Learning Materials
These are some of the most impactful texts that have helped me along my journey. I would highly recommend reading any that catch your interest.
*The link to these books are Amazon affiliate links.I will receive a small commission from your purchase at no additional cost to you. I am grateful for your support.
I originally came book after a manual therapist contacted me at a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy that I owned. She said she heard some things about me that she did not understand and asked me if I was interested in doing some body work trades. I said yes immediately because I knew who she was and it was almost impossible to get in to see her without booking six months out. We traded every week for about 3 months until life got in the way, but in the end she brought me this book. She was a structural integration therapist, a modality that had risen from the contents of this work, and said told me that I already intuitively understood everything in it, but if I read it, it would give me a way to communicate the things that I could feel. What a gift it turned out to be! This book is the best book I have ever come across when it comes to the foundations of and adjusting tensegrity in the human body. It really launched me into a much more complete understanding of what the body was capable of in addition to giving me a way to communicate what I was feeling. I would recommend this book to anyone who has some understanding of anatomy and physiology, and I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't too, but with the caveat that you will have to look up many things and it will make the progress slow. But you will learn everything you need to know about the body in order to locate and resolve pain. After that it will only be experimenting on yourself with that knowledge, but I promise you from experience, you will have all the right tools. So if you have chronic pain, what is a few years if it means becoming pain free over that time frame? If you want something a less intense to start, written for the normal person then I would recommend the book in the following section, here:
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Synopsis:
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Get a multi-dimensional understanding of musculoskeletal anatomy with Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual Therapists & Movement Professionals, 4th Edition. This hugely successful, one-of-a-kind title continues to center on the application of anatomy trains across a variety of clinical assessment and treatment approaches ― demonstrating how painful problems in one area of the body can be linked to a "silent area" away from the problem, and ultimately giving rise to new treatment strategies. This edition has been fully updated with the latest evidence-based research and includes new coverage of anatomy trains in motion using Pilates-evolved movement, anatomy trains in horses and dogs, and the updated fascial compendium on elements, properties, neurology, and origins of the fascial system. It also offers a new, larger library of videos, including animations and webinars with the author. In all, this unique exploration of the role of fascial in healthy movement and postural distortion is an essential read for physical therapists, massage therapists, craniosacral therapists, yoga instructors, osteopathologists, manual therapists, athletic and personal trainers, dance instructors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and any professional working in the field of movement.
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Revolutionary approach to the study of human anatomy provides a holistic map of myoanatomy to help improve the outcomes of physical therapies that are traditionally used to manage pain and other musculoskeletal disorders
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Relevant theory descriptions are applied to all common types of movement, posture analysis, and physical treatment modalities
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Intuitive content organization allows students to reference the concept quickly or gain a more detailed understanding of any given area according to need
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Section on myofascial force transmission in gait dynamics is written by guest author James Earls
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Robust appendices discuss the relevance of the Anatomy Trains concept to the work of Dr Louis Schultz (Meridians of Latitude), Ida Rolf (Structural Integration), and correspondences with acupuncture meridians
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New photos and images of fascial tissues, adhesions, and layers provide a better understanding of text content
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Revised and expanded content reflects the most up-to-date research and latest evidence for the scientific basis of common clinical findings
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New, larger library of videos includes animations and webinars with the author
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New Anatomy Trains in Motion section by guest author Karin Gurtner uses Pilates-evolved movement to explore strength and plasticity along myofascial meridians
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New addition: Anatomy Trains in Quadrupeds (horses and dogs) is mapped for equine and pet therapies by Rikke Schultz, DVM, Tove Due, DVM, and Vibeke Elbrønd, DVM, PhD
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New appendix: Updated fascial compendium on elements, properties, neurology, and origins of the fascial system
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NEW! enhanced eBook version isincluded with print purchase, which allows students to access all of the text, figures, and references from the book on a variety of devices
I first heard about this book when a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu student of mine was telling some other students and myself about how this book had changed his life. He had left his job and become dedicated to teaching the knowledge in this book to others. Dr. Kelly Starrett is a great author, is great at his craft and he writes in a way that is easy to understand. I learned many things that I wish I had known earlier in life and I will give you one useful example here: Ever since junior high school when I started lifting weights I have always been told to "brace my core" to support my spine when doing Olympic lifts or power lifts. This is good advice. But no one ever actually explained to me what bracing your core was and I, incorrectly assumed that it meant to contract the abdominal muscles. When I read this book Dr. Kelly Starrett explained the process of bracing the core and how you can use your breath to find those actions and for the first time I realized I had been doing it wrong. Not a little wrong, but completely wrong. After correcting this all those lifts and many other exercise became more effective and felt immensely better. Since then, in my work helping others resolve their pain I have learned that most people have made the same incorrect assumption, in their lives, about what bracing the core is. Coincidentally for those of you who think that core activation is muscular did you know you have 4 abdominal muscles... but only three of them are in front/sides of your abdominal cavity, there is one behind your abdominal cavity but in front of your spine. Can you feel the one behind the abdomen activate? Do you know what the 4 muscles are? If you are interested in learning more about anatomy in a fun way then would suggest this book here:
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Synopsis:
Improve your athletic performance, extend your athletic career, treat stiffness and achy joints, and prevent and rehabilitate injuries—all without having to seek out a coach, doctor, chiropractor, physical therapist, or massage therapist. In Becoming a Supple Leopard, Dr. Kelly Starrett shares his revolutionary approach to mobility and maintenance of the human body and teaches you how to hack your own movement, allowing you to live a healthier, more fulfilling life.
This new edition of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller has been thoroughly revised to make it even easier to put to use. Want to truly understand the principles that guide human movement? Becoming a Supple Leopard lays out a blueprint for moving safely and effectively through life and sport. Want to learn how to apply those principles to specific movements, whether you are doing squats in the gym or picking up a bag of groceries? Hundreds of step-by-step photos show you not only how to perform a host of exercise movements, such the squat, deadlift, pushup, kettlebell swing, clean, snatch, and muscle-up, but also how to correct the common faults associated with those movements. Frustrated because you can’t perform a certain movement correctly due to range of motion restrictions? Breaking the body down into 14 distinct areas, Starrett demonstrates hundreds of mobilization techniques that will help you resolve restrictions and reclaim your mobility. Unsure how to put it all together into a program that addresses your individual needs? This updated edition lays out dozens of prescriptions that allow you to hone in on a specific limitation, a nagging injury, or an exercise fault that you just can’t seem to get right. It even offers a 14-day full-body mobility overhaul.
Performance is what drives us as human beings, but dysfunctional movement patterns can bring the human body to an abrupt halt. Often, the factors that impede performance are invisible even to seasoned athletes and coaches. Becoming a Supple Leopard makes the invisible visible. Whether you are a professional athlete, a weekend warrior, or simply someone wanting to live healthy and free from physical restrictions, this one-of-a-kind training manual will teach you how to harness your athletic potential and maintain your body. Learn how to perform basic maintenance on your body, unlock your athletic potential, live pain-free...and become a Supple Leopard. This step-by-step guide to movement and mobility will show you how to:
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Move safely and efficiently in all situations
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Restore normal function to your joints and tissues
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Accelerate recovery after training sessions and competition
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Properly perform strength and conditioning movements like the squat, bench press, pushup, deadlift, clean, and snatch
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Build efficient, transferable movement patterns and skill progressions from simple to more advanced exercises
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Identify, diagnose, and correct inefficient movement patterns
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Treat and resolve common symptoms like low back pain, carpal tunnel, shoulder pain, and tennis elbow
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Prevent and rehabilitate common athletic injuries
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Use mobilization techniques to address short and stiff muscles, soft tissue and joint capsule restriction, motor control problems, and joint range of motion limitations
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Create personalized mobility prescriptions to improve movement efficiency
Dr. Joe Dispenza's work was recommended to me by a friend I made through the communities of various movement practices I was part of. She originally recommended a mini-series of his and it was so impactful and so interesting that I before I had finished the mini-series I searched to see what else he had published. I recommend this book to people when I start working with them on creating change in the body for so many reasons but the top one is that changing anything about you body is uncomfortable and that discomfort becomes more and more intense the deeper you get in to the change. This will subside, however most people do not make it through this discomfort easily and many quit because of it. This book is a step by step process on how to consciously eliminate that discomfort and replace it with and enthusiastic and even joyful curiosity for the unknown. What do you feel when you think about working on changing something that most people have accepted cannot be changed. This will impact you on some many levels that reach deep into all aspect of life. I would say that Dr. Joe Dispenza's work is the single most impactful thing I have ever experienced in my life. Once you have applied his work to one area of your life you realize you can create change and new opportunity in any area of your life following the same process.
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Synopsis:
Discover how to reprogram your biology and thinking, and break the habit of being yourself so you can truly change your mind and life.
Best-selling author, international speaker, chiropractor, and renowned researcher of epigenetics, quantum physics, and neuroscience, Dr. Joe Dispenza shares that you are not doomed by your genes and hardwired to be a certain way for the rest of your life.
New science is emerging that empowers all human beings to create the reality they choose.
In Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, Dr. Joe Dispenza combines the fields of quantum physics, neuroscience, brain chemistry, biology, and genetics to show you what is truly possible and how to recondition the body and create better health.
Not only will you be given the necessary knowledge to change your energy and any aspect of yourself, but you will be taught the step-by-step tools to apply what you learn in order to make measurable changes in any area of your life.
Chapters include:
Foreword by Daniel G. Amen, M.D.
Introduction: The Greatest Habit You Can Ever Break Is the Habit of Being Yourself
PART I: The Science of You
The Quantum You
Overcoming Your Environment
Overcoming Your Body
Overcoming Time
Survival vs. Creation
PART II: Your Brain and Meditation
Three Brains: Thinking to Doing to Being
The Gap
Meditation, Demystifying the Mystical, and Waves of Your Future
PART III: Stepping Toward Your New Destiny
The Meditative Process: Introduction and Preparation
Open the Door to Your Creative State
Step 1: Induction
Prune Away the Habit of Being Yourself
Step 2: Recognizing
Step 3: Admitting and Declaring
Step 4: Surrendering
Dismantle the Memory of the Old You
Step 5: Observing and Reminding
Step 6: Redirecting
Create a New Mind for Your New Future
Step 7: Creating and Rehearsing
Demonstrating and Being Transparent: Living Your New Reality
Dr. Joe demystifies consciousness and ancient understandings to bridge the gap between science and spirituality. Through his powerful healing workshops and lectures, thousands of people in 24 different countries have used these principles to change from the inside out. Once you break the habit of being yourself and truly change your mind, your life will never be the same!
“In this book, I want to share some of what I learned along the way and show you, by exploring how mind and matter are interrelated, how you can apply these principles not only to your body, but to any aspect of your life.”
— Dr. Joe Dispenza
“Anyone who reads this book and applies the steps will benefit from their efforts. Its cutting-edge content is explained in a simple language that is accessible to anyone, and provides a user-friendly guide for sustained change from the inside out.”
— Rollin McCraty, Ph.D., Director of Research, HeartMath Research Center
The benefit of this was extremely surprising. The structural integration therapist, that I mentioned here, had encourage me to go to massage therapy school in order to get a license that would allow me to work as a manual therapist in order to find clients that could benefit from my ability to trace the effects of pain through the body to its source. So I did. This book was the greatest thing that I took from that experience. What I could do in manual therapy came from an ability to feel my own fascia which lead to an ability to differentiate between fascia and muscle in my clients. To be clear fascia runs through muscle (and all other "solid" things in the body) so if someone is working on one they are impacting the other. The ability to make the differentiation is key however because, unless there is a muscular disease or injury, the chronic pain and the mystery pain that people struggle to find lasting, meaningful relief from resides in fascia not muscle. So as impactful as my work was, I had a very limited understanding of muscular structure because I kept all my awareness on the fascial lines that ran through the muscles rather than the muscle itself. This book was a wonderful way to really embody the muscles, their functions in the body and deepen the mind/muscle connection. My practice became to open to a page of the book in an area of the body I wanted to feel and get to know better. Then I would look up a muscle if I didn't know it, feel it in my body as I colored it and then label it in the margin in that color before moving on to a different muscle in the book and repeating the process with a different color. If you are interested in doing this and don't know which colored pencils to buy these became my favorite, a nice combination of price and having a deep, vibrant color.
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Synopsis:
Reinforce your understanding of the musculoskeletal anatomy! Musculoskeletal Anatomy Coloring Book, 3rd Edition is a must if you’re taking massage, physical therapy, chiropractic, orthopedic, and all other manual and movement therapy courses. This latest edition includes online access to The Muscular System Manual’s companion Evolve site, which lets you view informative videos, take practice tests, and more! Focused specifically on musculoskeletal anatomy, this fun, interactive and engaging coloring book includes 635 high-quality illustrations. Each chapter focuses on key anatomic parts of the skeletal system, muscular system, nervous system, and arterial system; plus, composite drawings of all body systems and structures provide a complete look at the anatomy you will need to know in practice.
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UNIQUE! Did You Know? feature in every muscle spread provides additional details to strengthen your understanding of musculoskeletal structures and functions.
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UNIQUE! Short-answer reviews test your knowledge and help you learn to interpret anatomic information.
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A unique focus on musculoskeletal anatomy reinforces concepts specific to manual therapy to help you study more efficiently.
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More than 630 high-quality, anatomically detailed illustrations enable easier, more effective review.
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Accurate, streamlined coverage of musculoskeletal information simplifies the review process and emphasizes concepts essential to manual therapy.
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A clean, consistent page layout clearly illustrates the relationship between muscles and surrounding muscle groups.
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Fill-in-the-blank self-study exercises with accompanying answer keys help you prepare for exams.
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NEW! Online access to The Muscular System Manual, 4th Edition’s Evolve site, enhances your review experience through interactive study tools including videos, The Interactive Muscle Program, practice test questions, Name That Muscle exercises, and more
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NEW! Updated anatomy artwork helps you understand individual muscles as well as how they correspond to surrounding muscle groups