A Neurovascular Release Approach to Resolving Low-Back Pain and Reducing Hypertonicity in the Spinal Erectors

Presenter: Kieran Schumaker LMT MA61221200

Class Format: In-person, Hands-on

About the Class: This hands-on workshop will be an evening of experiential learning about an uncommon approach to muscle tension and hypertonicity. You will come away from this workshop with new skills for addressing low back pain and asymmetrical back tension. In explaining this approach, Kier will introduce and bring together a few concepts borrowed from structural integration and manual osteopathy. Over the course of the evening, expect to feel a reduction in tension in your own back muscles and greater ease of movement throughout your body when walking and standing. You will also begin to understand how the skills and concepts taught this evening could be used to bring ease to whole body patterns involving pelvic torsion, mild scoliosis, and other left-right imbalances.

What to Bring: We will need massage tables and a set of sheets, both of which will be used as bottom sheets that your working hands can slide between. We will be working through fabric with the client clothed, and without oil or lotion (although this approach could be adapted for use in a traditional massage setting in which the client is not clothed). Wear a t-shirt and comfortable, flexible pants. For strategic bolstering, we would like to have two pillows per massage table and a blanket that can be folded to various thicknesses. (Small square decorative couch pillows work well, or bed pillows. Traditional round bolsters are okay but don't work as well as pillows.)

About the Presenter: Kieran Schumaker (Kier, they/them) is a Board Certified Structural Integrator, an NCBTMB-certified provider of continuing education, a former teacher in the Anatomy Trains Structural Integration program, and a practitioner whose manual therapy career has spanned over 25 years. Their approach to integrative bodywork is strongly grounded in the foundational practices and values of structural integration: NVR students learn to utilize the client’s active movement to facilitate tissue change and cultivate the client’s interoception. They collaborate with the client in the active exploration of incremental changes and cultivate the client’s appreciation for their body’s ability to adapt, thereby developing a well-supported sense of embodiment.

The advanced skills that Kier teaches stem from manual osteopathic approaches such as visceral manipulation and neural manipulation, which require a delicate touch and precise tissue palpation. However, for this introductory workshop, Kier will be sharing skills that require a broad, deep touch. The work will feel myofascial.

Presenter Website: https://www.anatomytrains.com/practitioner/kieran-schumaker/