Moving Mountain Institute

Morning Session: Vagal System in Practice

This is a free event and is for both folks curious about MMI’s approach and folks who are familiar with us. There's something for everyone!

Michael will give a lecture on understanding the vagal system in a hands-on practice setting. The lecture will go over ways of understanding the vagal system as it presents in different physical symptom pictures we commonly treat. We will go over the relevant anatomy as well as some strategies for using this information with your clients and patients.

The vagal system is not the answer to everything when it comes to trauma and/or chronic or difficult symptom pictures. However, like all things, developing a foundational understanding helps us to utilize the information to support our people when and how it is relevant for them. Currently, it is my feeling that a lot of folks are over attributing symptoms to the vagus nerve. We will highlight the simple power of human connection and therapeutic touch in supporting healthy vagal tone. 

This will be followed by Michael giving a live treatment on a volunteer. Michael will approach the treatment as he would in his clinic, using all the different modalities he regularly uses in clinic; including combinations of cst, mfr, visceral work, stretching Chinese medicine and acupuncture. The treatment time will be about 45 minutes and then we will do a group debrief. Folks can ask questions, Michael will share his findings and approach. 

The beauty of this work is how well it combines with other modalities. And, sometimes folks need to see examples of this before they feel comfortable improvising themselves. Michael is thrilled to get to explore full clinical care with a group of practitioners. 

Afternoon Session: Fascial Feather and the Marigold Layer

The superficial fascia is rightfully having a moment and we are here for it. I was blown away by spending time with the sf fascia when I spent 10 days dissecting with Gil Hedley. It’s a big suit of marigolds that we wear to greet the world. It’s sensing, it’s modulating, it’s lymphoid, it’s… 

We will do a lab palpating this layer. We did this with some Myofascial Release students and it helped their palpation skills immensely. 

We will follow this by exploring myofascial release techniques for the fascial feather. On layered dissection, the lats, external and internal obliques, serratus anterior and transversus abdominus are feathered together in a way that the anatomy books just don’t convey. I came away from class with an increased clinical focus on these structures. Let’s play!