Fashion Wire Daily NY May 27, 2003 - From boot camp, to Bikram yoga and body work, the blood, sweat and tears school of thought is brutally popular. Yet at New York's Integrative Rehab, the gentler the movement, the better.
Founders Alyssa Frey and Jane Gatanis practice 'Integrative Rehabilitation,' a technique not only to cure pain from injury or trauma, but to realign the mind and body.
The girls, both licensed occupational therapists, are firm believers that pain has an "emotional component." By unblocking these stored emotions and releasing them from the body, many painful or irritating injuries can be diminished, and even if you're in good shape, but stressed or overtired, the technique can calm and re-balance.
Patients are worked on fully clothed, and with the lightest of touch, the body is examined for imbalances and blockages working to release and relieve pressure on the brain and spinal cord.
More often than not only one session can diagnose and correct a problem. 'Craniosacral Therapy' can correct or alleviate headaches, chronic neck and back pain, stress and tension, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, chronic fatigue, even emotional and learning disabilities.
"The body has a memory and holds pain from certain events, whether physical or emotional," Alyssa explained to FWD. "We have had people who were in car crash a decade before whose dull back pain was carried over from that incident. And any stressful emotional situation -- a divorce, the death of a family member or friend -- often leave its mark on the body in the form of pain," she added. "We bring the mind and body back into alliance."
It was in the '70s that Dr. John Upledger and biophysicist Zvi Karni realized that bodies retained emotional-caused-by-physical trauma, which they termed 'emotional cysts'. By releasing these blockages, the body can begin to function fully again and problems caused by emotional problems dissipate. And the pain or emotional imbalance that disappears is replaced with relaxation and calmness.
So whether it's an age-old injury, an emotionally hard year or you're just feeling out of sorts, it's worth a trip.
Integrative Rehab 20 West 20th Street NYC 212 242 7762 or www.integrativerehab.net
