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Alternative therapy - bodywork, energy-flow, massage & manipulation
Click on the type of therapist from the table below to learn about the general description for the nature of the service. Click the type of practitioner from the list on the right to find your local provider.
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Many developments have been made regarding therapies based on adjustments to the body usuing different methods to achieve better health, reduction in pain and potential improvements in the abilities to function with comfort and ease.
Among the more common Alternative therapies based on bodywork, energy- flow, manipulation and massage, and a brief description, are the following:
The Alexander Technique is a 100 year old self-help method that teaches you how to recover balance and poise in every day activities. RSI, sciatica, joint, neck, vocal strain and back strain are often inadvertently caused by patterns of thinking and reaction that interfere with your freedom in movement.What is The Alexander Technique?
The Anat Baniel Method is based on an understanding of how our brain learns and transforms our body, mind and spirit. The goal of this therapy is to overcome pain and limitation and achieve fitness and vitality.
Aston Patterning is an integrated system of movement education, bodywork, ergonomic adjustments, and fitness training that recognizes the relationship between the body and mind for well being. It helps people who seek a remedy from acute or chronic pain by teaching them to improve postural and movement patterns.
Body balance work combines a range of therapies into a personal treatment program to support a balanced, healthy lifestyle.
The Bowenwork Technique is a gentle, relaxing therapy in which the therapist applies a series of light movements with their thumbs or fingers over different parts of the body. It can be done directly on the skin or through light clothing. The client normally lies down on a treatment table or sits in a chair. During a treatment, the therapist will stop frequently between moves and leave the room, to allow the body to become deeply relaxed and to benefit from the previous set of moves. The moves are very light and subtle, involving no hard or continuous pressure.What is The Bowenwork Technique?
Brennan Healing Science is a form of integrative medicine and a method of energy healing to use a spiritual system that works with the client's consciousness and energy field to heal on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.
Chiropractor is a doctor with a health care approach that focuses on the relationship between the body's structure, mainly the spine, and its functioning. Although practitioners use a variety of treatment approaches, they primarily perform adjustments to the spine or other parts of the body with the goal of correcting alignment problems and supporting the body's natural ability to heal itself. Hands-on therapy, especially adjustments to the spine, is central to chiropractic care. Back and neck pain causes and possible therapy. Debunking chiropractic myths. Some common pains to treat with chiropractic care.
CranioSacral Therapy is a gentle, hands-on form of bodywork that strives to create a balance and release any restrictions in all of the body tissues from the skull to the base of the spine. Among the goals of this therapy are to provide relief from restricted movement, enhance central nervous system performance, strengthen the body's natural healing process to bolster resistance to disease, help resolve chronic pain, and improve overall health.
Energy-flow therapy uses the power of your mind and emotions to control and direct the flow of life-force energy in your body to balance and harmonize functioning, as well as to support all types of healing. Energy-flow therapists guide you in empowering yourself to take control of your health and well-being. Unblock natural energy flow to help rid your body of pain.
The Feldenkrais Method is based on principles of physics, biomechanics and an empirical understanding of learning and human development. The Method uses gentle movement and directed attention to improve movement and enhance human functioning, with a goal of increasing ease and range of motion, improve flexibility and coordination, and allow for rediscovery of the innate capacity for graceful and efficient movement. What is The Feldenkrais Method?
Hellerwork is a form of structural bodywork and movement to correct posture and relieve chronic tension, stress and pain. The movement habits, emotions and attitudes that effect the levels of tension and stress are discussed to develop efficient and relaxed movement patterns.
Kinesiology is a complementary therapy that re-balances the energy system of the body to help restore good health and well-being. Different branches of kinesiology have been developed over time – traditionally, it refers to the study of muscles and movement in the body, but in the realm of natural health it looks at a broader approach not only looking at the muscles, anatomy and physiology, but working with traditional Chinese acupuncture meridians and using a nutritional approach to the therapy.
Massage therapy is often used for pain relief, rehabilitation of sports injuries, stress reduction, increased relaxation, help overcome anxiety and depression and aid general wellness. There are many specialized techniques, but most often the therapist will press, rub and otherwise manipulate the muscles and other soft tissues of the body with their hands, fingers and/or forearms to enhance function and promote relaxation.
Myofascial Integration or Myofacial Release is a systematic and comprehensive method to create a comfortable relationship with gravity by centering the body around a vertical line through the connective tissue, or fascia, the envelop the structural and muscular structures of the body. The goal is to relieve the body of restrictions and pain.
NeuroStructural Integration Technique is a form of bodywork to relieve pain and dysfunction as well as increased energy levels. A series of gentle moves on specific muscles at precise points create energy flow and vibrations between these pointst to stimulate the nervous system and thereby allow the body to better communicate with itself.
Polarity therapy is a holistic health care system based on the principles of electro-magnetic energy - "The Health of the Body depends on the free flow of this Energy". The therapy addresses the interdependence of body, mind and spirit as well as the importance of relationships and the value of creating a way of life in harmony with nature. Gentle manipulation of the body to balance positive and negative energy flow, the value of positive mental attitudes, dietary principles and simple exercises are used to clear blockages and eliminate toxins.
Radix certified instructors use methods designed to teach how to release emotions held within the muscular structure of the body. Old traumas are worked through in order to focus on unique new experiences of body/soul connections. The guiding principles of Radix are safety, in which deep, painful issues are explored in an atmosphere of trust and comfort, and exploration of a body-awareness approach to trauma.
Reflexology works by applying pressure (massaging or pushing), using special finger and thumb techniques, to specific areas on the feet that relate to the body’s organs, glands, muscles and bones. The areas on the foot are thought to correspond to the map of the body, and by working on the feet, the related area within the body is healed. The right foot corresponds to the right side of the body, and the left foot corresponds to the left side. By working on the feet in this way, the whole body can be treated.
Rolf Method (Rolfing®) of Structural Integration is a sophisticated and detail-oriented approach to releasing patterns of stress and impaired body function in every part of the body through manual techniques, physical manipulation and movement re-education. It focuses on underlying causes of acute and chronic structural pain where misalignment of a joint or body segment can be determined to be a cause or contributing factor to the pain. Rolfing enhances posture and freedom of movement and can resolve pain and discomfort from many different causes including back pain, repetitive motion injury, and trauma.
Rubenfeld Synergy Method is an alternative healing method which combines touch and talk together to help people deal with the stresses in their lives.
Structural Integration is a manual therapy to lengthen the connective tissue, known as fascia, of the body by movement, education and pressure. The goal is to align body segments, while standing, to lessen the effects of gravity and relieving chronic pain and allowing for efficient movement. There are numerous titles associated with structural integration and such differences are determined by the school the practitioner had attended.
Therapeutic Touch is an energy healing modality based on the natural human potential to reach out in compassion and empathy.
The Trager Approach uses simple exercises, called Mentastics, and fluid, gentle rocking movements to produce positive sensory feelings. The muscles and joints interpret this motion to the central nervous system to achieve a result of lightness, freedom and flexibility. What is The Trager Approach?
Visceral Manipulation is a gentle and effective form of hands-on manipulation to help restore proper function and movement to the tissues of the entire body while reducing chronic pain and tension.
Zero Balancing integrates fundamental principles of Western medicine with Eastern concepts of energy to provide the possibility of healing by addressing the energy flow of the skeletal system. By working with bone energy, zero balancing seeks to correct imbalances between energy and structure, providing relief from pain, anxiety and stress.
