In my early years as a massage therapist I concentrated my studies on different varieties of deep tissue work coupled with Polarity and Swedish techniques.  They combined to give me clinical results which I felt, at the time, were extremely effective.

From time to time, however, I would encounter tissues which would not release with the techniques I was using.  Something was missing.  Was the tissues I was attempting to release really tight?  They felt tight and seemed to loosen with my efforts, but the changes were often temporary.   Why?  Because I didn't understand the role structural stress and deviation play in pain production.

When structural stress is the source of pain, the ONLY way to alleviate the pain is to correct the structure.  Often pain shows up far away from its cause and that is why structural analysis is vital.  If structure is not corrected and put in balance, every other method of treatment is simply palliative.  

Nineteen years of constant study on the subject of soft tissue pain has given me a constantly growing understanding of the subject.   There are common threads which run through all patients suffering pain which I would like to share with you.  An understanding of these common threads will help us to set the wheels in motion for a complete and lasting change in the patients we treat.

No segment of body work has been as exciting or as effective in my practice as the restructuring of the human body.  When I entered the field of bodywork nineteen years ago, if anyone had told me I would eventually learn the secrets of realigning twisted and deformed patients I would not have believed them.   However, once I learned how simple the procedures were I put them to use at once.

Patients I had been unable to help with the many techniques I had learned over the years were called back in for another go round.   The clinical results were amazing.  I would like to share these techniques with you so thousands of other patients in pain might also be helped.

I have combined three treatment techniques and their underlying philosophies into treatment protocol I call ONSEN®.  Onsen is a Japanese word meaning "at rest" or "at peace."  It is a state of physical, mental and spiritual tranquility.  To me it means BALANCE, so balance, particularly length/strength balance in soft tissues, is our goal.  A BALANCED BODY DOES NOT HURT.

In this series I will show you the tests you will need to make an accurate assessment of your patient's structural deviations and functional abnormalities.  Then I will demonstrate the proper corrections together with movements and exercises for the patient to do at home in order to maintain healthful balance.

The three components of ONSEN® are Muscle Energy Technique (standard MET and variations of MET which I have discovered through research, clinical experience, and trial and error), Post Isometric Relaxation and Transverse Friction Massage.

MET is rapidly gaining popularity among Osteopathic and Chiropractic physicians as well as massage and physical therapists.   The principles of MET are universal in application and far reaching in therapeutic value.  MET is very exciting because it gives us tools we never had before:

1. Accurate Assessment

2. Skeletal repositioning with Minimum Effort

3. Simple and Painless Correction

4. Provision of Long Term Relief

5. A way to address Individual Spinal Segments

6. Many New Corrective Techniques. (In Volume 1, I will show you five new techniques for the SI joint alone, six for the sacrum, and two for rotating individual spinal segments.)

7. Correction of Larger Regional Spinal Curves

Another beauty of ONSEN® is that it can be incorporated into your present practice without requiring you to give up or dramatically change what you are doing now.  My hope is that each of you will use these techniques of structural and functionally correction in an integrated manner.

Most of the clients you treat will be seeking relief from pain.  As healing artists, all of us should learn as much as possible about the factors which both create and perpetuate painful soft tissue stresses.   Although these techniques have certainly withstood the test of time, the concepts and treatment techniques will be new to some of you. Each, however, is thoroughly illustrated and explained.  All the correction procedures are easy to master.

The video tapes and workbooks are the result of hours of preparation.  They are the highest quality.  Both are organized and coded in a manner which will let you move smoothly from start to finish.

I am so convinced of the value of this series I will guarantee your satisfaction.  If you feel like you did not get your money's worth just send the material back within 30 days for a full refund.

Finally we, as healing artists, have the tools to actually accomplish what we have been striving toward for a long time.  I am not interested in making patients better as I am in making them WELL.

Sincerely,

Rich Phaigh