What is Structural Integration?
What will I experience in a Structural Integration Session?
Opening the Sleeve
LIFTING AND LOOSENING, MAKING ROOM FOR THE CORE.
We think of the sleeve as the four limbs plus the outer layers of muscle around
the torso which position the limbs. Outside all of this is the external fascial layer
which has a major role in shaping the body.
In Session One this involves making more room for the breath
by lifting the external fascia around the chest, then lifting the
shoulder girdle from the rib cage by creating more space within the armpit.
Finding the Horizontal Polarity
means establishing balance across
a coronal plane passing through
the shoulder socket.
Then we release the external fascia around the hips, both from
the side around the greater trochanter, and from the back via the hamstrings.
THE STABILIZED PELVIS
The pelvis maintains a constant
relationship between the lumbar
spine and the legs by remaining
more or less horizontal – regardless
of the position of the legs
Completion Steps:
After every session, the work must be balanced out through the spine, top,
bottom, and middle. For this session it means:
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1.The pelvic lift:
2. The neck work, and
-
3.Trapezius organization with strokes down the back
Addressing the cranial the sacral and connecting them through long strokes down the back
Hamstrings and Quadriceps balance across the side plane
The hamstrings and the pelvic flexors
are antagonists. Each needs to release for
the other to function effectively. If neither
releases, the femur is jammed and cannot
move flexibly in relation to the pelvis.
The lift comes from extending through the knees into the feet rather than from contracting the abdominals
“Just turn your tail under”
“Now lift up”
“Now let your waistline come down in the back”
“And on down”