Health & Fitness, Massage Therapy

One week down…

I survived my first week away from home, in a new city, taking a new class, developing a new routine, experiencing new people, learning new things, seeing new sunsets, admiring new trees, driving new roads, walking new paths, building new senses.

It has been a busy week!  I attend school from 8-12, then work from 1-6, then eat, talk to Tim, take a walk, work on homework, sleep, repeat.  I know that I need more rest and restoration in my life, but one of the good things about being so busy is that it doesn’t give me a lot of time to wallow.  But actually maybe that’s not a good thing.  It’s essentially a numbing agent.  But, since I don’t really have a choice at this point, I will frame it as a positive thing. 🙂

School has been awesome.  There are 7 other students starting the program with me. It’s a varied set of people – 4 from Florida and 4 from other parts of the US, 3 really young people and then 5 people scattered around my age.  The one commonality is that they are all really engrossed in learning about the body and a wholistic approach to health.  Every day we break for a snack around 10AM.  It’s a big sea of kale salad, hard boiled eggs, chopped veggies, and game meats.

Weeks 1 and 2 are an Intensive, which means we have the same class every day.  For two weeks we are focused on learning the posturology chart, where you measure 84 bony landmarks on the body and then chart them in a specific way.  I am so glad I had some training in locating these landmarks in my Yoga Tune Up trainings.  That background is helping immensely.

Yesterday we got into a new landmark that I have never palpated before – the atlas (the first vertebrae of the spine – the one that holds up your noggin).  We have to palpate (aka stick your fingers into the back (posterior) of someone’s neck) to find the transverse process of the atlas (these protuberances of the atlas stick out laterally (to the side) from the spine).  If you find that bump behind your earlobe (mastoid process) and slide your fingers down (inferiorly) toward your jaw (mandible) and poke around a bit, you might find some harder spots.  Those would be the transverse processes of the atlas.

They are really hard to find, especially on muscle-y guys!  The SCM (sternocleidomastoid), is that ropey band of muscle that connects from your mastoid process to your clavicle (around the notch at the base of your throat).  This muscle can get in the way and doesn’t seem to like being pushed out of the way.  So I need MORE PRACTICE!!!  If anyone is traveling to Clearwater and enjoys being a guinea pig, email me!!

The last thing we did was measure for projection of the atlas. Projection is when the atlas is shifted forward (anteriorly) relative to the vertebrae below it.  To do this, you have to MOVE THE TRACHEA out of the way and then stick your finger into the back of the subject’s throat and feel around for any ledges.  I tried it on a few people but didn’t feel any ledges.  So either no one has a projection, or I’m in the wrong spot.  Again, I just need more practice.

Well, I better get to work.  Thanks for letting me practice my new vocabulary on you, and as always, thanks for reading!!

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