Visceral Therapy is a gentle hands-on approach that works with the internal organs—the viscera—and their relationship to the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Each organ has both mobility, its ability to move freely in relationship to surrounding organs and structures, and motility, its own subtle intrinsic motion. Restrictions in either can create patterns of tension that extend through the fascia, ligaments and other connective tissues into the ribs, spine, pelvis and surrounding musculature.
We tend to think of the musculoskeletal system as the framework of the body—the “box”—and the organs as things contained inside it. In reality, the two are intimately connected, both mechanically and through the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Many of the body's standing patterns of muscular tension are maintained automatically, outside conscious control. Visceral restrictions and autonomic patterns can therefore participate in both creating and maintaining structural tension, just as restrictions in the musculoskeletal system can influence the tissues surrounding the organs. Glen's approach draws from Jean-Pierre Barral's Visceral Manipulation, Integrative Manual Therapy and osteopathic principles, integrating visceral, structural and nervous-system work rather than treating them as separate systems. Through gentle palpation and manual techniques, he works with these reciprocal patterns to restore greater mobility, adaptability and ease throughout the body.
