Spinal Touch ~ What to expect during a session & after
Your Spinal Touch treatment
Spinal Touch is a gentle, non manipulative, holistic treatment with the objective of assisting clients to achieve good mechanical balance (posture) of the body through relaxation of the muscles while also rejuvenating the body’s energy field.
It's good to keep in mind that it is muscles that move bones and not the other way around….tight restricted muscles pull bones out of alignment, relaxed muscles don’t.
Most clients quickly feel an almost immediate change in their posture and with that a lessening of pain as their muscles relax and circulation improves.
It's good to keep in mind that it is muscles that move bones and not the other way around….tight restricted muscles pull bones out of alignment, relaxed muscles don’t.
Most clients quickly feel an almost immediate change in their posture and with that a lessening of pain as their muscles relax and circulation improves.
Spinal Touch Assessment
Spinal Touch Assessment
Each Spinal Touch session begins and ends with assessment using a plumbline.
Dressed in underwear and with a towel to cover the front I ask clients to stand on a special foot board. The plumbline behind the board is pulled straight by gravity and looking at it next to the spine I check for any distortions.
Are their places where the spine moves to the left or right of the plumbline?
Are the ears, shoulders and hips even? Is there any forward or backward rotation at the hips or shoulders? These are the distortions I am checking for.
From a side view I check to see if the ankle, mid-knee, mid-hip, mid-shoulder and mid-ear are in line and if not, are they pulling forward or backward in relation to the plumbline.
This Spinal Touch assessment technique allows me to see any distortions in the body’s posture and is a guide to which direction the sacrum needs to move in order to correct the posture.
Dressed in underwear and with a towel to cover the front I ask clients to stand on a special foot board. The plumbline behind the board is pulled straight by gravity and looking at it next to the spine I check for any distortions.
Are their places where the spine moves to the left or right of the plumbline?
Are the ears, shoulders and hips even? Is there any forward or backward rotation at the hips or shoulders? These are the distortions I am checking for.
From a side view I check to see if the ankle, mid-knee, mid-hip, mid-shoulder and mid-ear are in line and if not, are they pulling forward or backward in relation to the plumbline.
This Spinal Touch assessment technique allows me to see any distortions in the body’s posture and is a guide to which direction the sacrum needs to move in order to correct the posture.
Spinal Touch ~ the treatment
Spinal Touch Treatment
Once you are comfortably positioned on the massage table, face down and with a supportive pillow beneath your hips and ankles, I begin with a light touch of my thumb on a contact point.
The contact points are along the gluteal line where the thigh and buttock meet. Through directing the soft tissue at these points the sacrum and pelvis are influenced to move into normal alignment.
The contact point is held throughout the session and a precise, light touch or “rub out” technique is applied in a specific pattern around the sacrum, along the spine, the neck, the shoulders, on the abdomen and where the muscles meet the back of the skull. This affects muscular insertions, reflex points and acupuncture meridians, and encourages the release of any tension and pain. The treatment takes 20 to 30 minutes.
What you may experience during the Spinal Touch session:
This really will vary from person to person…some experience a sensation of warmth flowing up or down the body, tingling or the sensation of an electrical pulse. Many find a space of deep relaxation where they are on the point of falling asleep.
The contact points are along the gluteal line where the thigh and buttock meet. Through directing the soft tissue at these points the sacrum and pelvis are influenced to move into normal alignment.
The contact point is held throughout the session and a precise, light touch or “rub out” technique is applied in a specific pattern around the sacrum, along the spine, the neck, the shoulders, on the abdomen and where the muscles meet the back of the skull. This affects muscular insertions, reflex points and acupuncture meridians, and encourages the release of any tension and pain. The treatment takes 20 to 30 minutes.
What you may experience during the Spinal Touch session:
This really will vary from person to person…some experience a sensation of warmth flowing up or down the body, tingling or the sensation of an electrical pulse. Many find a space of deep relaxation where they are on the point of falling asleep.
Spinal Touch ~ the re-assessment
Spinal Touch - Reassessment
This is the fascinating part of the session where clients return to the footboard and are re-assessed with the plumbline. Comparing the marks on the body to the initial assessment there are measurable results from the treatment that can be seen and more importantly….felt!
What you may experience after a session:
You may experience tingling sensations or mild shifts of pain as the muscles, bones and joints are realigning themselves. Because your posture may have been lifted up off of your heart, lungs, digestive and other organs you will likely notice improved circulation, better breathing and perhaps some flu-like symptoms as your organs cleanse themselves, now that they have the space they need to do so.
What to do after a session:
Rest! Especially after the first session. Let your body continue its healing work. Drink plenty of water to help your organs cleanse and stay hydrated. Soak in a warm bath with Epsom salts to relieve any muscular pain as they shift into their optimal posture.
And then…resume your normal activities…your body is meant to move!
What you may experience after a session:
You may experience tingling sensations or mild shifts of pain as the muscles, bones and joints are realigning themselves. Because your posture may have been lifted up off of your heart, lungs, digestive and other organs you will likely notice improved circulation, better breathing and perhaps some flu-like symptoms as your organs cleanse themselves, now that they have the space they need to do so.
What to do after a session:
Rest! Especially after the first session. Let your body continue its healing work. Drink plenty of water to help your organs cleanse and stay hydrated. Soak in a warm bath with Epsom salts to relieve any muscular pain as they shift into their optimal posture.
And then…resume your normal activities…your body is meant to move!
Spinal Touch ~ following up
Often we have held a distortion in the body for a period of time and our muscles hold onto the memory of that. They will encourage your body to move back to that distorted posture.
I highly recommend to clients that they book 3 sessions – 2 days in a row, miss a day and then have the 3rd session. This reinforces the postural changes with the body and encourages the muscles to hold in their memory, the properly aligned posture.
What may also happen is that as the body re-aligns itself the healing goes deeper and old injuries may resurface, soon to be resolved through good posture.
While every “body” is different and has been under distortion for different periods of time, I often find that these 3 sessions are all a client needs until they experience a fall, slip or some other strain or stress load to their mind or body…and they often notice right away when they’ve become misaligned again. For some a follow-up happens a month later for others 6 months for others over a year.
As individual as we all are I mention the 3 sessions as a guide only…your body will heal in it’s own unique and individual way…some take a few more sessions.
I highly recommend to clients that they book 3 sessions – 2 days in a row, miss a day and then have the 3rd session. This reinforces the postural changes with the body and encourages the muscles to hold in their memory, the properly aligned posture.
What may also happen is that as the body re-aligns itself the healing goes deeper and old injuries may resurface, soon to be resolved through good posture.
While every “body” is different and has been under distortion for different periods of time, I often find that these 3 sessions are all a client needs until they experience a fall, slip or some other strain or stress load to their mind or body…and they often notice right away when they’ve become misaligned again. For some a follow-up happens a month later for others 6 months for others over a year.
As individual as we all are I mention the 3 sessions as a guide only…your body will heal in it’s own unique and individual way…some take a few more sessions.
I have arthritis in most of my joints, and “stenosis” in my lower back. For many years now, I have simply accepted that discomfort and occasional bouts of pain are an inevitable by-product of day-to-day living. Several months ago this changed for me. Over three Massage Therapy sessions, Teresa profoundly relieved my skeletal and muscular "challenges”. The experience was unusual, as the manner in which she manipulated my muscles and adjusted my framework, were not at all what I had expected ; and, I was not too sure what outcomes to anticipate from all of this. Within a few days, I felt significant relief from my usual body aches and pains ; and these days, I continue to move with considerable ease, and only very occasionally experience moderate discomfort in areas that used to cause me significant stress. For me, it is as if someone has turned the clock back ten years. I cannot recommend too highly to arthritic patients the potential for positive results from Teresa’s Massage Therapy treatments. The freedom I got from that “chain of discomfort” has been absolutely priceless. ~ Stefan