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Let’s Talk About SMRT
Let’s Talk About SMRT
Let’s talk about SMRT (Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique). We call it a bodywork modality and we teach it with a specific set of positions. But, we then tell you to modify every position for the person on the table. So, why do we use a set of positions if you are expected to modify immediately? This helps therapists who are new to SMRT to understand the concept behind the work.
By teaching SMRT with a set of positions based on muscle information and connective tissue patterns, we have a classroom environment that is conducive to learning. The concept of SMRT challenges much of what massage therapists, physical therapists, and chiropractors have learned. By following the moves, which most students do because they paid for the class and they are attending so they might as well, therapists/students quickly begin to realize that they are getting quick and unusual changes in the patterns in the client’s body.
Complicated, Yet Simple
Many fight the concept and a few never really get it, but most have difficulty coming away from it after one class. So, what is the concept? Move with what is happening already. It is that simple. But the assessment of what is happening is layered and complex. We call SMRT the most complicated simple thing you will ever do.
In class, I do not lead therapists/students through each set of positions. Students wait for me to do this and some are annoyed that I do not. The reason I don’t do this is because to treat each individual that comes to you, you must be willing to modify what you are doing for that person’s physical story and current needs. We do not have protocols in SMRT and leading through a protocol in class would only assist you in becoming stuck in a little box that would not accommodate all of your clients.
SMRT is a therapeutic bodywork modality, meaning we are working with people’s bodies with a specific concept and only get response when the work is needed by the tissue being targeted. However, I have clients tell me regularly that SMRT is by far the most relaxing treatment they have. When an SMRT practitioner assesses correctly and moves into a position that is right for the client on the table, the client almost instantly becomes unaware of being in the room. We could say they fall asleep (and spontaneous snoring does happen in these moments). They describe, and I describe, it as the deepest sleep you have ever experienced. This complete state of relaxation lasts only as long as the SMRT practitioner holds the position, but it feels like you have been in a state of suspension for a very long time.
Check Out Our Upcoming Events
In the first half of 2018, Full Circle will be teaching live SMRT workshops in the following places:
Austin, TX (1/2 full now)
Tucson, AZ (typically fills 4 weeks out)
Santa Clara, CA
Charleston, SC
Marietta, GA (this one will fill up early)
Ft Worth, TX
Knoxville, TN
Indianapolis, IN
Kennewick, WA (popular location)
Little Rock, AR
Seattle, WA
Cromwell, CT
Bozeman, MT (fills every year)
Omaha, NE (fills 6 weeks early every year)
Asheville, NC
Moorhead, MN (always full at least 3 weeks out)
Palatine, ILCome and experience one of the most effective forms of bodywork you will ever learn. Register now.
