I have been teaching the RockPods course since we first introduced it to the UK last year, the course is a westernised version of a very ancient form of eastern medicine which we then blended with movement therapy and whisked-in some modern pain science to create a treatment approach to help a wide variety of patients. It’s a treatment that I use everyday in practice, although not on everybody.
On the course we cover the usual history, evidence, likely mechanisms, contraindications etc. but, the best bit of the course, the eye-opener or ‘ah ha’ moment comes when students are actually at the receiving end of a treatment flow. Having experienced this myself the immediate decompression from the pod delivers a strong feeling of treatment depth down into the contractile tissues, differing from a hands-on approach due to the clear lack of pressure. Because we are pulling up in a world of pushing down! There is also a profound sense of distal tissue stretch as the pod works like a strong handle which moves the surrounding soft tissue through the fascial web. With the combination of guided stretches your soft tissues are treated with internal and external glides to bestow a unique and very therapeutic experience.
Below is one of my favourite applications for lumbar pain, or stiffness.
We begin with two or more pods placed over the lumbar errectors which are then manipulated while the patient relaxes, so you move the pods and the patient stays still.
Then with the pods remaining in place we guide the patient into the prone kneeling ‘child’s pose’ stretch, the pods increase the sheering force between the superficial and deeper fascial layers.
Finally in the stretch position we manipulate the pods again to mobilise and de-sensitise the tissues within this region and to promote normalisation of this movement and position to the nervous system
All very funky! Perhaps most importantly it feels great receiving the treatment.
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