We must recognize these Giants “on whose shoulders we stand” for their great contributions to touch therapy. My advice is to seek out the old enlightened manual therapists and get some sessions.

Ask if they would be willing to share some of their techniques in a tutorial form.

You’ll be surprised at how many of them are eager to divulge their little therapeutic secrets but never get approached about it.

Have any of you had any experiences you’d like to share?

In touch…ERIK

Geo writes: “I can’t wait to work with you and Mattes in Costa Rica this May…what is the focus of the work you guys will be presenting?”

Geo, I can only tell you that the workshop description posted on my website says that Aaron will be focusing on neck, shoulder and extremity problems and I’ll be covering low back, scoliosis and sacroiliac pain. However, when we get together it’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen or where we’ll end up. Most people who’ve studied with Aaron are familiar with his contagious energy, passion and boundless knowledge, but few realize what a prankster he is.

Aaron and his wife Judy have been close friends with Teri (my wife) and I for many years. At one point, I worked in Aaron’s original clinic in Sarasota. I’ll never forget that experience. I was really into tennis and he was working on all the stars of the time including Sampras, Agassi and my personal favorite Monica Seles. Monica was just rehabbing from the knife wound to her right ribcage at T4-5 sustained after a match with Steffi Graff. Aaron, knowing I had “star-fever” for her, secretly arranged for me to work on her two days after I arrived.

The paranoia in her training camp from the stabbing created quite an odd therapeutic situation. It was really tense (and quiet) during the sessions with her Dad watching every move. Additionally, I felt uneasy and nervous performing Aaron’s Assisted Stretching routines on such a high profile person…especially one he’d worked on for years. Nevertheless, against my will, he insisted I take her through two-hours of stretching each day. He was really getting a ‘kick’ outta’ watching me sweat while he glared over with a big grin plastered on his face. He further humiliated me one day when I returned from lunch 10 minutes late. In a loud voice (in front of ten other therapists working in the room) he proclaimed that “those Okies just run off a different clock than the rest of us”. I wouldn’t have minded if I were getting paid but this was pure harassment.

Because my anxiety was so obvious, I finally admitted to Monica that I’d only been practicing Aaron’s stretching for a few months and that my background was Rolfing, osteopathy and a new method I’d just developed called the “Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques”. Once I came clean about my insecurity and past training, she completely relaxed, opened up, and began telling me about her experiences with some Rolfer from Germany and how much he’d helped her back problem. Anyway, Aaron gave me a lot of grief those weeks at his clinic and I absolutely plan to get back at him when we get on my Costa Rica turf.

Geo, didn’t you attend the 2007 Costa Rica Retreat with Mr. Anatomy Trains…Tom Myers? Great guy huh? What I like about co-teaching in Costa Rica with prestigious educators such as James Waslaski, David Kent and Tom is that all the teachers and teaching assistants come together in the same room at the same time to help assist the primary presenter. Of course, this opens up a great arena for communal dialog which greatly enhances the learning experience. Personally, I always take home a tremendous amount of information from assisting these renowned instructors. I think the 2008 Retreat will be ‘jam-packed’ with the same energy and excitement and I’m proud to be hosting this event with the legendary Aaron Mattes….ERIK

This simple muscle activation tip will do wonders for restoring foot, lower limb and pelvic balance.

Try it first for a week (works best at first barefooted or with non-suported shoes). What do you feel happening in the rest of your body as a result of this simple muscle activation cue? What are your knees doing? Do you feel a change in positioning of your pelvis in the sagittal plane as you walk?  Erik

With the Holidays in full-swing, do you see an increase of stressed clients in pain? I seem to have more clients complaining of low back pain during the Holidays. Sacral torsions from prolonged standing with weight-bearing on one leg (Mall Back) is common. Do you think the sacroiliac ligaments are getting strained or possibly piriformis syndrome from increased walking, stooping and bending? Thoughts?