Healing Art of Deep Bodywork®: Opening the Chest, Freeing the Breath and Healing the Neck

There is growing demand for massage practitioners who have mastered the art of moving deeply into the body with skill and sensitivity. As we open the body’s deeper soft tissue layers, “stuck” energy in the form of shortened, hardened tissue is mobilized, making this energy available to support us in the process of healing.

This seminar will focus on healing the neck from chronic and acute pain due to injury and postural issues, as well as freeing the chest and ribs with the intent of opening the vital function of breath. The capacity to fully expand our chests in taking a full, free breath is perhaps the body’s most important tool in unwinding the ongoing stress we accumulate in life. Restriction in this vital capacity can lead to collapsing of the chest, a forward leaning posture of the neck and head, and chronic pain in many areas of the upper body as a secondary result. Our capacity to deal with emotional stress can be severely limited if breath is restricted in its vital, healing function. We will understand through our discussion of relevant anatomy how an open chest balances the shoulder girdle, providing an organized base for the neck and head. We will look at the structural complexity of the neck in understanding why injury to this vital area can be so difficult to heal. Prerequisite for this program is experience as a professional bodyworker, or completion of at least 150 hours of training in basic massage. This course offers 32 continuing education credits for massage.

Recommended viewing and reading: The Healing Art of Deep Bodywork DVD series, available at www.deepbodywork.com; Juhan, Job’s Body.

CE credit for nurses;

CE credit for massage;

CE credit pending from CAB for acupuncturists (Course Category 1);