Somatic Bodywork: 

Sensory Tools for Body Knowledge

     Most of our movements are unconscious.  We all make choices about what to do when, but most people aren’t conscious of how they sit, stand, bend, walk, or reach.  As we repeat our movement patterns through our daily lives the specific how of the movements creates our physical form.  The tissues of the body change their structure in accordance with how we move.  Just as ‘exercise’ movements change the shape of the body, so do everyday movements.

    Bodywork addresses a modality of learning experienced directly in the body.  My work offers that movement and sensation are intimately tied to one another.  In order to teach new patterns of movement I help my clients to feel the sensation of their body moving in new or forgotten ways.  It is often very surprising to people how much more enlivened their everyday movement can be when the basic patterning of that movement is addressed.

    Traditional massage therapy is focused primarily on the musculature and so typically has a short-term effect on how our bodies feel.  Myofascial work includes attention to the connective tissues, which are slower to change, and therefore have a greater and more lasting effect.  The changes in the connective tissue affect the body’s ability to move and feel movement, but will eventually fall back into their old structures if the process of moving isn’t addressed.  In my work I combine myofascial work with movement awareness for long term body learning.