Pregnancy:
Many forms of low back pain can also be relieved by these releases. Recently I received an email from one of last week’s attendees asking if Decompression Somatics can be helpful for the discomforts of pregnancy. Right away I answered: “Yes!” Because I have used these positional release techniques many times with pregnant women and their babies inside… as well as followup post partum recovery sessions and sometimes the infants. I realized that many of the decompressions and Trager movements are the same as for sciatica.
Many of the side effects of menses like pain and constipation, and other women’s reproductive system issues like menopause, myomas, also can also be relieved with positional releases. So we will try to cover these related conditions.

Sciatica: is a very painful and disabling condition which many bodyworkers deal with in their practice.
I was baffled for years. Even though I knew that the piriformis muscle was clamping down on the sciatic nerve, I also knew that releasing the piriformis did not always relieve the pain. I also questioned what caused the piriformis to become tight.

I started to observe that there were various other accompanying factors; the quadratus lumborum muscle was tight, as was the SI joint and the other hip rotators and the sacrotuberous ligament on that side of the spine. Before I learned decompression I found that my usual Trager movements, though helpful in relieving the pain, did not release the engaged muscles or ligaments. I had suffered with sciatica years before and could find no relief until I blindly stepped in a hole while carrying a load of firewood in my arms… the relief was immediate and lasting. So I pondered what had been adjusted by that misstep?

Pregnancy Care:
Benefits of bodywork during pregnancy: lowers stress, lowers blood pressure, reduces discomfort, increases blood and lymph flow, reduces anxiety and depression, relieves muscle aches, improves labor outcomes, reduces leg and feet swelling, reduces the production of cortisol, improves sciatica and other pinched nerve pain, reduces back pain and headaches, provides better sleep.

Bodywork is safe throughout whole pregnancy and improves physical and emotional health.

Special Techniques we will introduce in this class: Somatic awareness, Side Lying , positional release, Trager,  decompression somatics, foot decompression somatics, client intake, special bolstering,  positioning client for comfort, changing positions as needed, don’t use prone position!