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My session with David Van Eck was fantastic. David Van Eck has many years of experience working on bodies and teaching massage therapy at the Ann Arbor Institute of Massage Therapy before they closed their doors about a year ago. He taught myofascial release based on Ida Rolf’s structural integration methods and Thomas Myers’ fascial work. In addition, he assisted school owner, Jocelyn Granger, with teaching neuromuscular therapy.
I decided to see David because I was having some some right sided wrist, forearm and shoulder pain along with low back achyness and tightness. Before and during the session, David systematically checked my alignment for imbalances, my muscles for trigger points, and my fascia for restrictions. First off, he went straight to work on my deep rotator cuff muscles; the rotator cuff consists of a group of four muscles that hold the shoulder joint in place. Receiving neuromuscular therapy and trigger point release work on this area is not for the faint of heart. It was very intense, occasionally bordering on painful but I was able to breathe deeply through the discomfort, allowing resistance to melt and eventually the trigger points and restrictions released. This process took quite a bit of time and I was relieved and felt freed when it was over.
After addressing my symptomatic shoulder, David checked the opposite shoulder and found no need to do work on that side. He then spent some time releasing my neck muscles, a place where I carry a lot of tension, due to years throwing my head around in African dance classes. Eventually he worked his way down my right arm and spent a long time working on forearm muscles and fascia. All of this work was quite deep and occasionally a bit uncomfortable, however I never found myself in a place where I felt like I needed to resist or recoil. Throughout the course of the session, as more and more of my patterns released, I could feel myself getting lighter and more spacious, with energy moving more freely in my body. I noticed my temperature dropping and a peaceful feeling overtaking me.
I was able to add on an extra 15 minutes to the hour long scheduled session in order for David to spend time on my psoas muscles which are deep in the pelvis, connecting the pelvis and spine to the top of the thigh. These little buggers often contribute to low back discomfort, imbalances and tightness. Both of my psoas muscles took a long time to release, but release they finally did, which made a huge impact on my lower back tightness. After the session I felt a little tender and vulnerable. I rested that evening, took a long epsom salt bath, and drank plenty of water. I was surprised that I didn’t have any any soreness the next day; rather I felt pain free and energized.