What can I expect when I come in for a session?
It's important to know that it's not a massage, and you are fully clothed in comfortable, easy-to-move-in clothing. We'll talk about your history to get a good picture of what is going on now, how you got here, and to help you prevent future occurrences. We may take some measurements. We may take a few minutes to "get present" and leave the outside world outside.
Most sessions are one hour, though some people like more and some people like less.
Usually a person begins on the table lying on the back or in a position that is as comfortable as possible for you. We begin with very slow movements. You may have lots of movement range and still have pain in a particular place or places, or you may have a very, very narrow range of movement ability. In any case, we "use what's free to free what's not free", Within a fairly short time you will notice that your body begins to let go. The more it lets go, the more you can maneuver. My job is to help you develop the ability to turn into a pretzel! Comfortably! Expect to bend, fold, twist, rotate, flex, extend, and possibly sit, stand, and walk more upright and balanced as time goes on and you begin to work through and change patterns that are no longer helpful.
Each movement is both diagnostic and a tool. We use all the parts of you that are moving fairly freely and without pain to approach and access the areas that are restricted. We don't go straight to the painful parts and try to hammer them out or force them to move at all, because that's likely NOT the epicenter or cause of the problem.
As you get further into the process you may notice a few hours or up to a few days of feeling somewhat uncomfortable in your neck, or your knee, say -- it could be anywhere. Not to worry! As our fascia releases our bones can shift. Our structure is finding it's balance. Bones can move from "out of place" to the proper alignment. The nervous system may have a response. The proprioceptors (sensors in your muscles and joint capsules that tell your brain where your limb is) need to "re-calibrate" and the appropriate area of the brain must generate new neurons with this new information, and the local tissue takes some time to restructure.
Some (very few) people feel like they've had a workout even though we've moved very slowly.
OK, So how can you help me get more freedom of movement?
Remember when you were a kid and you delighted in moving and tumbling and just seeing what your body could do? How wonderful would it be to have that feeling back again? Maybe we can't get as limber as we were when we were kids, but we sure can delight in the feeling and the joy of dancing, playing the sports we like, or even just walking as we used to. This slow, methodical and very relaxing method will relax your nervous system, give you a feeling of length and create a little more space in your joints to allow for a freer feeling of movement. Over time and with consistent practice, it will "unwind" some of the tightness and the torsions your bones may be in.
This work is, at first, passive-assisted gentle non-linear (as much as your body is able - please see the video [coming soon]) movement, developing into more active-assisted, as you learn how to identify what is best for your body at that particular point in time. As one movement flows into another, the practitioner is taking you through a gradual process to create or restore needed connections, awareness and communication between your body and your brain.
Through a series of sessions, you gradually release old patterns, restrictions, and pain, which in turn helps the nervous system focus on optimized health and mobility, instead of "putting out fires" and simply trying to avoid pain.
Terrasoma Restorative Movement is not repetitive or rehab-type exercises or routines. Instead, the work is deeply customized, going directly to your unique body for information.
Your practitioner is trained to follow the clues uncovered in each session as the process of opening, unwinding, and aligning unfolds and you find your best path to comfort and freedom to move again without pain.
The work has the potential to help people in profound and very deep ways. Some of the conditions that the method has assisted in alleviating are: Stiffness of any kind, Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Sciatica, Loss of feeling (with feeling regained), Plantar fasciitis, Migraines, Frozen Shoulder and rotator cuff issues, tendonitis and much more.