Jan Trewartha, Body In Harmony Training, Diorama Arts Studios, London,
1st-4th September 2014 by Catherine Stone

Jan Trewartha’s Fascial Unwinding and Energy Awareness Course can be taken as a stand-alone course, or as the foundation course of her Diploma in Body Realignment, which is a combination of body realignment, fascial unwinding, energy field therapy and scar-healing techniques, all used to release emotional and physical trauma. Jan is Principal of Body in Harmony Training and Director of the British Fascia Symposium. Originally working as a nurse, her interests moved towards complimentary therapies twenty-two years ago, and she has been developing her unique combination of techniques for over fifteen years. Taught in the context of a discussion on the nature of fascia and the latest research into this intriguing connective tissue, this course is suitable for a wide variety of body workers, and can be incorporated into treatments, or used by itself.

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Dr Ian Tennant

I’m often intrigued by the way clients describe what it feels like to receive a massage. The sensation felt when working slowly up from the Achilles tendon along the deep fibres of the soleus muscle towards the knee, was likened by one lady to squeezing toothpaste out of tube. Another said her back felt “all warm and squidgy, like porridge or custard” after her treatment – rather than the “brittle, grey plastic guttering” that was lodged in her shoulder blades beforehand. Yet, it was the similarity to “ironing creases out of a tea-towel” which recently got me thinking more about the role of functional, flowing movement and trust during therapy in helping clients stay relieved of unnecessary tension, and aid recovery and proprioceptive reprogramming.

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Alan P Smith BSc(Hons) MSc(Biomedical Science) DO

Most people believe the centuries old notion that if a part of the body hurts then there must be something wrong with it, and the more it hurts the more it must be injured, inflamed, infected etc. This accords well with many everyday experiences; if you stub your toe it hurts – and the harder you stub it the more it hurts. When I started out as a therapist I shared this same ‘pathoanatomical’ belief. The perception I had of my ‘job’, in treating patients with musculoskeletal pain, was that I firstly had to identify the injured anatomy (using the tests I had been taught) such as to arrive at a ‘diagnosis’, then treat their injured body part (using the remedial skills I had been taught) such as to assist healing and bring about a resolution – and that was it basically! Sometimes this approach worked very well (in acute sports injuries for example) but other times, frustratingly, the patient’s pain experiences didn’t accord with this sort of rationale at all and whilst I gave the best treatment I could It was often without any clear understanding.

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An interview with Pennie Hooper, a leading Equestrian Sports Massage practitioner, by Susan Findlay

The original Olympic events were influenced by military skills needed in times of war such as riding skills. Equestrian events further obtained their inspiration from the chariot races of the ancient Greek games. Until 1952 only commissioned officers of the military could compete in Olympic dressage, a sport in which humans and animals are teammates. As with sailing, equestrian is the only other Olympic sport where men and women compete against each other.

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