An Ortho-Bionomy session is conducted fully clothed, generally in a practice room with massage table. Clients lie on the table or in some instances sit on the a chair during sessions.
One of the hallmarks of Ortho-Bionomy is self-care. We can do a lot to help ourselves with these simple movement exercises. Primarily, the self-care exercises for Ortho-Bionomy are based on techniques we do with clients, engaging the body’s self-corrective response, and employing positional release, as well as the conversation that ensues between client and practitioner.
Many people suffer from sacroiliac joint pain, lower back and hip pain. Here are just a few ways to help when you can’t get to a practitioner, or between sessions! I always find that people who can do some self-care are able to move better between appointments, and maintain their self-correction over longer periods.
More self-care techniques can be found in the book, Ortho-Bionomy: A Path to Self-Care, by Luann Overmyer.
Sacroiliac Joint (SI) Self-Care:
Low back (L2) and hips:
Horse and Rider Integration with Ortho-Bionomy
Riding is what gets a lot of people into horses. But why do we not always feel “connected” with the horse while in the saddle? That in-the-saddle connection is a deepening of what you have experienced with the horse on the ground. Through on-the-ground and in-the-saddle techniques, the relationship between horse and rider – body to body – can become much deeper and fulfilling through a reciprocal dialogue.
In Ortho-Bionomy, we are working with reflexes with both humans and equines, as well as other mammalian species. Reflexes tell us a lot about the body’s ability to respond and hold the work, and the resilience of the system. The horse also has a very strong flight/fight reflex which is part of her or his survival mechanism. In our Equine Trauma course we learn about the way horses respond to their environment in a sensory way and how we can work with that flight/fight reflex to quiet it so that it is not so reactive.
Equine Body Balance: Reflexes
Working with the Mid-Cervicals in Equine Ortho-Bionomy
Ortho-Bionomy is very gentle, and really requires the willingness of the horse to be done effectively. In this video you can see how I must employ willingness in order to get the neck bend, and I must recognize the position he favors. In so doing, I am asking, how about this? Or this? Ortho-Bionomy is always a conversation.