College of Classical Massage

An Introduction to Myofascial Release

Learn how to work more effectively, and create long and lasting change for your clients.

This course will run over 2 days and is suitable for existing massage practitioners who wish to enhance their skills by incorporating direct myofascial release techniques into their practice.

The course will be largely practical and introduce students to a variety of techniques for the lower and upper body and teach you how to contact and work with the fascia.

Day one

The first day of this 2 day workshop will look at the anatomy and function of fascia. You will learn how to contact and work with the myofascia and how to use the fingers, knuckles, fists, forearms and elbows correctly. You will learn proper biomechanics to enhance your work and myofascial release techniques for the gastrocnemius, soleus, quadriceps, hamstrings, illiotibial band, gluteus maximus, and deep lateral rotators of the hip.

Day two

We will concentrate on looking at the upper body, mainly the shoulder girdle, and will include techniques for the myofascial structures of the back as well as the pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi,  trapezius and the rotator cuff. Students will also learn how restrictions in the fascia can contribute to common symptoms we see in our practices and learn ways to understand where these restrictions may be and how to resolve them.

Tutor Andrew Chick:

“My intention in creating this workshop is to give therapists the opportunity to learn effective myofascial techniques and be able to integrate them into their own work in order to enhance their practice and help increase their client base.

After attending this course you will have a variety of techniques which will allow you to work more efficiently. You will have a better understanding of where to work with your clients to get better results and be more confident when working with chronic pain. Learn how to work with the tissue layers and create deep changes in the muscular and fascial systems. Understand the importance of correct body mechanics and how important it is to work slowly and mindfully. Learning myofascial techniques will transform the way you think about the body and apply your work.

Myofascial release has enabled me to take my work to a much higher level. It has given me the skills and confidence to work with clients and problems that I felt less able to help with using massage alone. As a massage therapist I had already seen and felt the benefits of working with the muscular system to relieve stress and tension and help my clients to recover from chronic muscular tension, and although my massage techniques were very effective in achieving this I felt there was more I could add to my skills in order to enhance my results.

I read numerous articles discussing the powerful and positive effects of myofascial work and thought that this could be the next stage in advancing my skills. The more I discovered about this style of work the more fascinated by it I became. I attended various workshops and courses in myofascial release and began to incorporate them into my work. I found that the myofascial techniques worked well with my massage skills, and with a bit of practice I was managing to integrate the techniques well with my work. Not only that, but I began to understand what all the excitement about working with myofascial techniques was all about. Myofascial Release was proving to be very effective for long term chronic problems that massage alone wasn’t shifting and my clients started to report very positive results.

After a time I realised I was using myofascial techniques more than massage. In fact my treatments were largely made up of myofascial techniques and my style of working had completely transformed.

In November 2008 I completed the 500 hour training in Structural Integration, a more advanced form of myofascial work. The benefits I felt from receiving this work were very inspiring, and I really felt and saw my posture improve as well as feeling more vitality and fewer aches and pains. It was also a fantastic insight into myself and the depth of this kind of work. This has elevated my myofascial work to another level again, and it is this and all my previous experience that has led me to develop the workshop “Certificate in Myofascial Release”.

If you would like to speak to Andrew Chick regarding this course he can be contacted on

Tel: 07870 102114

andrew@structuralbodywork.co.uk,

www.structuralbodywork.co.uk

Andrew Chick

I am an experienced manual therapist with diplomas in Anatomy and Physiology, Remedial, Sports, and Deep Tissue Massage, as well as holding certificates in KMI Structural Integration, Integrated Myofascial Therapy and CranioSacral Therapy.  I studied massage in Brighton, and then went on to train in Integrated Myofascial Therapy in London, CranioSacral Therapy with the Upledger Institute, and KMI Structural Integration with Tom Myers (Author of “Anatomy Trains”).

“Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed last week’s course, I have been using some of the techniques this week and have had a good response from my clients, I also feel that they will save some of the strain on my own body, once I get used to it.
I felt what we did last week on each other improved my posture and relieved a shoulder pain which I get a lot, in the shoulder which was fractured many years ago.”  Stephanie Allum

“Andrew is an excellent and professional teacher.  He is extremely knowledgeable and explains technicalities well.  I’ve really enjoyed the course, found it very beneficial and would definitely recommend this course.”  Nicola Wright

“Excellent course, coming from a sports massage background, I feel I can implement the techniques straight away.”  Paul Ahearne

“Just wanted to let you know that what you taught me on your workshop really made a difference to the way I practice,   it was well worth travelling to Brighton for!   Very well put together and great handouts.  I would definitely consider future workshop with you.  Keep up the good work!”  Joe Pierro

“This college is really friendly and relaxed; while at the same time this course provided some seriously useful and advanced massage skills which I look forward to developing further.  I will be enrolling for further courses without hesitation.” Kathrin Brown

“Really useful information from the course, well explained, good amount of anatomy to illustrate the points. I also like the fact that after a brief introduction to others on the course, we just got on with it- many other courses seem to spend an awful lot of time on introductions and tai chi-style exercises first, which I find a little frustrating!”  Lucy Dunleavy

“As a recently qualified Body Worker with a keen interest in Myofascial Release
I came across a foundation level course at the College of Classical Massage. I decided to attend due to the credentials of Andy Chick and his background in “Structured Integration”. Andy was very good and clearly passionate about MFR, covering both theory and practical application. He was very approachable and answered all questions in detail. His demonstrations were first rate as was his background research into the works of Art Rigs and the excellent hand outs he gave us to support what we had leant that day. Andy’s teaching made sure that everyone received an equal amount of 1-1 tuition in what was actually a group situation. A very pleasant group it was and a very enjoyable weekend. I would certainly re-visit further workshops with this company and its tutor.”, Russell Halil