Movement and sensation are interdependent, two sides of the same coin. In order to learn a new motor skill in our body we must first feel it. This feeling of movement is called “kinesthesia,” the kinesthetic sense. Once we know the feeling of something it becomes second nature.

A good example is how we learned to ride a bicycle by distinguishing balance.

Once we acquired that sense of balance, we had the basic motor skill which we could refine over time.

We often think of muscular movement as being organized by the brain. However, to feel our movement, we use muscles as sense organs. In this way, the movements of the muscles organize the brain.

This interdependency of movement and feeling establishes patterns of muscular use within a “sensory matrix,” which become the building blocks of our movement. This sensory matrix establishes that familiar feeling in our movement.

However, if what feels right isn’t the optimal way to perform a movement, or is dysfunctional in a way that injures us, our body doesn’t know this, it only knows what feels familiar.

Once the familiar feeling is established, we must first feel something different to change the way we move.

Through the use of gentle, fluid, rhythmic movement, we touch the sensory patterns and coax the body into new, unique, pleasurable feeling states. These feeling states inform the body of new movement possibilities.

The student learns to attend to the client in a way that allows their motor state to inform the feeling state of the client and the feeling state of the client informs the motor state of the practitioner. This symbiotic relationship is the core of the work.

Integration of technique and approach with Swedish massage is explored. Students will learn to perform a full body motion palpation routine.

Students will learn motion palpation techniques for each body region, the joints of that body region, and how to integrate the techniques into a flowing full body routine that can be used either as a stand alone therapy or integrated with other massage routines.