SHEN (Specific Human Energy Nexus) Therapy was developed by American Richard Pavek. It is a form of energy healing which aims to release emotions trapped in the body, leading to freedom from pain and tension

SHEN teaches that most emotions are held in the torso, at four main sites: the heart, the solar plexus, the kath (below the navel), and the root (the perineum).

The practitioner places hands in paired positions on a fully clothed client lying on the table. The practitioner ascertains the locations of somatically held emotions and determines an appropriate physio-emotional release plan. A naturally occurring energy flows from the practitioner’s hands through the emotional centers of the client’s body in a precise way to discharge debilitating emotions.

Developed in Japan, shiatsu is a finger-pressure technique utilizing traditional acupuncture points. Similar to acupressure, shiatsu concentrates on unblocking the flow of life energy and restoring balance in the meridians and organs in order to promote self-healing. With the client reclining, the practitioner applies pressure with the finger, thumb, palm, elbow, or knee to specific zones on the skin located along the energy meridians. The treatment brings about a sense of relaxation while stimulating blood and lymphatic flow. The benefits of this treatment may include pain relief and a strengthening of the body’s resistance to disease and disorder. Click here to find a Shiatsu practitioner.

Soft-tissue release (STR) is an injury treatment technique developed in Europe. Methods are based on European osteopathy techniques, along with insights from quantum physics.

STR deals directly with the reasons for soft tissue dysfunctions and subsequent referred pain and nerve entrapment. In acute conditions, STR affects the insidious way scar tissue is formed, and in chronic conditions, STR breaks up the fibrotic and adhered mass of scar tissue to quickly allow the muscle to return to its natural resting length. Once the muscle or muscle group has returned to the original resting length, there is an immediate release from the pain induced by the inflammation response.

The client is positioned so that the muscle begins to stretch in a very specific direction or plane. When the exact location of the injury has been defined, a determined pressure is applied directly into the affected tissue or along a specific line of injury. At the same time, the client is given a set of instructions that now engage the antagonist of the muscles involved. The muscle is extended from a fixed position in a determined direction under a pinpoint of pressure. Decrease in pain and increase in range of motion are often immediate, offsetting any minor discomfort experienced.

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A ten-session system of bodywork, SOMA neuromuscular integration works the fascial network to release chronic, stored structural aberrations; to effectively realign the entire body; and to facilitate the change process. The three brain model theory and holographic body reading, as part of the SOMA theoretical framework, assist the practitioner to analyze each individual blueprint, personalize needs, and design the session for each structure. SOMA work includes extensive guidance tools (movement, journaling, drawing interpretation, and other mind/body integrating tools) for training bodywork practitioners and for educating clients.

Somatic Experiencing is a body-awareness approach to trauma, developed by Dr. Peter Levine.

According to the Foundation for Human Enrichment (www.traumahealing.com), Somatic Experiencing is "based upon the realization that human beings have an innate ability to overcome the effects of trauma" and "restores self-regulation, and returns a sense of aliveness, relaxation and wholeness to traumatized individuals who have had these precious gifts taken away."

This work has been applied to combat veterans, rape survivors, Holocaust survivors, auto accident and post surgical trauma, chronic pain sufferers, and even to infants after suffering traumatic births.

"Somatic" means "of the body" and is often used to denote a body/mind or whole-body approach, as distinguished from a physiology-only perspective.

Using the media of sound (music, tones, vibrations, etc.) as tools for healing, sound therapy enables the realignment of natural body rhythms. Therapy may include, but is not limited to, the use of Tibetan singing bowls, chimes, acutonic tuning forks, rattles, and drums.

Spinal release allows therapists to correct distortions of the central nervous system and restore the body’s center of gravity. The therapist works with techniques that address the eight muscle groups of the lower back. Practitioners also focus on the soft-tissue release procedures for the neck and back as they help identify curvatures of the spine and other dysfunctions.

Sports massage is designed to enhance athletic performance and recovery. There are three contexts in which sports massage can be useful to an athlete: pre-event, post-event, and injury treatment.

• Pre-event massage is delivered at the performance site, usually with the athlete fully clothed. Fast-paced and stimulating, it helps to establish blood flow and to warm up muscles. During the massage, the athlete generally focuses on visualizing the upcoming event.
• Post-event massage is also delivered on site, through the clothes. The intent here is to calm the nervous system and begin the process of flushing toxins and waste products out of the body. Post-event massage can reduce recovery time, enabling an athlete to resume training much sooner than rest alone would allow.
• When an athlete sustains an injury, skillful massage therapy can often speed and improve the quality of healing.

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Developed by osteopath Lawrence Jones, this noninvasive treatment helps decrease protective muscle spasms and alleviate somatic dysfunction in the musculoskeletal system. By using palpation and passive positional procedures, the therapist practicing strain/counterstrain therapy can help restore pain-free movement. The position that relieves the referred pain is held for 90 seconds. After resuming the original position and pressing the trigger point, the referred pain is gone. The client is often asked to bend or twist like a contortionist to secure a comfortable position.

Based on the work of Dr. Ida P. Rolf, structural integration is based on the idea that the entire structural order of the body needs to be realigned and balanced with the gravitational forces around a central vertical line representing gravity’s influence. Therapeutic intervention is directed toward the myofascial system—the ligaments, muscles, tendons, and surrounding connective tissues. A practitioner of structural integration has a ten-session cycle of work, in which different angles and degrees of physical pressure are used to stretch and guide fascia to a place of easier movement. The process is not intended to cure symptoms; its goal is to create a more resilient, higher-energy system, free of inhibitions due to past trauma.

See Rolfing. Click here to find a Structural Integration practitioner.