Put your back into it, or not - Myofascial Spine & Sacrum workshop

Last weekend I had the joy of going to a couple of workshops run by Linda from MyofascialUK On Saturday I went to the workshop that focused on the Spine and Sacrum, with Sunday focusing on Abdomen (Scarring and adhesions, read about it here).  Having been to their TMJ workshop before I vaguely knew the format: meeting new people and learning techniques that enhanced what I already knew to help in this area.

One thing I do love about these workshops is that they're attended by a loyal group of therapists.  You meet a large number of people that you met at previous courses or workshops. So beforehand and during the breaks it is nice to catch up with how they're doing, what they've been up to, and what courses they've been on and have they been to America to study with John F Barnes (whose style of Myofascial Release we're taught by Ruth & Linda and something I would love to do, Sedona sounds great) There was one lady who I knew, as I walked from the Tube station, that I was going to see again (the last time I'd met her was at the MFRUK stand at CamExpo in October 2012) and there she was sitting waiting to go to the other course that was being run.  We still had a good chance to have a quick natter as we were waiting for the workshops to begin (and she's doing really well, been the US and loved the courses)

So back to the course that I was going to: Spine & Sacrum.  I work at two chiropractic clinics so I see a lot of clients who have back, neck and spinal problems so increasing the number of techniques that I can use makes perfect sense.

The spine is made up of all the vertebral bones (from the coccyx to the cervical vertebra that sit just beneath the skull) and sits around and protects the bundle of nerves that form the spinal cord.  Problems with the vertebra and spinal muscles can impact on the nerves that exit between each vertebra (which is why problems in this area can be quite so painful)

The sacrum is the wedge shaped bone (made up of 5 fused sacral vertebrae) that forms the back of the pelvis, sitting between the 2 ilia (that I refer to as the 'wings of the pelvis,).  These three bones form the pelvic girdle and whilst we often consider that these are a single fixed bone there is some movement between them each time with move the legs, and indeed the sacrum can become stuck put of position which can cause major painful conditions.

During the day there were some great techniques that focused releasing the erector spinae (the group of muscles that sit either side of the spine), pelvic muscles as these interact with the ilia that have a direct impact on the sacrum and some delightful new ways to reach specific muscles that have a key role in the health of the spine (I'm thinking of the Quadratus Lumborum and Psoas here).  Also a couple of rather lovely whole spine techniques that relax everything all the way up.  I'm not going to go into the specifics of the techniques (you'll have to go to the course to find out or have a treatment from me)

One of the key things that this workshop reminded me about is that less is more: if I'm straining then I'm pushing too hard and in fact some of the greatest and most profound releases happen when I exert little pressure.  It is a lesson that is worth learning again and again, as coming from a massage background, it is hard to remember that deep pressure is not always needed.

I feel like I came away from the workshop with techniques that I will use immediately. As I learnt things I could feel myself drawing up a list of clients that this technique would be good for, and they will hopefully benefit from them the next time I see them. In fact I've seen and worked on two regulars who liked what I had done and saw the difference in their life.

There can always be more ways to treat the spine (as there are so many things that can go wrong) so this workshop could probably be a week long course and we'd still want to know more.  In fact I already know I will be signing up for more workshops (The Advanced Upper & Lower Body 2 day courses come to mind) with them next year, after I've done the ones that I have already signed up for later this year.