I really am not a natural when it comes to social media and blogging. So often when out walking the dog I think of ideas to share, but somehow never get round to logging on and typing them up! A year (roughly) on from my last post here is a synopsis of some things I will write more about later, if I can create a strong new habit of blogging more frequently!
Somatic movement:
So much of what I have been learning about over the last few years comes back to giving ourselves the space and time to listen to our body and allow it to address patterns of tension and restore flow and communication, improving efficiency and ease of movement. As Joanne Elphinston says, sometimes we need to get out of our own way! We tend to get stuck in patterns of movement and posture that reflect chronic or acute aspects of our life - for instance work patterns, mental or emotional state or an accident or injury - and it's the getting stuck that's the problem. Tensing up temporarily for a specific reason is fine, but we need to also be able to release this. Effective, easy and efficient movement includes rapid response and release as appropriate. The JEMS training I have been doing (Joanne Elphinston Movement System) incorporates this, and I also attended a four hour somatic movement workshop with Samantha Holland that was open to everyone including non practitioners and that I can highly recommend. The gentle exploration of simple movements allows us to listen to the nervous system as it provides feedback that our brain can act on once we are not in over ride mode. For something so simple and gentle, the results can be profound.
JEMS:
I have a new book! The Power and the Grace by Joanne Elphinston. This includes ideas to explore with clients during treatment sessions so I hope to be doing more of this.
CPD:
I have continued to develop in other areas over the year, for instance a workshop with colleagues where we looked at pain perception and response. Pain should always be taken seriously, but sometimes it is the brain warning us of a potential risk rather than something that has actually just happened to cause pain. A frequent example of this is where someone has experienced pain from an injury that has now resolved but the trauma around it continues to cause the brain to send out pain signals to stop you doing a movement it associates with the pain even though it is now safe and indeed often beneficial to move that way. This is where exploring movement in a safe way can help the brain to relax and stop sending the pain message, or maybe at least dampen it down.
I am considering undertaking more training in working with the fascia following on from treatment I had on my knee which I found interesting and feel would benefit my massage clients. So much more has been learnt over the last few decades about the role of the fascia in our bodies, in contrast to when it was seen as a tissue with very little function.
I think that is quite enough for now; if I write much more I will have less incentive to log on next month!
