Postural movement therapy

Postural movement therapy is a  simple but highly effective system of exercises to address structural imbalances in the body.  Movement therapy empowers you to help yourself by teaching you exercises tailored to your body to relieve pain and tension.  As you do the exercises over a longer period of time, you have less flare-ups, and those that may pop up resolve themselves faster.   While the exercises appear basic, they work on a deep level to re-educate and re-program the system of neuromuscular coordination.  Positioning and props are used to isolate attention on areas which need work, preventing compensation.

The movement therapy provided at District Rolfing is based on training in the Egoscue Method, Rolf Movement, and other modalities.  

Many people who do movement therapy regularly find they no longer feel they need bodywork as much or as frequently.  This makes this approach valuable for those who do not have the resources or the time to come in for a full series of bodywork.  It's also great for people who travel frequently, since you can do exercises anywhere.

Movement therapy is available in-person or online.  Online sessions are just as effective, making it perfect if you've relocated to an area without a therapist, travel frequently, have a tight schedule, or are still not ready for an in-person visit.  You can mix and match and do some in-person and some on-line.

Postural movement therapy empowers you to help yourself

The movement session

A movement session starts by discussing your goals and what you want to achieve.  Then we do a postural and movement assessment, just as with a hands-on session.  After identifying where the root issue is, we develop a set of exercises to fit your body and your schedule.  When done as a set, these  address the underlying causes of the problems.  Just like in a hands-on session, we aim to get the whole body to work better together- not working on isolated muscles.  During the session, we go over all the exercises to make sure you've got them and that they are suitable for you.  The length of the menu can be anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour - it depends on how much time you can dedicate to them.  Most people with a chronic condition will want a menu that lasts between 30-45 minutes a day.

Once you have a "menu" of exercises, you do  then do on your own at home daily.  We'll check in to make sure the menu is working for you.   This repetition helps the body learn new, balanced patterns and to make them a habit.  Doing 15 minutes of the same movements daily is more valuable for chronic conditions that doing a couple of hours once a week, or randomly picking different movements.  It's like learning a language - if you take a chapter of material and study it every day for half an hour, you'll remember it and after a while you've got it for good.  If you skip around a lot and miss days, you'll forget.    

You can do the same menu as long as you like.  But, as your body "learns" the lessons of one set, you'll probably want some new exercises.  Most people will come back every 3 weeks for another menu.  Even one session will have a benefit - in many cases if you continue doing the original menu, it helps a lot.  However people with a chronic issue usually can expect to come in for 8 sessions.

How long do you have to continue doing the exercises?  Pete Egoscue, the founder of the Egoscue system, says that you have to make movement a lifestyle.  He suggests that you need to make this a daily practice.  Chronic issues have usually been caused over many years, so it's natural that it takes time for the body to get better.  In my experience, those who are willing to commit to the healing process and do the daily exercise for 9-18 months will see the most long-term progress.   

That being said, you should start feeling results much sooner.  I ask people interested in postural movement therapy to commit to doing the exercises daily for three weeks, every day.  Three weeks isn't enough to solve your problem, but it should be enough to help you understand how it can help.  

Many people receive the menu and do the exercises on their own at home, but if you prefer you can come in periodically to do them with guidance.  Whenever  you are ready, you can come in for a new assessment and menu of exercises.

What about my yoga or other movement practice?

Many people with a pain or postural issue are already doing movement therapy in one form or another - whether it's exercises the PT gave you, yoga, Pilates, tai chi, or something else - or are going to the gym for cardio or weights.  You can continue doing these exercises while you do postural movement therapy.  However, you should always do the menu of postural movement exercises as a set separately - they treatment is the whole menu, not selected exercises.  

Sometimes people say they don't have time for Postural Movement Therapy because they have so many other movement activities in their schedules.  In that case, take a three-week break from the exercise you've been doing.  If you're doing other modalities to help your pain and you still have pain - there's a benefit to trying something new.  That's not to say the therapy provided by District Rolfing is better than other movement modalities -but if you've been doing something a long time and it's not helping, it's time to try something different.      

Benefits of Postural Movement Therapy

Postural movement therapy helps with the following issues:

• Discomfort in sitting, standing, or lying down for any period of time
• Chronic pain and aches
• Limited mobility or range of motion
• Weak balance
• Feeling like you need a massage or bodywork all the time

Egoscue can be done on its own or in combination with Rolfing or other bodywork.