Knot a Problem

30/05/2026

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27/05/2026

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✅ A therapist can palpate tissue, assess tone, observe movement and adapt their touch.
But they cannot feel your tenderness for you.

Tenderness, discomfort, pressure and familiar symptoms are part of the client’s experience. That means communication is not optional, it is central to safe, skilled and professional massage.

Read more from SMTO: https://smto.co.uk/working-with-muscle-knots/

26/05/2026

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24/05/2026

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Most people still view the body as separate parts:
a shoulder problem.
a hip problem.
a jaw problem.
a back problem.

But the body does not function in isolated pieces.

The human body is a tensegrity system.

“Tensegrity” means tension + integrity.

Your bones act as compression struts, while the fascia, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and connective tissue create continuous tension throughout the entire body.

Everything is connected.

This is why:
✨ A restriction in the jaw can affect the pelvis
✨ A C-section scar can influence posture and breathing
✨ Foot dysfunction can contribute to neck tension
✨ Emotional trauma can create physical guarding patterns throughout the body
✨ One area of restriction can force the entire system to compensate

The body constantly reorganizes around stress, trauma, inflammation, surgeries, repetitive patterns, and unresolved fascial restrictions.

John F. Barnes Myofascial Release works with this whole-body interconnected system rather than only chasing symptoms.

Instead of forcing tissues, Myofascial Release uses gentle sustained pressure to allow the fascial system and nervous system to unwind, decompress, soften protective holding patterns, and restore more balance throughout the body.

As restrictions release:
✨ Pressure throughout the body decreases
✨ Movement becomes more fluid
✨ Compensation patterns may reduce
✨ Breathing often improves
✨ The nervous system can begin shifting out of survival mode
✨ The body may regain a greater sense of structural and energetic coherence

Healing often happens when the body no longer has to fight itself.

The body has incredible wisdom.
Sometimes it simply needs the space, safety, and support to reorganize back toward balance.

Rowena Cua 💜
Expert JFB Myofascial Release Therapist, Trauma Informed Healing
www.bodymfr.com

21/05/2026

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Low back pain is not usually solved by finding one faulty structure and applying one perfect technique. 🧠

A 2026 paper in the European Spine Journal brought together expert knowledge from 29 low back pain researchers and clinicians. The model explored which interventions may influence pain, disability and quality of life.

The highest ranked intervention overall was cognitive behavioural therapy.

For massage and soft tissue therapists, this offers a helpful reminder that massage can play an important role within a broader, evidence informed approach to low back pain care. The paper is not dismissing hands on therapy or suggesting that low back pain is 'just psychological.'

CBT ranks highly because many common factors associated with low back pain are not purely mechanical. Fear, distress, anxiety, low confidence, unhelpful beliefs, expectations about pain, reduced activity, work stress, social context, lifestyle factors and previous experiences can all influence how pain is experienced and how much it limits someone’s life.

Mechanical and tissue related factors can still be part of the picture, but they are rarely the whole story.

This is why our training has evolved.

We no longer teach hands on therapy as a search for the one faulty tissue, the one best technique, or the branded protocol that will solve low back pain. Current evidence points us towards a broader, more individualised approach.

That does not reduce the value of massage or soft tissue therapy. It clarifies where its value sits.

Hands on therapy may help a person feel safer in their body, reduce threat, support confidence, improve body awareness, create a positive movement experience and help them re engage with activity. That is meaningful clinical work when it is used with good reasoning.

But it should not be sold as a quick fix, a set number of techniques, a fixed protocol, or a branded method that can reliably ‘correct’ the cause of low back pain.

Good low back pain care should be individualised. It should be based on screening, clinical reasoning, current evidence, education, graded movement, reassurance, context and a clear understanding of pain and touch.

The future is not about abandoning hands on work. It is about understanding where it fits.

Skilled touch still has a place, but it belongs inside a broader, person centred, evidence informed approach to low back pain.

Learn more about pour upcoming workshops here : https://www.in-toucheducation.co.uk/IHT

Paper: Cholewicki et al. (2026), European Spine Journal.
A meta-model of low back pain to examine collective expert knowledge of treatment effects and their mechanisms
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00586-026-09932-y

19/05/2026

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Why We Compensate in Everyday Life (and Why Awareness Matters)

Your body is clever.

Really clever.

Its main job is simple: keep you moving and get you through the day.

Standing up from a chair.

Carrying shopping.

Climbing stairs.

Reaching into cupboards.

Getting out of the car.

The issue isn’t whether your body can do these things - it’s how it does them.

Most of us compensate daily without even noticing.

We lean into one hip while standing.

Always lead with the same leg on the stairs.

Twist through the lower back instead of the upper body.

Push out of a chair using one arm or one side more than the other.

These aren’t bad habits - they’re strategies.

Your body is quietly working around something it can’t fully access yet:
strength, mobility, stability, balance, or control.

And compensation doesn’t mean something is wrong.

It means your body is adaptable.

The problem comes when these strategies become patterns.

Over time, favouring one side or avoiding certain movements can lead to aches, stiffness, loss of confidence in movement, or that feeling of being “uneven” in your own body.

This is where body awareness becomes everything.

Some of you may already know this about me, some may not - but I’m a huge fan of Pilates.

I’ve practised it personally for 10 years and have been teaching Mat Pilates for the past 5.

Why?

Because Pilates slows things down.

It removes momentum.

It brings intention back into movement.

And it highlights what your body is actually doing - not what you think it’s doing.

That’s when patterns show up.

One side works harder.

One hip moves less.

Rotation isn’t equal.

Balance feels different left to right.

Not to judge - but to notice.

In my online personal training work, this awareness carries over into everything else: strength training, daily movement, injury prevention, and confidence.

Pilates isn’t just about the exercises.

It’s about learning how your body moves - and where it quietly compensates.

Once you’re aware, you stop forcing positions.

You start listening.

You move more evenly, with less effort and more control.

Because compensation isn’t failure - it’s information.

And when you understand what your body is telling you, you can train smarter, move better, and feel more confident in everyday life.

Knowing will always beat guessing.

14/05/2026

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14/05/2026

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13/05/2026

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🤲 Massage can help people feel more comfortable, more aware of their body and more confident in movement.

But we do not need to claim that therapists are breaking up tissue or rubbing away ‘knots’ to explain why massage may feel useful.

A better explanation is often about touch, feedback, pressure, perception, relaxation, guarding and the client’s response.

Read more here: https://smto.co.uk/working-with-muscle-knots/

05/01/2026

I've had cancellations for tomorrow (tues 6th) due to the snow. If you would like an appointment at 10.30 or 1 tomorrow let me know.
Suitable for cross country ski-ers or penguins ❄️