Movement Therapies
Somatic Movement
Somatics is a sometimes hands on process of re-educating movement patterns that have become inefficient or problematic. It is a gentle approach to managing pain, and chronic conditions with foundations in developmental movement.
Developed by many amazing practitioners this work is a slow considered practice. You will be asked to really pay attention to your body and how it reacts to movement. This is super important for ME and FND people. It is so very easy to overdo it and end up crashing with PEM. Taking your time to learn how to sense how specific movements affect your body and mind is fundamental in learning how to pace effectively, efficiently and maintain or gain strength and tone.
Expect to feel really comfortable in your body after a lesson.
It is easy to teach online. If you can, have an in-person lesson to start you off. This means the instructor can provide hands on cues. No problem if not. I will teach you how to cue yourself.
PILATES Method is named after its founder, Joseph Pilates. A strong minded, far sighted, determined man who overcame many adversities over his life to develop a series of exercises designed to maintain optimal fitness and flexibility. The Pilates Method has become an incredibly popular training movement modality since Joe developed it in the early 1940's. Traditional Pilates, originally designed for dancers and athletes can, with modifications to repertoire and a good foundation in Somatics, be an effective form of movement for those who need more time and care. Modified Pilates based in Somatic work is excellent gentle movement for ME/CFS and FND and a fabulous foundation for anyone wanting to further any athletic pursuits.
The work of dancer Juliu Horvath is an amazing organic way of moving the body, making functional contact with the natural spirals in our fascia, connective tissues, nervous system and energy pathways by using an ever-increasing range of motion in rhythmic flowing movements.
Another remarkable man who overcame serious injury in his journey to recovery developing what he originally called Yoga for Dancers as floor work and from there amazing equipment to enhance movement under load. His work is now taught world-wide. See the website for more information. https://www.gyrotonic.com
Amazing for general wellbeing, dancers and athletes, this wonderful work is achievable for ME and FND people with modifications.
Fascial Fitness
Fascial work has been around as long as people moving. The modern understanding of Fascial Fitness comes from the groundbreaking fascial research of Dr Robert Schleip and the fascial research team Ulm/Germany providing an excellent science-based foundation for efficient human movement training across multiple disciplines. Their training academy (fascialtrainingacademy.com) describes how important moving fascia is to movement, injury prevention, athletic performance, general health and recovery from injury.
Very simply, Fascia is a connective tissue which holds us together. It has remarkable strength, flexibility, elasticity and stretch which is vital for efficient pain free movement. When we experience stress or habitual inefficient movement patterns, fascia tightens in response to elevated stress hormones or a habitual movement pattern. That tightened fascia restricts movement by contracting the pockets our muscles sit in leading to restricted inefficient movement and/or pain.
In fascial fitness programs we use play and specific movement sequences to enhance the elastic quality in fascia to develop efficient function and mobility, massage techniques and exercise using stretching, foam rollers, balls and towels to self-treat adhesions in fascial tissue to enable pain free movement.
I incorporate Fascial fitness principles into every class. Sessions vary in tempo. Please check before attending if you have ME or FND so I can adjust the session to suit.
ME/CFS and FND body awareness and movement practices.
Content for these sessions is drawn from many years of meditation practice and my personal experience of working out what movement, if at all, worked best for myself and my clients in our ME/CFS and FND journeys.
An introduction to meditative and movement practices beginning in the early 1960’s as a child, watching and taking part in my mother's daily yoga practice, studying within multiple schools of thought and trainings. Further study took me into Transcendental Meditation (TM) in the 1970’ s, the fabulous honest and realistic work of Jack Kornfield and the deeper esoteric of Master Charles Cannon from the Synchronicity Foundation in the 1990’s. This foundation alongside study in the emerging (in the western world) schools of Somatic movement practices from the 1990's on, has provided the foundations for these daily practices.
I invite you to join for 30 minutes, or as much as you can manage on the day, of deep mind calming practice as your daily energy allows.