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Structural Integration is a series of bodywork, traditionally ten sessions, designed to gradually release adhesions and patterns of strain in the connective tissue of the body. The goal is to bring one’s form to a place of greater balance in the field of gravity, improving one’s sense of well being. Each session builds on the last, working slowly through collected layers of fascial adhesions with steady pressure, movement, and breath. It is a learning process . Attention is brought to places in the body where movement is stilled or function impaired, and we then work together to transform and awaken, to find your core strength and recognize your potential. A typical session begins with the client standing in his or her underwear while the practitioner assesses their body, looking for imbalances, patterns of strain, places that don’t move when they breathe or walk. Every body is different, a unique collection of experiences mingled with genetics and soul, manifested in the physical form. This is the practitioner’s challenge: the work must be tailored to meet each person where they are, and take them only where they are willing and able to go. Fascial adhesions are structural compensations that the body once deemed necessary for physical and sometimes emotional defense, they cannot be unwound without respectful replacement of support. Sessions last between 60-75 minutes, and best results are seen with weekly treatments. The first session can stand alone, as can the first three sessions, but once you get into the fourth, you really need to commit yourself to completing ten or you are likely to feel funkier than when you started. What makes this work different from deep tissue massage is the focus on connective tissue, the consideration of gravity’s effect on your physical form, and the gradual unfolding of the body, each session setting you up for transformation in the next. We seek enduring change to the causes of persistent pain. Word on the street says this work HURTS, and I’m here to tell you that it does not. Change is difficult, however, and despite an intellectual commitment, actually letting go can (perversely) require great effort. There are “exquisite” moments, but communication with your practitioner should keep you from agony; if you are withdrawing in pain then you are not learning, so speak up! A softer or slower approach will likely make the experience sustainable, even enjoyable. Many of my clients are surprised at how painless their sessions are, considering the reputation that this work has. In Summary: Essentially, we are taking a structural view (think physics and architecture) of a dynamic form (think movement and energy) and making some careful interventions in the direction of its inevitable change. Greater physical efficiency and freedom from pain are the intended results. We are constantly changing whether we like it or not-- this series is a way of adding somatic intelligence to those changes. |
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Questions gladly answered
and appointments scheduled at 206.343.9653 or bevin@bevinkeely.com.
Phone calls returned much more quickly than email.
Links for further research
and information: Repatterning Exercise Downloads: Some things to note:
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