How did Real Bodywork start making massage videos? Sean and Geri Riehl taught massage in Santa Barbara, California. At the request of their students as a way to remember the information that was being taught, they created a set of DVDs that mirrored the information shown in class. Their first DVD set, Deep Tissue and […]
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Muscle Energy Techniques for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome by Tom Ockler I had an interesting patient come through my door today. She was a 41-year-old mother of two, referred to me by an acupuncturist who frequently uses me when she is stumped. The initial diagnosis was TOS (thoracic outlet syndrome) with symptoms worse on the right […]
Muscle Energy Techniques for the Pelvis by Tom Ockler, PT I am often asked by patients and therapists alike, why I start at the pelvis when evaluating and treating a patient, even if their chief complaint is elsewhere, like the neck or shoulder. I explain that the body is like a house and a house sits on […]
Contributions by: Rick Goggins, Richard Gold, Robert Granter, Joe Muscolino, Greg Polins, Thomas Zudrell An Irish bodyworker once said that Aussie therapists are very fond of tools. Not sure how true it is, but certainly some therapists like to use tools in massage and bodywork. Tools can help and enhance the therapeutic effects of a […]
Tom, can you briefly explain what is MET? What is the difference with stretching. MET stands for Muscle Energy Technique. It is an Os- teopathic-based method that does not use manipulation to correct asymmetry and hypo-mobilities in the body. Since it relies on the muscle spindles, it actually has advantages over stretching because it is theorized to […]
History People have been making videos or movies demonstrating massage techniques and manoeuvre since the advent of portable cameras. Early videos were made mainly to document workshops or classes by legendary instructors. For example, in YouTube there are several video footages from 1970s showing Dr. Ida Rolf talking and demonstrating Structural Integration. Since the advent […]
1. When and how did you decide to become a bodyworker? 1978. I was living in Sydney and thought about going to the osteopathic college that a friend of mine was teaching at. But I also wanted to travel and live where I could ski. So I ended up in Boulder, Colorado at the Boulder […]
1. When and how did you decide to become a bodyworker? I knew that I wanted to be a bodyworker when I was very young because I was influenced by three of my uncles and a brother-in-law who were all chiropractors, as well as my mother was a medical technician and nutritional consultant and my […]
1. When and how did you decide to become a bodyworker? I guess it was a few years after I graduated from PT school. I was unhappy with what they taught and the outcomes I was getting. I also had the misfortune of possibly causing one of my patients a spondylolisthesis (broken back bone) while […]
1. When and how did you decide to become a bodyworker? I decided to become a bodyworker (Rolfer) when I was in graduate school in Chicago, after learning a bit of acupressure massage in my Tai Chi classes, and seeing the impact of Rolfing on my mother. 2. What do you find most exciting about […]