Reconnecting with the Body through Structural Integration & Yoga Therapy

It is truly a pleasure and an honor to be able to work hands on with people to eliminate pain and educate them about their bodies.

How were you introduced to Yoga Therapy & Structural Integration?

I had been doing deep tissue massage for 8 years and did well the first 5 years. I worked at a spa full time and saw clients privately at their homes part time. After building up a big enough private practice, I left the spa and was just doing house calls full time. I was giving great massages and getting good feedback from my clients, so my clientele grew pretty quickly as the word got out.

After a while I noticed that the deep tissue work was offering only very temporary changes for my clients and also for myself as I was getting my own weekly massages. I was kind of frustrated and looking for something more, I felt as if something was missing. Shortly after putting those thoughts out into the universe I was walking around the neighborhood and stumbled across a small yoga studio. I spoke briefly to the teacher and she invited me to come for a free class. It took me about a month to take her up on that free class, but after my first class I was hooked and started practicing yoga at least 5 times per week.

I felt so amazing after every class, I could really feel my body opening up with how all the different poses would stretch my muscles and everyday I felt more and more limber. I could instantly feel the benefits of oxygenating my body with conscious deep breathing. I felt more alive than ever before. My body felt activated and limber. This also had an affect on my mental state, as my stiff body reflected a stiff and overactive mind. A few months into the yoga practice I did not only feel my body becoming limber, but also my mind. I could feel myself getting calmer and calmer, being more observant and less reactive.

Yoga is a moving meditation and it was benefiting my life in many ways. I wanted to learn more and advance my practice so I decided to sign up for the next yoga teacher training to become a certified yoga instructor. During the yoga teacher training something clicked and I started using the yoga stretches in my massage sessions and having my clients breathe deeply and consciously throughout the sessions. I started getting incredible feedback immediately and my clients were leaving the sessions feeling much more limber and relaxed  than before.

Incorporating all the different stretches and breathing techniques made a huge difference and the effects were lasting much longer than just a regular deep tissue massage.

After about a year of teaching yoga and incorporating yoga therapy into my massage practice, one of my yoga teachers mentioned to me that there would be an advanced body work training that I might be interested in. At first I was skeptical because I would usually be disappointed with most trainings as they were always more of the same and I wouldn’t learn anything I didn’t already know, however this training on structural integration completely blew my mind. Structural integration works with the connective tissue (fascia) which is a web with multiple layers that holds all the muscles together. the container of the muscles, Think of it as the wetsuit of the body. Creating length in the fascia would make incredible structural changes and create alignment in the body that I was never able to achieve with just deep tissue and stretching. I had never seen anything like it and it changed the way I approached body work completely. In creating space in the connective tissue, the muscles really have room to let go and truly lengthen for very long lasting changes and better overall alignment.

How does Structural Integration help people feel better?

The structural integration work focuses on realignment of our pelvis and spine along with the rest of our structure instead of just treating symptoms of misalignment (sore, tight and shortened muscles). This work gets to the root of the issue, which is always a structural one. With getting this work done on myself I was able to permanently eliminate chronic neck pain which I was only managing before with deep tissue massage and stretching, and I was able to provide these results for many of my clients, many of which were even considering back surgery. After this work they were able to completely heal and avoid surgeries doctors told them would be necessary and unavoidable.

How did you realize Structural Integration could be integrated with Yoga?

I’ve always been one to integrate everything. I learn along the way so it was natural for me to combine these modalities, and the results were mind blowing. I was getting much faster and longer lasting results than ever before. In creating space in the connective tissue I am able to also create more length in the muscles so they are no longer short and pulling the structure out of alignment, in integrating these modalities it allows the body to remain in alignment.

Also the conscious deep breathing in the sessions aids in bringing more oxygen to the muscles accelerating the healing process and allowing the release of tension and stress at a rapid rate, directing the client to dive into the area of discomfort and consciously let it go,  creating length out of that shortened place intrinsically, with all areas of injury there is a disconnect so it is my job as a bodyworker to assist my clients in reconnecting with those areas which the body begins to guard creating shortness and chronic tension patterns , it is necessary to restore the energy flow to those areas. With just deep tissue massage you do not gain true body awareness, alignment or lasting length throughout the body. We must begin addressing the body holistically to invoke lasting change and expansion.

It is truly a pleasure and an honor to be able to work hands on with people to eliminate pain and educate them about their bodies, helping them become more aware of how they are carrying themselves and their bodies through the day and watching for tension patterns while learning to simply be in their bodies moving organically, fluidly and pain free. Body awareness is key to living a pain free life. Pain is a huge distraction and will affect many areas of our life because when we are in pain it not only affects us but it affects everyone around us. It has been my life’s work to eliminate this distraction for thousands so they can focus on what they love and cherish, and I plan to continue serving all that I cross paths with on this beautiful journey. I feel that I have cracked the code to pain free living in our human vessels, and I want to share it with as many people as possible.