Check out our recent Q&A with Michael on what it means to take a pause, re-evaluate and what that means for the Moving Mountain Institute curricula moving forward.
Read More“… people are motivated by feeling valued and/or appreciated for who they are. Appreciative Inquiry makes an explicit practice of being curious about strengths and possibilities and highlights things that are working well and then wonders how that can happen more in arenas where there are challenges…”
Read MoreStephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory has altered our professional landscape in ways yet to be fully actualized. The Polyvagal concept has become popularized for good reason – it illuminates so much about both the importance of and how we can understand safety. The Polyvagal Theory could be thought to be the ground for an evolving New Science of Safety.
Read MorePatient needs are becoming increasingly complex. The “nervous system” is recognized as a key component of this increasing complexity – but how do we work with the nervous system in a meaningful way in ever changing case scenarios? This is one of the most important questions facing healthcare today.
Read MoreWe have found more and more that our best myofascial work occurs when we are willing to dance with the tissue in an indirect and direct way – listening for both and not focusing only on the direct, stretching aspect of the work.
Read MoreWe turn towards and into the arts regularly over here. Books are a particular love… In some way, somehow, these books inform aspects of our work and only that because they inform us ever more deeply of what it means to be embodied now – in this time and place with our particular histories alive and always seeking deeper understanding…
Read MoreExplore the marvelous world of fascia in Michael McMahon’s field note on Following a Fascia Thread. In pursuit of one of Moving Mountain Institute’s major themes - how does the body experience itself – Michael contemplates the phenomenon of existence-tissue along with other fascia threads in preparation for his 2019 Myofascial classes.
Read MoreI’m excited about our Visceral Techniques curriculum. I believe working with the viscera is of increasing importance and I want people to be able to access this potent region.
Read MoreEach treatment modality serves as a lens through which to view a certain aspect of our being. Myofascial release allows us access to a depth and breadth of tissue. The myofascia encompasses a lot of our physical matter and energetic potential. It’s implicit here that, of course, each technique also has its limits. Most issues that bring any of us into treatment involve multiple systems and so as people working with the body it is nice to dive deep into multiple modalities – then integrate the understandings that emerge. As Gil Hedley, somanaut and connective anatomist par excellence, so elegantly stated at a talk in Portland, OR, we must always hold our models lightly.
I really believe that’s true – and we must work from some model or models – and be willing to adjust or abandon them as our curiosity and openness offers us opportunities for new insight.
Read MoreWe recently re-discovered the transcript of a conversation between Michael and one of our esteemed colleagues and workshop participants, Alison Schneider. Here is Michael's response to her question about poetry in the classroom.
Read MoreMoving Mountain Institute believes that the body has a story to tell and, that informed hands-on healing work is a powerful medium for engaging with that story. Our courses draw from multiple disciplines to distill a handful of core principles that guide our work and provide an ever-evolving clinical context for going deeper into the complexity of the body.
Read MoreI'm putting the finishing touches on the Active Isolated Stretching manual for our workshop this weekend. We will be teaching techniques that involve a unique combination of movement and touch to access the spine and pelvis in ways that are otherwise difficult to reach. Dynamic movement within the context of our myofascial principles is powerful and yet still respectful of the tissue.
While I was working, I revisited the writing and insights of Aaron Mattes, founder of this approach and technique. I wandered through his introduction and came across some gems to share:
Read MoreWe are super excited to be presenting a synthesis of our manual therapy approach to the abdomen--specifically focusing on chronic digestive patterns in the small intestine (such as SIBO)--coming up next weekend.
As many of you who treat these conditions know, they can be complex and often defy available diagnostic categories and treatment protocols (e.g. patients often relapse, symptoms can be beguiling and mysterious, and lab results can run contrary to the patient experience). In our course, together we will explore a holistic understanding -- combining a felt-sense approach to the abdomen with insights from both osteopathic and classical Chinese medicine. We hope it will serve towards the further understanding and treatment of these difficult cases.
Read MoreI'm super excited to be presenting my take on visceral work coming up this Saturday, March 24th. I've received a few emails recently asking about the class. So, here's a little description that's more informative than what's on the website.
I studied Visceral Manipulation and some adjunctive techniques intensively . . .
Read MoreHi all,
I have been engaged in some ongoing subterranean contemplating about the vagus nerve and our touch-oriented work. One of my favorite means of studying is to hold within myself what I call, "open questions". Questions that are difficult to answer but the pursuit of them can continue to deepen and evolve my understanding about the topic in question. Open questions are fun because they just exist out there (or in here) and often insights will be stimulated by encountering some seemingly unrelated idea or phrase or poem or perspective - something that allows me to see the question or topic slantwise. I like slantwise seeing.
Read MoreI’ve been wanting to share this web article since I found it a couple weeks ago. The images are incredible – please go look now before reading any further – you can find them here.
Read MoreWorking with the myofascia gives us a distinct and practical orientation within the tissue realm. The myofascia orients us to the specific manifestation of connective tissue as it serves the movement and stabilizing properties of the musculature.
Why focus on this specifically? One reason is that it is readily accessible and, because it is so involved with how we move through the world, it is highly communicative.
Read MoreOn a Monday afternoon in early November, the self-taught fascial explorer (somanuat) and seminarian of the body, Gil Hedley, gave a stunning four-and-a half hour talk. His talk centered around the question – “What is my body?”. The talk plumbed at depths that the question doesn’t immediately reveal.
Read MoreGuess what!? Fascia researcher Jean-Claude Guimberteau compares our inner form to the complex, chaotic branchings within forest structures. He says (in a thick French accent):
“Very often people think that chaos makes no sense. But in fact if you look to a tree in your garden. Try to find a sort of order along the branches. There is no order as humans consider order. The branch repartition is chaotic. It’s a disordered pattern. But it’s a tree. And it’s a perfect tree.
We have to accept how our body is made with a similar architecture.”
Read MoreRaise your hand if you have felt a little bit like this lately. Lot going on these days, no?
We found this stark and stunning representation of the human nervous system while getting prepared for upcoming workshop season and couldn’t resist sharing it with you!
Moving Mountain Institute is a training academy for clinical study and a practicing healthcare clinic. Founded by Michael McMahon, LAc, LMT, the Institute offers the highest caliber continuing education courses for natural medicine practitioners. Hands on workshops in myofascial release, cranialsacral therapy, and integrated visceral techniques are ideally suited for the Chinese medicine practitioner / acupuncturist. The institute is located in Portland, OR.
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Moving Mountain Institute
1235 SE Division Street, Suite 106
Portland, OR 97202
info@movingmountaininstitute.com
CLINIC: (503) 985-9625
EDUCATION: (503) 351-8853
