Why I tried SI and how it helped me

Like many people do, some time ago I suffered from back pain. I practiced yoga and had massages to manage the pain. I liked my massage therapist. She was very capable and a really nice person, too. After we had worked together for a while, she finally said that she was out of ideas about how to address my back pain. She asked the clinic owner to come in. The owner suggested that I consider structural integration. I was not familiar with this technique so she loaned me a book about it. I thought it sounded interesting. However, I was able to tolerate my condition and did not pursue getting a different style of work.

The thing that made me reevaluate whether I should try SI was that I had an injury. We were cross-country skiing on a hilly trail in deep snow. It was a long day and I was tired. On the last hill before the cabin, I thought about walking but I didn’t. I ended up falling and wrenching my knee. The injury resulted in a partial tear of my MCL and a bone bruise. I did physical therapy. Afterwards, the orthopedic clinic said I was fine. Despite their reassurances, I could tell that my leg did not feel right or move in the same way anymore.

Now, having two things that might benefit from a new body work technique led me to try structural integration. The results were quite remarkable. The compensations and movement problems that I felt due to the ski injury cleared up. SI resolved issues that I did not even realize that I had from an old injury to my other leg. I felt completely light on my feet when running, which was never the case up until that point. I was able to move more deeply into yoga poses that had been challenging before. And I just felt so much better physically, overall. I was sold!

When I decided that I want to pursue work that was not in an office and in front of a computer, I considered several alternatives. I decided to pursue structural integration training so that I could share the benefits that I received with others.

If you have been struggling with a long-term, chronic condition like back pain or a repetitive strain injury,  why not try structural integration? It helped me when other options had not fully resolved my problems. It could do the same for you.