Here’s a New Year’s resolution with all the bang for your buck you could possibly want.

My job is to help people get in their bodies so they can be more active. But this year I learned about the one thing we ALL do that’s killing us. No amount of eating good food, exercising, Structural Integration, chiropractic, or drugs can fix it. They don’t even make a dent.

What could possibly be so lethal?

Sitting.

Yes, you read that correctly. I won’t overload you with statistics (see two previous links for the research).

I mean, you don’t really need me to prove it to you, do you? You kinda already knew this was coming. Somewhere in the back of your head, you know all this sitting you’ve been doing can’t be right.

But one of the following untruths is probably holding you back:

1. You think your genetics/athleticism/thin physique will cancel out all the sitting.
2. You think the effects will add up later… Like when you’re old, or something.

See, I’m feeling you on the resistance. I have resistance too. But sadly, neither of the above untruths will save you. Literally nothing can offset the ill effects of sitting. And sitting reduces the effectiveness of insulin in your body immediately. (Hello, diabetes.)

Let’s not beat around the bush. Sitting FEELS BAD, doesn’t it?

I’m not here to convince you to change. I’m here to motivate you past the resistance.

You don’t need to understand everything about why sitting is bad for you. You don’t need to read a bunch of statistics on the mortality of inactivity. You don’t need to sit for one more moment, in fact.

Because there’s an easy fix.

Standing.

Standing (or any other movement) means you’re not sitting. Most people work at a computer all day, so standing is the logical fix to the problem of sitting. Standing automatically boosts your metabolism. You’ll shift your weight, walk around more, do all sorts of micro movements which tell your body:

“I’m alive! I’m not dying!”

Sitting kills you early; movement sets you free. Every hour you choose standing or movement over sitting makes a difference. You can start with 30 minutes a day and work your way up from there.

Since you’ve been sitting most of your life, you’ll need resources to help you make this change. First things first: you need to know the proper positioning for your keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

• The keyboard and mouse should be at the height of your elbow, so that your forearms are level when typing. This prevents strain on your back and shoulders.
• The center of your monitor should be about at eye level. On a laptop, this may not be possible. Remember to look with your eyes, not your whole head.

Easy Ideas to Start Standing Now

• Why and How I Switched to a Standing Desk does a great job of explaining the standing desk idea.
• I’ve used books, boxes, and the inner pot for my rice cooker to prop up my laptop.
• My husband built his own standing-height desk, modeled after his desk at Amazon (he’s no carpenter). He also bought a stool of the appropriate height so he can take sitting breaks.
• You can also buy a standing desk, if you want to throw down a bunch of cash. The cheaper option is to purchase a laptop stand. I just bought this one.

Finally, let’s be practical. You’re not going to start standing all day, every day. If you try this, and it hurts your back and feet, you’ll take it as “proof” that you can’t do it. So start easy. Wear comfy shoes.

Just don’t have that all-or-nothing mentality. Even a little more activity (standing, chair dancing, fidgeting, anything) will help slow the terrible consequences of sitting and inactivity.

Of course, I don’t know everything. What ideas or questions do you have? If you’ve tried standing, what roadblocks and/or successes have you seen?

Of the many things I must do to graduate from my KMI course, getting a Structural Integration series is the best.

Structural Integration is different from massage. It works better. It lasts a lot longer. And the positive changes keep rolling in after you finish your series.

And I’m getting TWELVE sessions!

What I Want From My Series

This is my second full Structural Integration series. Four years ago, my first series breathed life into places I didn’t know existed. I imagine it was like Neo emerging from the Matrix into the real world. (Except it wasn’t as frightening as that. Of course. Because then no one would ever get Structural Integration unless they were the One.)

I expect my experience this time around to be nuanced and subtle, even surprising. I don’t have much in the way of “complaints.” My back hurts sometimes still; that annoys me. And I get injuries I’d rather not have.

I want to increase my stamina, resilience, and poise. Poise makes a good dancer into a sensational dancer. And it makes a good massage therapist into an exceptional one.

My bodywork therapist is Connie Carlson, an assistant in my KMI course. She has a great touch and wealth of knowledge.  I expect I’ll learn a lot from her, too.

Sessions 1-4, Poking the Box

The 12 sessions of the SI series can be broken up into 3 parts. Sessions 1-4 focus on “releasing the sleeve.” What is “the sleeve”?

Today I was reading a book by Seth Godin called “Poke the Box.” It’s a book about starting stuff, being an initiator. That’s what my first 4 sessions have been all about. Of course, I’ve had so much bodywork that “poking the box” this time is a gentle opening of the door. I’ve felt fewer abrupt changes than during my first full series.

With one exception: Between sessions 1-3, I developed an annoying pain in my foot. This foot is torqued, meaning there’s a slight twist from front to back. Interesting, eh? It could be a problem for my dancing (not to mention walking), and that gets me nervous.

But what if this isn’t “bad pain”? What if it’s a sign my body’s making an adjustment? That’s the premise I worked on. Even though I found I could minimize the pain by walking on the outside of my foot, I didn’t do it. That’s another compensation, which is what got my foot into a mess originally.

My premise paid off. By session 4 my foot was less twisted with no pain. Annoying, but worth it. No one ever said starting stuff is easy!

Positive Changes

I shouldn’t admit this, but I look at myself in the mirror a lot. Narcissism, maybe? Surely it’s part curiosity. Staring at myself in the mirror has also brought me a lot of self-acceptance. I definitely recommend it.

So I notice when the contours of my body change. (Like when you work out a lot, you notice greater muscle definition.) I kid you not, my stomach was flatter after a session that included abdominal work. Not flatter as in tighter. Flatter because some of the concave, stuck-down places were released. More importantly, I’m breathing more easily.

Foreshadowing: More abdominal changes take place during sessions 5-8!

In the past several weeks, dancing has felt amazing. I had the same experience in my first series. I’m excited (and relieved) to regain the balance and vigor I lost after my back injury a year ago. It’s been a super frustrating experience getting my dance ability back! I was starting to wonder whether I was good at it in the first place.

Can you relate? Please leave me a comment below!

Poking the box has given me some unexpected results. By the end of session 4, I am definitely anticipating the next 4.

This is such an important question! It deserves a thorough answer. If you’re going to be throwing down a good chunk of cash, you want to make the most of it.

For example, you don’t want to shortchange yourself by starting a series, and then going out of town for 5 weeks.

So, in addition to money, you need to have the following 3 resources:

Time

If you take a long break, the work will lose momentum. Meaning you won’t get the most bang for your buck.

So check your schedule! Especially if you’re getting a Full Series (available in 2012), make sure you don’t have any trips planned.

Additionally, you’ll need to make sure you have a “day of rest” around your session. Your body needs time to readjust after each session. If you feel you are too busy to give yourself a break, then this work might not be best for you right now.

Mental Space

The mind is very much involved in helping to anchor changes in your body. If you are under a high level of stress, you probably don’t have the mental space to give proper attention to your Structural Bodywork Series.

Stress puts a lot of, well, stress on the body. This work also really challenges the body.

If you’ve got a lot going on in your life, it’s worth checking with me for advice on when to get a series.

Physical Capacity

You don’t need to be in good shape to receive a Structural Bodywork series. But your body does need to have enough resilience to adapt to change.

Most people can handle this work fine. Some exceptions: if you’re in poor health, if you’ve had a recent major injury, or if you are in the midst of a hard training program.

If you’re in poor health or have an injury, that needs to be addressed first. Structural bodywork isn’t a cure-all, and the work may be too unbalancing for your system to handle.

But what if you’re really active and don’t have an off-season?

In that case, we should consult directly to see whether you are a candidate for this work. You can email me at body@rebeccabrightly.com.

Got all that? Good, let’s go.

If you’ve got time, mental space, and physical capacity, then let’s get started ASAP! If not, you’ll want to wait until you get your ducks in a row.

But what if I really need some bodywork?

It may not be the right time for you to get a Structural Bodywork series. That’s okay. I have a solution!

I do Myofascial Massage with clients getting ready to receive a Structural Bodywork series. It may not provide the long-term change you’re looking for, but it will definitely start you down the right path. Pave the way, if you will.

Note: I do Structural work primarily, so if I can’t fit you into my schedule, I also have colleagues I can refer you to.

Picture credit here.

“One of the most powerful forms of bodywork I’ve seen.”

That’s what I called it. Waaaay back when I started looking for massage guinea pigs, before I started training.

And the more I train as a KMI practitioner, the more certain I become of that statement. KMI is definitely one of the most powerful ways to integrate the body into a graceful, efficient whole.

Less pain. Better movement and function. Greater resilience.

But how?

Quick story before any geeky “how KMI works” stuff.

This month I’m in KMI school, completing another 75 hours of education on my way to becoming a KMI practitioner.

Last week, as often happens, I was having some random sharp stabby pains around my right sacroiliac joint (at the low-low back, almost near the hip). For me, this all started a year ago when I had a back injury that took me out of work for 2 months.

Since then, I’ve been ‘managing’ the pain with chiropractic, PT exercises, and massage.

But still, my right SI joint bothers me on and off. I massage it sometimes, but that’s only produced short-term relief.

How frustrating, right?

Well, last week, we were learning to treat lateral bends of the back. Scoliosis, as it’s more commonly known in severe cases.

My parter for the day noticed I had a left side bend in my lower back. That means the muscles on that side are shorter, pulling the spine out of alignment.

So, she did the treatment for the side bend, and BOY was that muscle tissue tender over there! It was also super dense, as I imagine it’s been that way for at least a year.

You can see where this is going. I stood up and noticed after a bit of movement that the pain I had was gone!

The funny thing is that she worked on the opposite side and higher than where my symptoms were.

It’s hard to surprise me with bodywork. But sometimes, I still have “aha!” moments of realization about what’s going on in my body. I didn’t know that my spine had begun shifting to the left at the bottom. I don’t know what caused it, but I do know that easing it back to neutral relieved tension I was having lower down.

I’d like to introduce you to my good friend Tensegrity.

Needle Tower from below. None of the bars ever touch!

Tensegrity is a model of how the body holds itself in gravity. Tension (eg fascia and muscles) and integrity (the bones). Without either, you end up as a lump on the floor.

Together, the tension and integrity of the muscles and bones create a dynamic structure of a body that can do the most amazing things.

Until it gets compromised.

KMI Structural Integration makes the most out of tensegrity. I was going to make you a video explaining it, but then I found this. Tom Myers, a pioneer in my field and the creator of KMI, explains it in a user-friendly way and shows you exactly why Structural Integration works.

Of course…

Outside of the larger context of the bodywork I’ve been receiving, I doubt the 10 minute back treatment would have had such great effect on me that day.

That’s why I’m learning the 3-series. It’s like a condensed version on the 12-series. Over 3 sessions of bodywork, I systematically address the whole body. Starting next week, I’ll need guinea pigs to practice on. Interested? You can sign up to receive this work at a very discounted rate.

Meanwhile, does this give you any “aha!” moments? Please share in the comments below what you’ve learned!

Way back when I was in massage school, 3 of my massage instructors took an advanced course called “KMI”.

They were like KMI zombies, only instead of saying, “BRAAAIIIINS!” they couldn’t stop talking about “FASCIAAAAA!”

At first I was indifferent. “Kinesis Myofascial Integration” is hardly an attention-grabbing name. But then I heard it’s a lot like my favorite kind of massage, only much more advanced. And that people often have life-shifting changes after getting a series of 12 sessions.

My favorite kind of massage is Myofascial Massage. I like its slowness, its precision. I like the way the work feels in my hands. And I just love how well people respond to it.

I was so intrigued that there is a kind of bodywork that looked very similar to what I was doing, only much more effective and beneficial. (I imagine a caveman going up to the inventor of the wheel and saying, “Let’s make it out of wood instead of stone!” And then the Earth shakes a little.)

What is “more effective and beneficial”?

One thing that attracted me to KMI is that it's very science-y. In the massage & bodywork field, I run into a lot of magic and woo-woo. KMI is thankfully quite devoid of that. Instead, KMI practitioners must be good at the intuitive, artful side of the method, in addition to the great body of scientific knowledge they acquire.

That’s a damn good question. Because you can’t just go around saying that, like KMI is magic or something.

“More effective and beneficial” means that, for many problems, KMI is a fantastic tool. KMI practitioners are more knowledgeable about the body than most massage therapists. They have great understanding of the mechanics of movement and the underlying causes of pain and dysfunction.

The body is a lot more complicated than you might think.

“It hurts here.” That’s the most common sort of complaint I hear from my clients (after “I’m stressed.”) A typical massage therapist will treat the area you just indicated, often with deep pressure. This sometimes relieves the pain temporarily. It works great for a while.

But there are 15 other things going on in your body in various places that support the pattern which causes the pain. If a therapist can successfully treat all of those, you have a lot better chance of being pain-free for a long time.

Introduction to Fascia (or, Everything Is Connected—Literally)

Fascia (as in Kinesis Myofascial Integration) is connective tissue. Connective tissue is what binds the body together at all levels. There is a myofascial covering an all of the muscles, which blends into the tendons and ligaments, attaching them to the bones. It’s literally everywhere.

Because of a property called thixotropy, fascia tends to get stuck down, shortened, thickened, and bound up when it’s immobile for too long. Or when it’s used improperly.

And when it’s short over here, it causes changes way over there on the other side of the body. Learn more about how this works in my article on tensegrity.

Imagine sitting at the computer for 8 hours a day (some of you don’t have to imagine). This is not a natural body posture, but our bodies morph little by little to support it. The fascia thickens and sticks down where your muscles spend a lot of time contracted or pulled long.

What happens when you finally get up? ARGH! What is that tension I feel in my neck? My legs feel like I’m an old man!

For dancers and other movement enthusiasts, we’re so concerned with having beautiful, natural, and above all, easy movement. When your body morphs to support a primary pattern like slouching, you can see how that interferes.

What about all those years you spent with bad form? Yup, the fascia binds itself up to support poor movement patterns as well. So even as you try to improve, you’ll be held back by the stuckness developed in years past.

How KMI Structural Integration Works

Fascia needs pressure and warmth to undo stuckness and shortening. This is what KMI provides.

KMI practitioners work manually to free the fascia of the muscles. This is slow, sometimes intense, work. The client participates with small movements. This helps free the fascia even more and re-educates your body to have more natural patterns.

KMI practitioners do a lot of postural and movement assessments. They can see where work needs to be done, and whether their efforts have been effective.

KMI practitioners have skills to work with the entire body. Your whole body is covered in muscle. All of it can get bound up and stuck down in bothersome ways.

Clients receive KMI work usually in 3 or 12 sessions. The grandaddy is the “Full Series,” 12 sessions to give you a complete body makeover.

Hence Why I Practice KMI

Sounds pretty freakin’ awesome, doesn’t it? That’s why I took a 500 hour KMI training in 2011.

In my eyes, KMI practitioners are some of the most knowledgeable, professional, and effective therapists. I am honored to be one of them.

Learn more about what I offer and whether Structural Integration is right for you.

What further questions do you have? Post them below, and I’ll give you my best answer.

This January, I started a year-long journey to learn one of the most powerful forms of bodywork I’ve seen. It’s called Kinesis Myofascial Integration, or KMI for short.

It will take 12 weeks, spread throughout the year. That’s 500 hours of training, effectively doubling my massage education. By the end of 2011, I’ll be a certified KMI practitioner.

Do I need people to practice on? Why yes I do…

Things you should know about KMI

KMI is another form of “structural integration” (like Rolfing!). The first thing most people ask is, “Doesn’t that hurt?” The answer is yes, it hurts a little. In order to achieve long-lasting changes, sometimes things get a little intense.

It’s like massage, but it’s not technically massage. Therapists focus on freeing the fascia so the body can function as an integrated whole. Fascia is the connective tissue that covers all the muscles and connects virtually everything in the body.

(Okay, maybe you’re going, “Huh?” Don’t worry; I’ll go into it all more in a future post.)

I’ve never come across a type of massage or bodywork that works better. One problem I used to have is knee pain, especially after dancing. I remember standing up after my 1st or 2nd KMI session. I thought, “Oh my gosh, I’m walking differently! This is incredible!” I haven’t had any knee problems since my series 3 years ago.

Often times, clients ask me, “What else can I do to make this problem go away?” For many people, I know they are ready for KMI. (Not everyone is ready, believe you me.) Now I’ll finally be able to provide it!

I’m excited to learn more.

How does KMI work, anyways?

Why does it work so well?

How can I use it to best help people?

What simple things can people do to make their KMI experience more effective?

Are there better answers to the question “How does the body work?”

These are questions I seek to answer. As I go through school, I intend to share insights I gain from KMI on this blog. I’ll also take you through my experience, piece by piece. By following along, you’ll learn as I learn.

But why simply read about it when you can experience it?

I need massage guinea pigs to work with!

Heck yeah! I’m putting together a list of people who want to be notified when I need to practice my new skills. To raise your hand, just enter your email address in the box below.

Throughout the year, you’ll receive great a discount on my work. Plus, you’ll get the benefit of my renewed enthusiasm and curiosity. Not to mention greater results than you’d normally get out of massage.

Not only will your participation help me practice new skills, but it will help me fund my education. This is critical to completing my education. As such, you will have my eternal gratitude.

What you’ll get out of being my guinea pig:

• Greater connection to your body
• More flow of movement and creativity
• Concrete knowledge about your body
• Improved flexibility
• A therapist who will work with you as a partner in creating the body you want to have

Who specifically do I want to work with?

• Anyone excited to try KMI
• Dancers, yoga practitioners, martial artists
• Singers, musicians, or other performers
• Athletes
• Anyone with a passion for movement at ANY level, amateur to professional

If this sounds like you and what you want, get on the list so you can be notified next time I need guinea pigs. (Read more about me and why I like working with dancers…)

This offer is no longer available. But you can still get notified when I have space for new clients!

Thanks a bunch,
-Rebecca Brightly