Saturday before last, I had a new client come in. He was referred by a friend of his father who is an old client of mine and very active athlete of about 50. This new client is a baseball pitcher who is a junior in high school and being scouted by the colleges. He was told that his hips were too tight and he needed to get more flexibility and power into those hips.
I smiled and started talking about my work. I take 30-45 minutes in the first session to make sure that we are on the same page and that they understand what we are about to do. A few days earlier, I was sitting in the car with my favorite special needs lawyer and I heard her to say to a friend, “…needs drive goals, goals drive plans, plans drive treatment, treatment creates results, results are compared to goals…” Bingo. Let’s make sure I understand your goal so we can build a plan together.
I explained that trigger points restrict the ability to contract, which reduces power. Trigger points also restrict stretch to reduce flexibility. I further explained that we could address the underlying patterns by addressing problems in the craniosacral mechanism to create and integrative body that becomes more self-correcting. We agreed on a plan. We decided to work on some underlying postural reflexes first before any direct work on his hips.
I worked on his cranium for about an hour. I worked to release the restriction in torsion patterns of the SBS mechanism. I know, most of you are hearing… I worked, blah, hour, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, as usual, I was testing my cranial releases to see when I got the pelvic shift that I needed. At the end of those releases, I got him up to check his gait. Too much extension. I put him back on the table again, worked for a few minutes and had him walk again. His father said that it was the first time that his son was not walking on his toes that he could ever remember. I learned the parts to that pattern and how to release it from the cranium while working with special needs children.
They came back last Saturday. He had hit his first home-run in practice after the session. It was his FIRST TIME EVER to knock one out of the park. He was so happy. His dad said that he was still not walking on his toes and was really pleased. He could see the connection between goals, plans, treatment and results. I was pretty darn happy too. It’s a great job.
Tony Preston has written and taught about anatomy, trigger points and cranial therapies since the mid-90s. He has a practice in Atlanta, Georgia where he sees clients.
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The Body Guild.org
(404) 226-1363
tony@thebodyguild.org
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