Module 12

Hmmm... your alternatives for hip mobilizations are wonderfully thorough.

I am intrigued by the technique with client's legs straight and 90 degrees to the floor. Therapist is standing and placing calves against client's thighs and extending the knee with a grasp on the ankles. 

I haven't experienced that one specifically before. It is a clever approach for stimulating the fascia of the knee, as with any full to hyper- knee extension.

Lovely!

Module 13

Scooping and wiggling near the inguinal ligament are such beautiful methods for contacting and moving the energy of that particular, very common block. For clearing the congestion. I love it. 

And you are so correct in highlighting how frequently practitioners will encounter pain at the ligament with strong flexion of the hip joint. Perfect.

Glad you are settling back in in Chiang Mai. We are just coming into our late spring with a little warming, and I am so jealous of your heat. My constitution just loves Thai weather. New York, not so much!

Module 14

It is interesting to me, your work using rocking techniques. Rocking is, of course, such a fundamentally therapeutic technique. This hip work is also so beneficial for organ motility giving such abdominal vibrancy as well.

The interesting part to me is this. When I sense client energy, that energy is always "rocking." If I am in contact with my client, the energy rocks us both. If I remove a hand from my client, the energy "rocks" my hand over the client's body.

So, whether a therapist makes the action or whether the client's energy is making the action, it is all the same action. Love watching you work!

Module 18

Just this week watched a gorgeous video on Doris Amann's website which makes beautiful use of the traction/rocking technique and others like it in this shoulder video. Perhaps you know Doris. I posted it on my Facebook page for her, if you want to track it down.

An interesting point to me, my primary teachers use these techniques less, and therefore so do I. As I continue into my second decade doing Thai massage, of course, my work changes in organic ways largely directed by my clients and their needs. My work has become increasingly focused on sen and point work for "quick" release.

This entire video series feels like "visiting old friends" and remembering how much we enjoy their company! All these techniques are familiar, yet I don't use them all daily. 

I am loving getting reacquainted with them.

Module 20

Elbows, knees and heel bones are my most favored tools. My little thumbs are largely retired after this many years of work.

I work in the prone position very little and lately I have begun to explore why from a theoretical viewpoint. This is my thought so far.

It seems to me that in the legs, the front of the body is more firm or guarded in many people. Yes, I recognize that hamstrings and back are often tight, but energetically it seems to me that the greatest effect to open hips and the lower back is with treatment of the lines on the front of the body.

Wondering what you have found. Thanks, Shama!

Module 21

I shall most definitely have a look at your rocking techniques course in the near future.

In this video, I appreciate the angle of your palm press on the gluts with client's knee bent. This angle surely lengthens the fascia of the SI joint while opening the anterior hip. A different angle than I tend to use. I am usually kneeling to the client's side body and working from the trochanter toward the belly of the gluts. Interesting difference. Subtle difference, but very different effect.

My own SI is always a little bound up, so this is a great suggestion. Love it.

Module 22

Nice work in this segment. This sequence of hip extension is so beneficial to clients. I particularly like your technique of knee press on the gluts while lifting the opposite him. Nice mobilization of the SI joints, each in a different manner. One stabilized and the other mobilized. Very dynamic for such a "small" move. Nice.