Integrative Bodywork Training
What Type of Bodywork is taught in Our Programs?
The primary bodywork modality you will be learning is called Integrative Bodywork. It utilizes techniques similar to Swedish but with some important differences in both technique and intent and also includes some acupressure, neo-Reichian massage (see below) polarity (see below), myofascial technique and some sports massage techniques. Other modalities taught include Skinner Releasing technique, and may include the option to learn thai/shiatsu bodywork.
We have found the most successful approach to learning bodywork is to focus on the quality of touch, the development of sensitivity, awareness and understanding in the hands and the ability to be truly present. Our program is designed to couple this with a thorough immersion in a basic modality that teaches you a beautiful and flowing sequence for working with someone. This will be the foundation upon which you will build what ultimately becomes your own personal and unique practice as, down the road, you do further training in those areas that you feel most drawn to or the most need for. Programs that crowd a great many techniques into a basic training of whatever length fail to produce effective body workers because nothing is ever learned in sufficient depth. Often as soon as something has been taught it is abandoned for the next new piece. All the modalities you learn with us are integrated into the massage you will be doing when you leave. These techniques will be a part of you, leaving you free to focus on really being present. This approach combined with our very small student teacher ratio and individual attention are the reasons why we so often hear from people that the massage they have received from one of our student's even at the end of only 8 or 10 weeks of the training, is the best massage they have ever had- and this comes from people who have had regular professional massage in the past.
What is Integrative Bodywork?
Training in Integrative Bodywork is the core of the GMI massage and bodywork programs. Integrative Bodywork addresses and integrates the physical, energetic and emotional levels. This massage is noted for being simultaneously deeply relaxing and truly invigorating.On physical level Integrative Bodywork releases muscle tension, increasing the circulation of blood and lymph and improving muscle tone. This creates a feeling of lightness and space in the body and encourages ease of movement. Chronic muscle tension not only inhibits movement but also restricts breathing and inhibits the free flow of energy or Chi. This gives rise to emotional or creative blocks as well as physical problems. We address these blocks on the energetic level by focusing on energy distribution, balance, and release, encouraging energy to move more freely throughout the body.
On an emotional level we are always sensitive to the interplay between patterns of physical and emotional holding. As body tensions soften and energy begins to flow, a clear sense of consciousness, a renewed sense of inner joy and a greater capacity for contact result. Sometimes buried feelings may emerge. If this happens in an atmosphere of trust and acceptance, the result can be a great sense of relief, release and reconnection. The essence of this type of bodywork lies in the ability of the practitioner to be centered and remain truly present. The goal is to produce a sense of flowing wholeness.
Neo-Reichian Bodywork
Neo-Reichian bodywork utilizes massage, movement, sound, and breathing to help release chronic muscular tensions and increase the free flow of energy in the body. As the natural integrity of the body is restored, a sense of physical and emotional freedom is regained. Neo-Reichian bodywork increases the ability to be comfortable with and express deep feeling, leading to greater aliveness and a sense of spontaneous inner happiness.
Polarity Therapy
Energy must flow freely from the negative to the positive pole of the body to maintain a state of mental and physical health. Stress, tension, and pain are blocks in this energy flow, and create more tension and pain . Polarity Therapy releases blocked energy through the use of gentle manipulations and held pressure points which feels soothing and relaxing.
Skinner Releasing Technique
Skinner Releasing Technique (SRT) uses tactile studies, partner assisted exercises and poetic imagery, to help integrate the mind and body. Alignment, balance, autonomy, and economy of movement are emphasized and discovered in the process of releasing tension patterns and blocks. Developed and often studied by dancers, Skinner Releasing Technique has many applications for body workers. This work helps develop your presence, and sense of who you are in a physical nonverbal environment. It can help you to work with less effort and stress to your body. It will increase your sense of your own energy flows. You will further your experiential knowledge of body mechanics, while learning to work with more power, rhythm and musicality. You will also learn release techniques and guided imagery that you can use with your clients.