy)
Frozen shoulders
The effect of the arms on the whole body

Integrating the Feet

Our feet are our foundations! We rely on them to keep us stable and to set us into locomotion. There are 26/28 bones in the feet. They form a cluster of different arches designed to bear both static and kinetic forces. These amazing structures interact with the bones of the legs to establish power and stability for the whole body. By learning about the feet we connect to many different themes – grounding, …

Integrating the Head and Neck

The body-mind connection can be clearly experienced when we move our heads on our torsos. Is one feeling disconnected from the other? Do you give one more of a voice? Is your head more important than your body? These body-mind questions are often at the heart of neck pain. The head also contains the eyes, ears, mouth and nose. These senses each have movement capabilities and experiences of their own. Our necks have to adjust to where our attention goes. By taking time to sense these different parts and setting clear intentions we can realign ourselves and balance the forces pulling on the neck. In so doing we also integrate the breath and the liveliness of the whole torso. You don’t see busts without a set of shoulders do you? Every sculpture NEEDS its base, so does every lively head! Somatic Fitness includes a study of movement and touch practices to:

Relieve headaches
Enliven the senses
Free the neck muscles
Establish goals

Integrating the Hand
The hands manipulate. This is a good thing! Fixing tires, typing, eating, snapping fingers, holding keys, painting …. are all part of the dance of the hands. Similar to the feet the hand has a myriad of bones. They form arches to bear weight. They have freedom to express themselves individually and yet work powerfully as a group together. The quintessential human act is to use one’s thumb. Try moving without using your thumbs for a few minutes. What happens? Using techniques from Laban Movement Analysis and Body-Mind Centering® we help hands:
Move with a wide variety of qualities
Understand the roots of arthritis
Relieve tension throughout the forearm