Recommended workshops
WORKSHOPS IN MYOFASCIAL
RELEASE AND BODY READING:
Andrew is running the following 2 and 1
day workshops in Myofascial Release Techniques and postural assesssment
at the College of Classical Massage in Brighton. These workshops are
taught by Andrew Chick and run by the College of Clasical Massge.
To book your place please follow the link to the college of classical
massage.
Booking, course fees and venue details: College of Classical Massage
LEVEL ONE WORKSHOPS:
The level one workshops are open to all practioners of bodywork the minimum requirement to attend these workshops is that you have a certification in holistic massage and level 3 diploma in anatomy and physiology
Certificate in myofascial release- level 1:
Saturday and Sunday 17th and 18th September 2011
Saturday and Sunday 12th and 13th November 2011
Introduction to postural assessment:
Sunday 4th December 2011
LEVEL TWO WORKSHOPS:
The level two workshops are due to start in 2012
The level two workshops are for those that have attended the level one workshop " AN INTRODUCTION TO MYOFASCIAL TECHNIQUES"
Myofascial release for the lower extremities:
Myofascial release for the hips and pelvis:
Myfascial release for the spine and thorax:
Myofascial release for the chest, arms and shoulders:
Myofascial release for the neck, head and face:
Booking, course fees and venue details: College of Classical Massage
CERTIFICATE IN MYOFASCIAL RELEASE - level 1:
Learn how to work more effectively, and create long and lasting change for your clients.
This course will run over 2 days and is suitable for existing massage practitioners who wish to enhance their skills by incorporating direct myofascial release techniques into their practice.
The course will be largely practical and introduce students to a variety of techniques for the lower and upper body and teach you how to contact and work with the fascia.
Day one
The first day of this 2 day workshop will look at the anatomy and function of fascia. You will learn how to contact and work with the myofascia and how to use the fingers, knuckles, fists, forearms and elbows correctly. You will learn proper biomechanics to enhance your work and myofascial release techniques for the gastrocnemius, soleus, quadriceps, hamstrings, illiotibial band, gluteus maximus, and deep lateral rotators of the hip.
Day two we will concentrate on looking at the upper body, mainly the shoulder girdle, and will include techniques for the myofascial structures of the back as well as the pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, trapezius and the rotator cuff. Students will also learn how restrictions in the fascia can contribute to common symptoms we see in our practices and learn ways to understand where these restrictions may be and how to resolve them.
INTRODUCTION TO POSTURAL ASSESSMENT:
What you will learn:
• Easy to understand terms to describe the postural
patterns your clients present
• How to assess anatomical structures in relationship to each
other
• Strategies to undo the postural patterns that are evident
• How imbalances in one part of the body can have a negative
impact on another area of the body
What is postural assessment?
Postural assessment allows you to see imbalances in the body which often lead to muscular tension, causing painful symptoms like neck pain, shoulder pain and lower back pain. As massage therapists you will have learnt to take a full case history but are not usually taught how to assess your client’s posture. Knowing how to see these postural imbalances can add to the information you gather in the initial consultation with a client, and allow you to develop more accurate treatments and greater success in helping your clients. This workshop will make it easier for you to see the postural imbalances that your clients have, and help you in deciding where to work. Often the pain in the neck or the lower back that your client complains of is due to them compensating for imbalance elsewhere in their structure. Learn how to see these compensations and create strategies to help resolve them. These skills will greatly enhance the quality of your practice and your clients will feel the difference.
How can learning these skills enhance my practice?
You have probably had many clients coming to see you for massage who
suffer from lower back pain or neck pain, and after taking their case
history, you ask them to lay on the couch and then you apply massage
specifically to these areas in the hope of giving them relief - only
to see them back in a week or two saying that the treatment had helped
temporarily but they are feeling the tension again.
How would being able to assess their posture have enhanced
your ability to treat them?
If you had the skills to apply Body Reading within your work you may
have seen the lack of support in the right foot that was causing shortness
in the right leg and a low hip on the right side, which meant that
their lumbar spine was side bending, causing strain in the lower back
muscles and ultimately creating pain and irritation in the lower back.
Being able to see these patterns would have allowed you to adapt your
treatment and work to address the issues in the right foot, leg and
hip to bring more balance to the pelvis and take the strain off the
muscles in the lower back.
Do I have to have taken the other myofascial workshops
before doing this workshop?
This workshop is designed to be taken on its own or in conjunction
with the other myofascial workshops. It can also complement your sports
massage training. The skills you learn in this workshop can be applied
immediately into your work. If you have already attended other myofascial
workshops then this workshop will compliment all the skills you have
previously learnt as well as adding to them. Ideally this workshop
would be great to do before or after the level 1 myofascial workshop
and before the level 2 myofascial workshops. However this is not a
requirement, and you may take this workshop at any time.
In these workshops I will be including some of the ideas and concepts
I learnt from my teacher Tom Myers who developed the Anatomy Trains
system. The Anatomy Trains is a map of the myofascial connections
throughout the body. They allow us to see the body as a whole rather
than as a collection of individual parts, and show us how these individual
parts are connected. Understanding these connections makes the process
of postural analysis much more understandable. However I must stress
this is not a workshop in the Anatomy Trains.
My experience of using Body Reading.
As a qualified practitioner in KMI Structural Integration I use these
skills every day in my private practice and develop my treatment sessions
around my observations. Body Reading is a fundamental part of Structural
Integration. I find that being able to use these Body Reading skills
in my work adds another dynamic to the treatment I can offer, and
allows me to understand why a client may be suffering with a particular
area of tension or pain or why they keep injuring the same area in
a particular activity or sport. With these skills you will be able
to see the story behind the problems.
MYOFACIAL
RELEASE FOR THE LOWER EXTREMIRIES:
This two day workshop will concentrate on the feet,
ankles and legs.
In the Introductory weekend you learnt the fundamentals of myofascial
release and were introduced to a variety of techniques for the lower
and upper body. In these two days we go into more detail on how to
assess and treat restrictions in the lower extremities.
Our feet work really hard for us every day and are our main contact
with the ground. Having freedom in the feet, and support and balance
in the 3 arches, allows us to move more freely and easily. Restrictions
in the foot or ankle can create strain up into the knees, hips or
lower back. The three main joints of the lower extremities are the
ankle, knee and hip, and restrictions or injury at any one of these
joints can have a negative impact of the other two.
This two day workshop will cover myofascial techniques for the feet,
ankles and knees as well as the myofascial compartments of the lower
and upper leg. After attending this workshop you will have a better
understanding of how to assess these important structures and have
a multitude of techniques to address imbalances in these areas. We
will look at how the myofascial compartments in the lower leg play
an important role in supporting the arches of the feet and learn techniques
to release strain within them. You will also have an understanding
of how the myofascial compartments of the thigh can create strain
at the knee joint and hips, and learn techniques to help resolve them.
You will also be introduced to how the major muscle groups in the
thigh affect balance of the pelvis.
On this workshop you will learn:
• Myofascial techniques for the foot and ankle.
• How to mobilise the bones of the feet.
• Have a greater understanding of the arches of the feet and
their importance.
• Learn myofascial techniques to release restrictions at the
ankle joints.
• Learn the myofascial compartments of the lower and upper leg
• Learn myofascial techniques to release strain and restrictions
in these compartments.
• Understand how restrictions in these compartments can cause
strain patterns down into the feet at the knee joint or up into the
hips and pelvis.
• Learn how assessment techniques for the feet, ankles, knees,
legs and pelvis
• Learn myofascial techniques to undo restrictions in the lower
and upper legs.
Muscles covered will include:
• Tibialus anterior, extensor digitorum longus, extensor halucis
longus.
• The peroneal brevis and longus).
• Gastrocnemius and soleus
• Flexor digitorum longus, flexor halucis longus, tibialus posterior
• Quadriceps
• Hamstrings
• Hip adductors
• Hip abductors
MYOFASCIAL RELEASE FOR THE HIPS AND PELVIS:
This two day
workshop will concentrate on the hips and pelvis.
In the Introductory weekend you learnt the fundamentals of myofascial
release and were introduced to a variety of techniques for the lower
and upper body. In these two days we go into more detail on how to
assess and treat restrictions in the hips and pelvis.
The pelvis is often described as the key stone of the body’s structure. Learning to assess the and treat restrictions and patterns in the pelvis can really help to relieve problems in the lower back and hips as well as the legs, knees and feet and even as far away as the neck and shoulders.
This two day workshop will cover myofascial techniques for the hips
and pelvis. After attending this workshop you will have knowledge
of all the major muscles groups that attach to the pelvis and how
they affect pelvic balance. You will have a better understanding of
how to assess these important structures and have the myofascial techniques
to develop a course of treatment to address the imbalances found.
We will look at how these myofascial components affect balance in
the hips and pelvis and how these imbalances affect the rest of the
body. You will learn how to assess the pelvis for anterior, posterior,
left, and right tilts as shifts, torsion, and rotation and be introduced
to how these patterns influence the lumbar spine.
On this workshop you will learn how to:
• Assess the pelvis for anterior, posterior,
left and right tilts, shifts, torsion and rotation.
• Learn myofascial techniques to address these imbalances.
• Improve hip mobility flexion, extension and rotation.
The main muscle groups covered will include:
• Hip abductors (gluteus medius and minimus).
• Hip adductors (pectineus, brevis, longus, gracillis, magnus).
• Hip flexors (rectus femoris, tensor fascia latae, illiacus,
psoas).
• Hip extensors (gluteus, maximus, and hamstrings).
• External rotators of the femur (pirimormis,superior gemellus,
inferior gemellus, obturator externus and internus and the quadrates
femoris).
• We will also cover techniques for the quadrates lumborum,
sacrotuberus ligaments and the rectus abdominus attachments at the
pubic bone.
MYOFACIAL RELEASE FOR THE ABDOMEN, SPINE AND THORAX:
This two day workshop will concentrate on the myofascia
of the abdomen, spine and thorax.
In the Introductory weekend you learnt the fundamentals of myofascial
release and were introduced to a variety of techniques for the lower
and upper body. In these two days we look at myofascial techniques
for the abdomen, spine and thorax.
In these two days you will learn myofascial techniques for the back, abdomen and thorax, and be introduced to Body Reading techniques for these areas. After attending this workshop you will have knowledge of the fascial relationships and connections of the abdomen, spine and thorax and how they can contribute to postural imbalances and potential problems for our clients. We will explore the myofascia surrounding the ribcage including work for the respiratory diaphragm as well as looking at spinal mechanics and in detail at the muscles and fascia of the spine and how to assess and work with spinal bends and rotations.
On this weekend you will learn:
• Myofascial techniques for the abdomen, spine and thorax
• How to assess imbalances of the thorax and strategies for
treating them
• How to assess imbalances of the abdomen and strategies for
treatment
• Be introduced to spinal mechanics
• Be able to assess the spine for bends and rotations with techniques
to address them
Muscles covered will include:
• Rectus abdominis
• External obliques
• Internal obliques
• Transverse abdominis
• Diaphragm
• Erector spinae group (spinalis, longissimus, iliocostalis)
• Transversospinalis group (mutifidi, rotatores, semispinalis)
• Quadratus lumborum
• Splenius cervicis
• Splenius capitis
• Suboccipitals