Ramblemuse^SM Annotated Bibliography for Massage Practitioners

Based on the author's 35 years of movement work, "Offering from the Conscious Body" reveals both the theory and practice of a unique body-based process that is cathartic, creative, healing, and mystical, as presented by Janet Adler, the presiding voice in the field. This Western awareness practice encourages the individual to experience the evolving relationship with oneself, another, the collective, and the divine through the natural impulses of conscious movement, compassionate witnessing, and clear articulation of experience.

Text, for consumers, on improving flexibility. Shows stretching programs for 41 sports. Includes halftone line drawings and guidelines for 311 stretches.

This second edition contains five new chapters on topics such as joint manipulation and chiropractic adjustment, controversial stretches, and stretching for specific conditions.

This book presents an exercise philosophy leading to fitness, firmness, and strength without the sweat and pain that we are often told are necessary for a healthy body.

Going beyond good posture and movement efficiency, Mary Bond presents a unique self-help program of body transformation. Much of what we experience as physical tension or stress is the result of an imbalanced body. When our physical structure is habitually bent, twisted, and compressed, the body glues itself together with tension in order to remain upright. Bond demonstrates how the connective tissue that holds our bodies together is actually very flexible and will, with encouragement, adapt to new, healthy patterns of posture and movement.

Sharon Butler was working as a massage therapist and Hellerwork practitioner when she developed carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis. Unable to sleep through the night because of the pain and concerned about her livelihood, she built upon her knowledge of connective tissue and developed a series of stretching exercises to gently relieve the tension in her body. The book is arranged to help users develop a personalized stretching program with more than 40 stretches for the upper body, forearms, wrists, fingers, and thumbs to choose from. Butler thoroughly explains the importance of stretching and the correct (and incorrect) way to do it, and the exercises are lucidly illustrated.

Emphasis is on basic human anatomy as it relates to external body movement which mainly concerns bones, muscles, and joints. It will be particularly useful to those who deal with integrated or complex movements of the body.

The companion volume to Anatomy of Movement, this book describes and illustrates specific exercises for strengthening each part of the musculoskeletal system. Hundreds of photos and illustrations accompany the text.

The book begins with a description of the functional anatomy of the pelvis, and how it responds to pregnancy and childbirth. This is followed by a series of specific exercises, initially for self-discovery, and then to increase the flexibility, strength, and coordination of the pelvic functions

With a focus on helping clients participate in the self-management of their own treatment, this collection of effective and safe techniques and exercises provides practical information on relaxing muscles in spasm and easing associated muscular pain. Reader-friendly and accessible, it provides numerous exercises that can be used to treat existing conditions or to prevent further injury. While the exercises can be used in a management program under the direction of any therapist involved in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders, they are also ideal for home use so patients can do them without special equipment or the assistance of others.

A clear, easy-to-read book on the importance of posture or body alignment in maintaining appearance, physical function, and preventing muscle and joint pain and disability particularly as we grow older. Book includes postural self-assessment and over one hundred exercises in various short menus to correct and maintain proper body alignment.

Thousands have found renewed health and increased sensory awareness through the Feldenkrais method as explained in "Awareness Through Movement". Here is a way for people of every age to integrate physical and mental development into a new, invigorating wholeness. Feldenkrais provides a modern-day, practical program for the perennial ideal of a healthy mind in a healthy body. His down-to-earth method carefully avoids any mystical component and never obliges any pupil to master abstruse theories. Exercises for posture, eyes, imagination, and more will simultaneously build better body habits and focus new dimensions of awareness, self-image, and human potential.

Destined to become a classic text and reference, Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery shows you how to use imaging techniques to improve posture and alignment and release excess tension. The book's 195 illustrations will help you visualize the images and exercises and show you how to use them in a variety of contexts. Part I of "Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery" discusses the origins and uses of imagery and includes 36 exercises that demonstrate dynamic alignment in practice. You'll explore the importance of posture and dynamic alignment and discover how to use imagery to affect body movement. Part II explains the biomechanical and anatomical principles behind complex imagery and illustrates 52 exercises to bring these principles to life. You'll learn how to use basic physics to create a strong yet fluid balance in your muscles and joints. Part III provides 250 anatomical imagery exercises to help you fine-tune alignments and increase body awareness. The exercises focus on different regions of the body — the pelvis, hips, knees, lower legs, spine, shoulders, arms, hands, head, and neck — as well as on breathing. You can select specific images to address individual needs or follow the sequence presented in the book. Part IV provides 23 holistic exercises to sculpt and improve alignment in various positions — standing, supine, and sitting. These exercises will help you establish a body image that facilitates dynamic alignment and releases excess tension. By practicing the techniques described in Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery, you'll tap into the power of imagery and create better movement.

A foolproof guide to releasing shoulder and neck tension, this book shows how imagery and touch can be used to eliminate stiffness and pain. It provides simple and effective exercises that can be done at home, at work, or on the road. Sufferers of upper body pain will learn how to detect and eradicate early signs of tension by better understanding the connection between emotional states and tension. These individuals will learn how to survive stressful situations calmly and without tensing a single muscle. An explanation of the anatomy of the shoulders provides a better understanding of how improving the alignment of the head, neck, and shoulders will ease the strain on muscles and joints and promote an aura of confidence and health.

Combining scientific principles with movement and imagery exercises that are both effective and fun, this book demonstrates how to create a stronger body by toning the pelvic floor. Focusing on the biomechanics of the pelvic floor, which acts as a support for the inner organs and contains a passage for the urethra, the sex organs, and the rectum, this guide shows how the pelvic floor plays an important role in almost all movements, balance, and body posture. The exercises train the muscles and joints and improve the tone of the organs, thereby increasing energy flow, eliminating incontinence, and keeping sexual organs healthy. The mind-body techniques are used to increase awareness of this part of the body and to improve sexual stamina.

The mental technique of imagery — demonstrated, for example, when a dancer pictures a sunflower reaching toward the sun as he/she stretches upward — is thoroughly explained in this guide to daily stress-relieving routines. Movement, coordination, flexibility, and posture are discussed as external characteristics that can be improved significantly with a strong inner focus, and the same conclusion is reached in chapters on the benefits of good mental health for circulation, breathing, and even individual body cells. Practical advice proceeds from this background information, including how to choose and use an assortment of personal mental images, how to use tricks such as "mental recycling," and how to set up an imagined "portable fitness studio" during stress-inducing dead time waiting in line, climbing stairs, sitting in an airplane seat, talking on the telephone, or running the vacuum cleaner.

This richly illustrated book presents, for the first time in English, a detailed and practical introduction to traditional Thai medical massage. It begins with a discussion of the theories of Thai medicine and how they have been influenced by Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. Clear and easy-to-follow descriptions are given of all the varied techniques involved-- techniques which can be used alone, in conjunction with other forms of massage, or to facilitate yoga and other meditation practices.

Daria Halprin presents a comprehensive approach to healing through movement and art that has been practiced at the Tampala Institute in California for over twenty years. Interweaving art and psychology, she offers a philosophy and methodology to deal with life's challenges. She suggests that through the integration of the physical, the emotional and the mental realms, real change is possible. In this essential resource for anyone interested in expressive arts therapy, Halprin also presents case studies and a selection of the exercises in movement, drawing and poetry that she has developed during her career.

The groundbreaking program for healthy aging through movement and flexibility. In the revolutionary "Somatics", Thomas Hanna demonstrates that so many problems we accept as inevitable over time — chronic stiffness, bad back, chronic pain, fatigue, and even high blood pressure — need never occur if we maintain conscious control of nerve and muscle, a state which Hanna calls sensory-motor awareness. This gentle, lifelong program can help almost anyone maintain the pleasures of a supple, healthy body indefinitely, with only a five-minute routine once a day.

Fully updated with information and enhanced learning aids that increase the readability and value of the text. Like its predecessor, the new edition provides a balanced introduction to each of the major biophysical subdisciplines of kinesiology: anatomy, biomechanics, and more!

This comprehensive guide introduces Body-Mind Centering, the internationally recognized field pioneered by dancer and occupational therapist Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. Devoting thirty-five years to a systematic investigation of the relations between bodily experience and the anatomical maps of science, Bainbridge Cohen independently discovered many of the principles that underlie Feldenkrais work, cranial osteopathy, Rolfing, dance therapy, and Zero Balancing. Experienced BMC practitioner Linda Hartley demonstrates the basic philosophy and key elements of Body-Mind Centering. Drawing on animal and infant movements, she takes readers through the wondrous realms of Bainbridge Cohen’s pantheon—from the “minds” of the skeletal and muscular systems to the quite different inner lives of digestive, lymphatic, urinary, respiratory, vocal, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive organs. Her choreography ultimately brings us into the states of consciousness of skins, cells, blood, fat, cerebrospinal fluid, nervous system, and brain. Hartley’s explorations of the images, feelings, sensations, and intuitions of the diverse organs and cells lead to exercises that gently guide students in ways of discovering and integrating their bodies’ multidimensional aspects.

Relevant insights on teaching the body and learning from it from a noted aikidoist. The body’s innate capacity for feeling, intuition, and compassioni can enable us to heal our physical and emotional wounds. In The Anatomy of Change, Richard Heckler draws on Aikido and Lomi Body Work to demonstrate how a set of practices can bring new awareness and choice into our daily life.

Whatever your level of fitness, "Step-by-Step Tai Chi" offers a simple but effective program of exercise and stress reduction, based on the ancient Chinese art of Tai Chi. In addition to learning the fundamentals of Tai Chi through his carefully designed four-level program, Master Lam Kam Chuen will introduce you to Small Circle Form Tai Chi, an original method he has developed — based on classical Tai Chi styles — requiring a minimum of time and space. "Step-by-Step Tai Chi" features detailed and easy-to-follow instruction for the basic movements of Tai Chi, plus Small Circle Form, complete with color illustrations that will guide you through every movement.

A 174 page perfect bound soft covered book explores somatic awareness as an active and essential element of movement education. Shifting the standard mechanical paradigm within the movement arts and fitness training to a wholistic perspective, "Core Awareness: Enhancing Yoga, Pilates, Exercise & Dance" focuses on cultivating awareness as the vital key for preventing injury while developing flexibility, increasing strength and cultivating resiliency. Includes self-help explorations for developing inner somatic awareness.

Moving Medicine is an exuberant story of the inspired life of a major innovator on bodywork and health, Dr. Milton Trager: his journey from muscle-happy beach acrobat, boxer, dancer and local Miami celebrity, through the discovery of his healing gift, to his stature today as the internationally recognized genius of a major bodywork system based on "freedom and lightness" of body and mind. Along the way we learn of his successes in rehabilitating "hopeless" cases ( such as polio, MS, and osteoarthritis), his founding of an institute that has taught thousands who have brought benefit to many more thousands, and his discovery of a remarkably easy and straightforward approach to movement reeducation.

Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) is one of the methods of stretching most used by today's athletes, massage therapists, personal/athletic trainers, and professionals. Active Isolated Stretching allows the body to repair itself and also to prepare for daily activity. The Active Isolated Stretching technique involves the method of holding each stretch for only two seconds. This method of stretching is also known to work with the body's natural physiological makeup to improve circulation and increase the elasticity of muscle joints and fascia.

This textbook aimed for massage therapy, athletic training, and other related courses; reference for sports medicine and fitness professionals, therapists, coaches, and athletes. The third edition of “Facilitated Stretching” is now revised, reorganized, and packaged with a DVD—surpassing its popular predecessor as the best source for the latest PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) stretching techniques. Facilitated Stretching, Third Edition, provides a useful overview of PNF stretching—a safe and easy-to-use method that involves stretching the muscle, contracting it isometrically against resistance, then stretching it again to a new range of motion. These steps apply whether you are isolating one muscle at a time or using the spiral-diagonal patterns of PNF to stretch groups of muscles simultaneously. The third edition contains all the great features of the previous edition, plus the following: a companion DVD that demonstrates live stretching techniques from the book for a clearer understanding; new stretching routines for a variety of popular activities including running, golf, swimming, cycling, and throwing and racket sports; general stretches and stretches for older participants; stretching activities with added strength work using stability balls and elastic bands; and stretching and strengthening tips for dealing with and even preventing common soft-tissue injuries. The new edition has also been reorganized using a regional approach to presenting muscle group functions around specific joints. You will learn how to stretch each major muscle in the body, both individually and in groups. In addition, you will discover how to appropriately use group pattern stretches to improve flexibility and coordination and individual muscle stretches to relax tight muscles and break up adhesions within or between muscles. Instruction is provided for using the techniques on your own or with a partner. More than 350 photographs showing the progression of stretches enrich the book while the new 60-minute DVD demonstrates the stretches and strengthening exercises in even more detail. Icons are featured throughout the text, indicating which exercises are demonstrated on the DVD. A unique binding also allows you to lay the book flat while performing the exercises without losing your place. The DVD serves as a great visual tool for improving your technique and getting the most out of your routines.

This comprehensive movement program uses the story of biological evolution as a tool to increase strength, flexibility, and body awareness. Readers learn to “unlearn” inherited bodily habits by embodying the many forms that life has expressed on Earth — from the single cell to the human being — and shifting their perception. Through this evolutionary movement, the body’s native intelligence is revived and new movements can be learned, enabling the body to overcome chronic musculoskeletal complaints such as lower back, shoulder, and neck pain, and to meet whatever challenges it is faced with.

BodyStories is a book that engages the general reader as well as the serious student of anatomy. Thirty-one days of learning sessions heighten awareness about each bone and body system and provide self-guided studies. The book draws on Ms. Olsen's thirty years as a dancer and teacher of anatomy to show how our attitudes and approaches to our body affect us day to day. Amusing and insightful personal stories enliven the text and provide ways of working with the body for efficiency and for healing. BodyStories is used as a primary text in college dance departments, massage schools, and yoga training programs internationally.

In this inspiring guide, Peter Ralston presents a program of "physical education" for anyone interested in body improvement. Using simple, clear language to demystify the Zen mindset, he draws on more than three decades of experience teaching students and apprentices worldwide who have applied his body-being approach. More of a transformative guide than a specific list of exercises devoted to any particular physical approach, "Zen Body-Being" explains how to create a state of mental control, enhanced feeling-awareness, correct structural alignment, increased spatial acuity, and even a greater interactive presence. Exercises are simple, often involving feeling-imagery and meditative awareness, which have a profound and sometimes instant effect. Where similar guides teach readers what to do, this book teaches readers how to "be".

Back Care Basics offers the low-cost solution for back care in the new millenium: therapeutic yoga. Dr. Schatz's approach to back rehabilitation is gentle, effective, and without drugs or surgery. Her program encourages both positive health practices and a positive outlook; the important tools needed for prevention and healing. Dr. Schatz has designed this program to help those with pain from chronic musculoskeletal back and neck strain, spinal arthritis, osteoporosis, premenstrual syndrome, pregnancy, and scoliosis. Simple and practical ways to heal the back, restructure the body, and cope with stress are taught so that one becomes more sensitive to early warning signs of an impending "back attack" and what to do to ward it off.

Feel balanced, centered, and coordinated, increase flexibility, eliminate pain, and become free of life's negativity - through the spirit and practice of yoga. With simple instruction, illustrations and photographs; world-renowned yoga master Erich Schiffman reveals how yoga is a way of moving into stillness to experience the truth of who you are. Be inspired by the words of this thoughtful yoga teacher. Includes more than 100 poses and yoga routines; a complete program of meditation; exercises that will awaken joy, and much more!

How does movement proceed and how can it be performed with greater efficiency? This book focuses on the interdependence of postural alignment and the performance of movement. The author, whose method of teaching body balance and efficient movement has been the result of many years of research and teaching, offers a point of view and methodology at odds with the generally employed methods of teaching posture, fitness, sport, rehabilitation or any of the performing arts. Students of dance, drama, physical education, as well as practitioners in the health care field will find this a valuable learning tool. Originally published by Harper & Row in 1974.

A classic study of physiology and the effect of psychological processes on movement that has a mind/body approach, which makes it a favorite of dancers.

One of the dirty secrets of the fitness world is that for all the talk about the importance of stretching, many athletes and other fit people don't bother with it. It's hard to gauge the benefits, and it seems as if the time could be better spent running, lifting weights, or perfecting sports skills. This sentiment is expressed by Dr. Bob Arnot in the foreword to "The Whartons' Stretch Book," and he says that the Whartons changed his mind. He went to them with a stiffened hip that he thought needed surgery, but after a regimen using the active-isolated stretching technique, his flexibility in that hip had increased 40 percent. Active-isolated stretching is very different from what your high-school gym teacher made you do. Rather than holding a stretch for a half-minute, you hold it for just two seconds. This prevents the muscle from activating an instinctual braking device to keep itself from overstretching. Traditional stretching forces that braking to occur, and the Whartons think that's not only counterproductive, but dangerous. If you force too deep a stretch while the muscle is doing all it can to keep itself from being stretched, something's got to give. And a torn muscle will repair itself with scar tissue, ultimately making that muscle less flexible. The Whartons--a father-and-son personal-training team who've worked with many pro athletes and Olympic medalists--show you how to use their stretches to prepare for dozens of sports, from aerobics to wrestling. Nonathletes get an entire section of the book, which describes stretch routines to get your body feeling better after prolonged driving, sitting, standing, and word processing. The routines are a bit on the longish side--20 minutes or more--but it doesn't seem like much time when you think of how long you have to live in your body, and how much better it will feel if you keep it supple and flexible. --Lou Schuler