If you want to improve your health or performance, your body is where to begin

The PERFECT CANDIDATE for Rolfing / Manual Osteopathy HAS TRIED EVERYTHING WITH LITTLE OR NO LASTING RESULTS. Often this person says, “ You are my last stop. If you can’t help me, I don’t know where to turn. Please help me.”

It’s not unusual for this person to have had their condition, which is usually painful, for 5, 10, 20, even 50 years. They’ve had lots of treatment by a myriad of practitioners, yet they still have the same restrictions, limitations, and pain. … And posture … The posture of Pain !

I don’t believe there is anybody whom I can’t significantly help.

EXAMPLES:

Mid-60’s Woman Self-Starter Entrepreneur

Claire had previously had a diagnosis of mild Osteoporosis, It might have only been Osteopenia, the early beginnings of Osteoporosis. This is not uncommon for post-menopausal women. While doing some initial landscaping on her new home and perma-culture project, Claire had lifted some things that were too heavy for the state of her bones and gotten several spinal Compression Fractures. ( OUCH !! ) Luckily, although very painful, they consolidated / healed up in a month, after which Claire went back to work on her project, albiet, more cautiously. Every other day or two, she’d drive the hour from her home to her project and work 3 or 4 hours. After the hour long drive back home, Claire would be SORE ! So, She’d take a day off by the 2nd or 3rd day she’d feel like “giving it a go” again … after which she’d be sore again.

A couple of weeks ago, I went down to her project to help her with some of the heavier “lifts”, rocks, logs, potted plants to be both moved (lifted) and replanted. I was constantly admonishing her “DO NOT !! pick THAT up ! Explaining to her that even a relatively light to moderately heavy item .. say 20 pounds … when improperly lifted, can put 1500 lbs / square inch of compressive force on your lower lumbar vertebrae and discs. I didn’t want her lifting anything heavier than 5 lbs. That’s what I was there for.

By the end of the day Claire is feeling tired, but great. We’d accomplished a good day’s work, and she was without any pain. On the way to her home she invited me out to dinner at a local Thai Restaurant in her home town. We’d been driving an hour and a half in traffic. On our way into the restaurant, she was limping & in pain. We sat down & ordered our meals.

While we awaited the arrival of our orders, I showed Claire a simple Osteopathic Self-Help “Move’ for Low Back pain. I reasoned that since the low back pain had come on while she was driving the pick-up truck, that perhaps the pain wasn’t from the compression fractured vertebrae as she feared, but less seriously from a twisted (torsioned) sacrum, a not uncommon result of driving. One sure fire way to test out my hunch would be for Claire to perform the Osteopathic Self-Help Move/Normalization for Sacral Torsion (a rotation one direction, and a side bend the other)

So, While we patiently waited for our dinners to be served, I showed Claire the Osteopathic Self-Help Move. She easily mimicked the simple moves I demonstrated. … without drawing attention to ourselves … in the restuaraunt … and … Wha-La !!

Claire was Out of Pain … in 5 minutes … 100% Out of Pain. “Amazing !” she said. “You should bottle THAT

Well, I plan to in the nest month. … Make a video clip, and make it available on this website.

96 yo Great Grand Mother

Laurie hobbled up to my treatment table at a Psychic Fair where I was filling in for a friend. Wobblie and unstable, she navigated her walker over to me, saying “People upstairs ( The Fair was a 2-Floor venue ) are telling me that I should come see you . Perhaps you can help me.”

Basicly, Laurie’s story was the same as with the Geriatric Gymnist below. 20 years ago Laurie did “something” to her low back. She’s been hobbling around … in pain … ever since.

Examination and Motion Testing showed that Laurie had an Ilial Upslip, same as with our gymnast friend. 20 minutes of the same Direct Glide Technique, and another 30 minutes of MyoFascial Release of local muscles and Laurie was up walking around without her walker. “Well, This is a first in as long as I can remember”, she joyfully exclaimed. I walked along with her, arm in arm, to steady her and give her confidence. As we walked, I mentioned that recently I had been taking “West Coast Swing” dance lessons. “Oh, I used to Jitterbug back in the Fifties (1950’s)”. … We moved into the Swing “Frame”, and slowly glided through some basic Swing moves for 5 minutes. Laurie, all the while, “ squeaking” with delight.

Laurie had gone from “hobbling unsteadily assisted by her walker” to cautiously Swing Dancing with NO Pain in the space of an hour … at age 96. HAPPY DAY !!

Laurie comes in for a tune-up once or twice a month, and is consistent in doing 5 minutes of daily exercises specifically designed to maintain smooth and painless movement of her low back and pelvic bones ( Sacrum and Ilia … plural of Ilium … Sacrum is in the middle of the 2 ilium-s. Tail Bone comes off the bottom of the Sacrum. Sacrum is at the bottom of the Lumbar Vertebrae)

65 yo former college gymnast.

After a local Seniors’ Program, Tai Chi for Back Pain, a woman comes up to me, introduces herself as a person with low back pain. Good days the pain level is 5-7 on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is barely noticeable, and 10 is off the chart extreme. Bad days, 6-8. What happened, when ? At age 19, during a gymnastic meet she was executing a complex move on a balance beam, fell, landing squarely on one sitz bone (ischial tuberosity). OUCH ! 46 years ago. In pain ever since. Has seen a myriad of talented practitioners consistantly over the years. No significant improvement. We did a couple quick motion tests right there. Took 5 minutes. One test standing, One test seated. Very clearly, she had an Ilial Upslip. The bone on which she landed, the sitz bone is the bottom part of it, The Ilium is the part of it that articulates with the Sacrum. You may have heard of the S-I Joint. An Ilial Upslip is a type of dislocation of the S-I Joint. She made an appointment. The Normalization of her Ilium took 20 minutes of a firm, yet gentle Direct Glide of her Ilium back down into the Articular Groove of her Sacrum. The Low Back and Sacral ( S-I Joint) Pain dropped to almost zero immediately, even though the Ilium had been dislocated for 46 years. Her’s was a common outcome.

50 yo Alaska Commercial Fisherman.

My granddaughter, a LMP Massage Therapist, asked me to help her out on a particularly tough case. Fisherman John had been having severe Low Back and Sacral Pain for 3 years. To be able to captain his fishing boat in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, John had needed cortisone injections into his S-I Joint before, during, and after the 6 week long season. 10 minutes after arriving at John’s home, simple motion tests had indicated that he had an Ilial Upslip. 20 minutes of Direct Glide, a glacially slow glide, John was out of pain, and could bend over and pick up a pencil off the floor … for the first time in 3 years. He needed 3 additional soft tissue treatments to stabilize his pelvis and low back. John is a Happy Camper, indeed

Everything about who we are in the world is rooted in our bodies. Now you can work with a manual therapist whose broad skills help you overcome a range of physical concerns to achieve a better experience in every aspect of daily life: physical, mental, and spiritual. If you want  breakthroughs in any kind of performance, or if you seek an elusive health solution, relief from what ails you may be only a phone call away. There are good reasons why many professional and Olympic athletes decide to "get Rolfed" with an Advanced Rolfer, even to begin the Basic Ten Session Series.

My curiosity about healing clearly benefits you as my client.

Physical therapeutic modalities have fascinated me ever since I began my own Rolfing Structural Integration as a client in the mid-'90s. I completed practitioner training at Rolf Institute and was Certified in 1995. Ever since then, I have continually practiced applying the power of Rolfing® to heal the body and improve human performance. With much practical experience and the Advanced Training at Rolf Institute, I achieved the status of Certified Advanced Rolfer. In 2002, I began my studies at the Canadian College of Osteopathy, Vancouver. 18 years later, I’m still studying. There is lots to learn.

Manual therapists take advantage of tissue properties and our innate human self-righting tendency.

We remove negative patterns and re-organize the body into a more functional system. We tailor your sessions so they stimulate your desired enhancements -- such as chronic pain relief, better movement, relief from specific malfunctions or increased strength, speed, poise, stamina and grace in all physical activity. Your results depend upon your focus and your receptiveness as well as the skill and experience 

Manual therapies are natural healing methods that produce profound and lasting results.

These hands-on modalities evoke healthy body responses through physical energy inputs. Various modes have existed for centuries, the most ancient probably being massage. Osteopathy and Rolfing® are more modern, more powerful forms based on sophisticated understanding of body structure and function.

The Osteopathic tradition is the root of Rolfing. Rather than following a disease model, Osteopathic philosophy teaches us to find the health in each client and to promote it. I've thoroughly learned the practice of Osteopathic Manual Therapy as I continue my training at the Canadian College of Osteopathy to become a DOMP (Diplomate of Osteopathy Manual Practice). Now I'm finishing the academic requirements including my Thesis. Osteopathic Style work adds considerable breadth, depth, and power. We could begin with the Basic Ten Sessions or, if you have already received the Basic Ten, this combined approach can take you to a whole new level: it is the logical next step. When you work with me, you benefit from deeper insights integrated with your Rolfing at all levels.

I've also mastered additional compatible skills that augment the work you receive, when needed: visceral manipulation, nerve manipulation, and cranio-sacral therapy. With a thorough assessment, the program I design specifically for you is a unified enhancement based on an optimum mix of practices, with emphasis where you need it, to assist your personal improvement.

Find out more without obligation.

CLICK "CONTACT" in the navigation bar to email me and I'll connect with you within a day or two. If your need is urgent, you can request a fast response. Or simply phone me at:

(425) 424-9349

You have to experience manual therapy to understand it.  You need at least one session to see what it's like to work with me and to perceive how your body responds.

-- Misha Noonan,

Advanced Rolfer and Osteopathic Manual Therapist