Visceral Manipulation Therapy
Visceral Manipulation Therapist Serving Leduc And Edmonton, AB
"Viscera" relates to the internal organs of the body, such as the liver, kidneys, and intestines. Visceral Manipulation is a gentle manual therapy that aids your body's ability to release restrictions and unhealthy compensations that cause pain and dysfunction. Emotional Manipulation, or VM, does not focus solely on the site of pain or dysfunction but evaluates the entire body to find the source of the problem. The visceral manipulation therapist feels for altered or decreased motion within the viscera, as well as restrictive patterns throughout the body, and then apply visceral manipulation techniques. Visceral manipulation therapy re-establishes the body's ability to adapt and restore itself to health.
How do Organs Contribute to Pain and Dysfunction?
Your body is made up of many interrelated components such as bones, muscles, nerves, a thin connective tissue called fascia, as well as internal organs (viscera). Your organs are in perpetual motion. When you breathe, walk and stretch, your organs move in your chest and abdomen. For example, when you take a breath, your kidneys move one inch; and with a deep inhalation, they move 4 inches. In a day, they run a little over a ½ mile. That's around 19,000 miles in a lifetime!
This movement of organs is transmitted through fascia to other structures of the body. When you are healthy, all the structures move with an interconnected fluidity. All of this movement is important as it influences activities throughout the body from the tiniest cellular pulsations to rhythmic contractions of the heart and blood flow. Optimum health relies on a harmonious relationship between the motions of the organs and other structures of the body.
There are many reasons for an organ to lose its mobility: physical traumas, surgeries, sedentary lifestyle, infections, pollution, bad diet, poor posture, and pregnancy/delivery. When an organ is no longer freely mobile but fixed to another structure, the body is forced to compensate. This disharmony creates set, abnormal points of tension and the chronic irritation gives way to functional and structural problems throughout the body – musculoskeletal, vascular, nervous, urinary, respiratory, and digestive, to name a few.
Moreover, as in line with most Eastern medical philosophies, the viscera has the potential to store emotions from physical events or accidents, as well and emotional and psychological trauma. Through Visceral Emotional Release, I can identify stored emotion in the body and help energetically and physically dissipate the long-term effects of such holding patterns. My specific approach to this style of treatment blends Chinese Meridian Therapy, with the techniques I have learned through my long-term study with the Beijing Medicine Institute.