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Kinesis Myo-Fascial Integration - Structural
Integration - Overview
After 8 years of experience and study and search,
I have found KMI Structural Integration to be the #1 modality
to achieve physical health and wellbeing. I have been a Registered
Massage therapist, Physical Therapist, Wholistic Nutritionist
and studied a number of therapies and by far, Structural integration
for myself and my clients achieves the most results. Clients have
reported feeling younger, more comfortable in their skin, decrease
or elimination of chronic pain, Renewed Emotional balance and
to many others to name. Hands down, Structural integration Works!
KMI (Kinesis Myofascial Integration) Structural
Integration was developed by Thomas Myers from the pioneering
work of Dr Ida P Rolf and Rolfing. and is based around the Anatomy
Trains Myofascial Meridians. Consisting of a multi-session
protocol (usually 3 or 12 session) KMI's goal is to unwind the
strain patterns, that are residing in your body, restoring it
to its natural balance, alignment, length, and ease. By using
deep, slow, fascial and myofascial manipulation, coupled with
movement re-education, KMI can achieve a deeper, longer lasting
significant change.
When we are injured or stressed, no matter what
the source of the stress, there is a neuro-muscular response –
usually involving some combination of contraction, retraction,
immobility, and often rotation. These patterns put some muscles
under strain (so that they develop painful trigger points) and
also pulls at the fascial fabric, requiring it to shift, thicken,
glue itself to surrounding structures, and otherwise compensate
for the excess sustained muscular holding. Especially when there
are chronic and long-held patterns, it is not enough to simply
release the muscular holding, even though that is definitely a
good start. Freeing and repositioning the fascial fabric, along
with re-integration of the movement patterns so that they stay
easily in their proper positioning, is the aim of KMI.
What to expect from each KMI Structural
Integration session
The KMI process begins with a fairly extensive
interview about your history and current habits. Most KMI
sessions are done in underwear or a bathing suit, Your practitioner
will usually want to observe you standing
and walking before the sessions start, to assess your current
structural patterns. There is the option to take photos in order
to create a visual record of the ‘before’ and ‘after’
for both you and the practitioner, since there can be
visible changes in your shape and how you feel.
The KMI work itself is done on a treatment table,
or for certain moves on a specialized bench. The
practitioner will use his fingers, hands or forearm to contact
certain tissues, and then ask you to move in specific
ways while these tissues are opened and repositioned.
The process of opening our myofascial tissues can
be ‘sensation-ful’’: involving feelings of stretch,
or
perhaps some burning, as in yoga stretch or when exercising long
unused muscles. The level of this sensation
is in your control, and entirely up to you. Pain, if the sensation
gets that far, should be short and bearable.
Please converse with your practitioner to find the right level
of depth for you that allows the maximum value
from each session consistent with your comfort and acceptance.
The idea is to achieve a balanced body that is
pain-free. You may have to feel some of the stored pain as it
is released from your body, especially in
traumatized areas.
Traumatized tissue can also contain emotional pain.
Although we are not practicing psychologists, your KMI
practitioner has been trained to sensitively work with you around
these releases as they relate to your body
structure. Again, feel free to work with your practitioner to
find the right level of work for you. Emotional feelings
related to the work may come up during the sessions or between
them.
Each KMI session deals with a different fascial
plane or set of relationships in the body, progressively
working around the body and from superficial to deep and back
again. Your practitioner may not work where
you are reporting the symptoms, as the patterns that feed that
problem are body-wide. A whiplash, for instance,
is a problem of the neck for some days, a problem of the whole
spine within a few weeks, and is linked to a
whole body pattern within a few months.
It is not unusual to have odd feelings – physical
or emotional – between sessions. Please contact your
practitioner if they are cause for concern. Often, old long-forgotten
pains will resurface for a time (this is a
positive sign that the process of unwinding is well underway).
Your practitioner has a short pamphlet, “Getting
the Most from Your KMI Sessions”, which can be helpful.
View your KMI series as a project, with a beginning,
middle and an end: not an ongoing and endless therapy.
Clients often return after there series for either the 3 or 12-series,
or once or twice a year for a ‘tune up’ session to
ease the effects of external stress of there day to day life.
Others simply move ontop a maintenance/workout routine (such as
yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, Feldenkrais) appropriate for them.
The 12 Session Series
The KMI 12 series is a dynamic and multifaceted
approach at restructuring your body through deep intentional bodywork.
There is no simple way to describe KMI that will allow you to
grasp its effects and benefits that are not only physical, but
also can be emotional. There is no list of conditions it can help
as individuals who have received the treatment have seen almost
any multitude of symptoms lesson or disappear. This is because
of the body’s reliance on balance for its function. The
overall goal of the 12 series is rebalancing the human Structure
over itself and in gravity. Because most issues are structural
in nature, Structural integration will most likely have a lasting
beneficial effect on your overall health, wellbeing and resilience..
To generalize the 12 session series, it is broken
down into 3 parts and 4 session increments. Part one collectively
focuses on preparing the body for deeper work. By opening and
freeing superficial tissues, a change begins to happen and deeper
issues begin to show. . The following 4 sessions can now address
the newly accessible deepest tissues of the body where we typically
hold the core of our issues. Finally the last, but certainly not
the least, part 3's main focus is "giving it back" to
the client or integrating the new changes into the whole body.
Expectations are hard to quantify, as human beings
are all so individual. . So if you are thinking “will this
help me” My answer is, Yes! But to break down my experience
with my clients, I find that there is a bell curve on effectiveness
and lasting results. 15% of my clients experience a wonderful
life changing result that they are unsure of how they lived prior
to those sessions. Another 30% experience great and wonderful
changes that last for some time. Another 30% experience great
changes at first and some stay and some go. 15% feel good after
a session or notice some change, but are unsure of any long term
effects. And lastly, 10% notice very little to no change. These
outcomes are of course attributed to various factors such as physical,
mental and emotional stress, spacing of sessions, commitment,
cause of issues, and so on.
For a more in-depth analysis of each session we
will break down the sessions one by one.
Session 1
This session involves a number of factors. Physically the work
focuses on the superficial front line and breath. Mentally and
emotionally it is the beginning of change. Collectively it is
a time for the practitioner and client to introduce themselves
and their expectations and qualities. The practitioner should
discover a number of key factors that will help determine the
directions of this and following sessions. How is the client’s
nervous system (parasympathetic, sympathetic), Quality of the
tissue, movements and what is these pain threshold. This session
is thought of as an uplifting session as we are lifting and brining
the tissue up the front of the body, but also because we are freeing
the breath and allowing the body to obtain more life giving oxygen.
Session 2
This session can now build on the relationship developed in session
one. Its physical focus is on the Superficial back line, contacting
the tissue in a much deeper level then the first session. This
session is thought of as a grounding session as we are bringing
the tissue down the back of the body. mentally and emotionally,
the back of the body is thought of as "no", we turn
away from issues we are uncomfortable and this may hold some of
that in the tissue.
Session 3
While sessions one and two consisted of the front and back which
can be associated with movement and yes and no, sessions three
focues on opening up and balancing the lateral line of the body
which is your stability and can project uncertainty. Completion
of the lateral line usually brings about a feeling of conclusion
and uplift that the client might have been lacking in the previous
sessions. Mentally and emotionally the side of the body is "maybe"
and may contain some indecision.
Session 4
A revisiting of the previous areas in another approach, session
4’s focus is on the spiral line’s effects on superficial
rotations, shoulder blade placement, and the arches of the feet.
It is also a time to revisit any area’s of the first 3 sessions
that may need more attention and opening.
Session 5
Direction now changes as we focus on the deeper core of the body.
With the superficial fascia freed from sessions 1-4, session five
goals are the releases of the now obtainable lower half of the
Deep front line or core and build core support and reduce any
effect the deep core may play on the organs from below. Physically
this is from the inside Arch, up the inseam of the leg leading
to the adductors, contacting the pelvic floor and ending at the
hip flexor muscles. Even though it is the lower half of the body
that has been worked, clients often experience a great lifting
up through their whole body. Mentally and emotionally this deeper
tissue can hold more unresolved issues then superficial tissue
as most of the time we are contacting areas that have rarely been
addressed before. This area can be emotionally connected to ones
sexuality and sexual events can sometimes be held in this tissue.
Session 6
A continuation of the deep front line up the body, session 6 focuses
on the “abdominal balloon” and it relationship with
organ function and breath. Physically this covers the some of
the territory in the previous session with work on the hip flexors,
and moves up to the recutus abdominis, Diaphragm, pectoralis fascia,
ribs and shoulders. Mentally and emotionally this session connects
tissue that can hold a wide ray of emotions. Personally for me,
great loss and abandonment is held in these tissues. A feeling
of lift and new found freedom is experienced after these two sessions
on the deep core.
Session 7
A revisiting of session 2 in a substantially deeper level, session
7's overall goal is to balance out the release of the deep front
line lift that has now been created by session 6. Specific physical
goals are alignment of the body over itself that allow the primary
and secondary curves of the spine and body to be in balance. Lastly,
but certainly not least, the focus turns to the freeing and balance
of the sacrum. Mentally and emotionally I believe this tissue
can hold “containment”....
Session 8
Session 8 is considered the apex session of the series. The end
of the “core” sessions as the previous 3 sessions
have build the base for the success of the final core session.
The focus of this session is physically confided to a small area,
but the goals are not small in anyway. The focus is on the alignment
and position of the head and a release of the jaw and the upper
portion of the digestive track, but the effects can be global;
effecting digestion, breath, blood flow, expression and more.
Freeing the superficial fascia of the neck, the session then attempts
to balance the head laying the ground to release the jaw and face
stripping away any “masks” that may be held. Moving
interior orally and finally ending with the nasal septum. Mentally
and emotionally a great deal of emotions can be held here. It
is a sacred place, which can hold a great deal of emotion related
to almost anything. We use are face to express or mask our true
intentions and feelings.
Session 9
Now that the legs, hips and torso and head have been addresses,
focus on placing the arms and shoulders on the torso begins.
Session 10-12
While the previous sessions have been on differentiation and creating
space, the final 3 sessions goal is to integrate the newly freed
tissues together to create a more harmonious you. The integration
sessions are also very important as they allow the body to more
readily accept the new changes and help maintain a lasting change.
The KMI 3 series
The KMI 3-series is a great introduction to structural bodywork.
The full KMI program (a 12-session series)
works its way through your body in a more detailed and thorough
way. The 3-series will use the same
principles and techniques to address the pelvis girdle and legs,
the upper body and the shoulders, and the neck
and spine respectively, giving you a good introduction to yourself
and the method. For the best results, we
recommend the full 12-series, but you will definitely get a good
idea of the direction and the results from this
initial 3-series.
View your KMI series as a project, with a beginning,
middle and an end: not an ongoing and endless therapy.
Clients often return after this series for the full 12-series,
or once or twice a year for a ‘tune up’ session to
ease
the effects of life.
Pricing
The Cost is 120 dollars a session. Each session is 1 hour to 1
hour and 30 minutes long.
What should you wear during a session?
Ideally comfortable, hugging underwear or a 2 piece bathing suit
should be worn for the body reading and the session, but as always
we will work around your comfort level. Shorts and a tank top
or sports bra are always an option. The idea is to have the greatest
access to the body but also have the client be as comfortable
as possible.
Can Structural Integration Help you?
KMI is a wonderful ‘tonic’ for your posture and movement.
Do not undertake KMI without medical permission if needed, and
let your practitioner know about anything medical that might be
relevant to your sessions. KMI can be remarkably effective for
chronic pain patterns of a structural nature, but is not designed
as a ‘curative’ for any disease or as a ‘first
aid’ remedy for recent injury or as a substitute for medical
attention where needed. Check with your practitioner if you are
unsure whether KMI is contraindicated for your situation.
With that said, I believe Structural Integration
can aid almost anyone with almost any issue. The reason for this
is that structure effects function. the fact is, imbalances are
waste energy and restrict movement of fluids in th body. Movement
of Blood, Lymph, hormones and so on all affect overall wellbeing
and health. If cells can't get the food, oxygen, waste removal,
hormones and more that they need then they can't function. If
this happens, a cell goes into hibernation mode and shuts down
all functions not directly related to its own survival and stops
working for the whole system, the human being.
With any issue, the question should always be, "What
caused it?" Not what the symptoms are as symptoms are the
result of the issue and not the cause. There is a saying "typically
it is where it aint" and it is true 99% of the time. KMIs
Structural Integration 12 session approach leaves "no stone
unturned" as it methodically moves through the entire body
revealing the layers of compensation leading to the center of
the issues.
How often should I have sessions?
Typically the best results are obtained with 1 session a week.
More or less frequent is also possible. We will work with your
availability and financial situation.
How do imbalances form?
Common strain patterns come about from inefficient movement habits
and our body's response to daily stresses. Individual strain patterns
come from imitation of significant others when we were young,
from the invasions of injury or surgery or birth, and from our
body's response to traumatic episodes. What starts as a simple
gesture of response can become a neuro-muscular habit. These habitual
movements form one's posture, and the posture eventually changes
the structure of the body's connective tissue or 'fabric'.
When we are injured or stressed, no matter what
the source of the stress, there is a neuro-muscular response –
usually involving some combination of contraction, retraction,
immobility, and often rotation. These patterns put some muscles
under strain (so that they develop painful trigger points) and
also pulls at the fascial fabric, requiring it to shift, thicken,
glue itself to surrounding structures, and otherwise compensate
for the excess sustained muscular holding. Especially when there
are chronic and long-held patterns, it is not enough to simply
release the muscular holding, even though that is definitely a
good start. Freeing and repositioning the fascial fabric, along
with re-integration of the movement patterns so that they stay
easily in their proper positioning, is the aim of KMI.
Testimonails
"After 10 yrs of ongoing rehab and multiple sugeries following
a motor vehicle accident plus several other physical traumas,
chronic pain is quickly becoming a distant memory thanks to the
structural integration techniques of Bryon Brewster. The KMI methodology
he follows is thoughtful and efficient. Because of Bryon's passionate
approach and attention to detail I can say with confidence that
there is a solution to chronic pain associated with structure
and biomechanic instabilities! Thanks to Bryon's work there is
hope for a painfree existence! Thanks Bryon!! "
Melissa Rudat
Pilates Instructor
I am a 37 years old professional woman I have suffered
from back pain partly due to degenerative disc disease, and disc
herniations. Over the last 10 years I have seen countless specialists
including; surgeons , physiotherapists, chiropractors, ART therapists.
I have tried dry needling, pain injections ( nerve blocks) prescription
anti inflammatory and countless herbal and holistic alternative
therapies.
I searched out Bryon after attending an Anatomy trains workshop.
I went to him with no expectations on my back pain but more was
interested in feeling someone work the Anatomy trains on my body
to deepen my understanding of anatomy. After the third session
I was amazed at the results. My body started to feel untangled
and more efficient. I have always known what ideal posture is
but I had been so stuck in compensation patterns I have always
struggled to maintain it. After each of the 12 sessions I was
amazed at the changes in my body, my appearance and my energy.
By the end of the series my back pain had reduced by 95%! Skeptical
at first that the changes would last I waited to write this testimonial.
It has been almost 3 months since my last treatment and I am doing
better than ever. My workouts are easier my mood has improved
from being out of constant pain. Thanks Bryon!
Lisa S.
Pilates Studio owner and instructor
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