- Bodywork (alternative medicine)
Bodywork is a term used in
alternative medicine orcomplementary medicine to describe any therapeutic, healing or personal development work which involves some form of touching, energetic work or the physical manipulation of a practically oriented physical and somatic (seesomatics ) understanding of the body.omatic disciplines of bodywork
Most forms of bodywork are listed under
Somatic disciplines . Some of the best known forms of bodywork are:Yoga andpranayama breath work and respiration techniques;Respiratory therapy ;Body-Mind Centering ;Continuum ;Feldenkrais method ;Rolfing ;Trager Approach ,Alexander technique ,kinesiology ,Bates method ,Bio-energetics ,Bowen technique ,metamorphosis massage ,Polarity therapy . Other methods involvevoice ,movement ordance such as 5Rhythms byGabrielle Roth , or oriental techniques asQi Gong ,Tai Chi ,Do-in ,Kum nye . Often bodywork is combined with methods for personal development and body-psychotherapy, especially withGestalt therapy andPsychodrama .Massage
One form of bodywork is deep tissue
massage therapy, and the terms "massage" and "bodywork" are often used interchangeably. However, while bodywork includes all forms of massage techniques, it also includes many other types of touch and healing therapies that additionally incorporate vast assessment techniques and tools that may for example, allow a client to benefit their posture and/or aim to enhance their awareness of the 'mind-body connection'. Any activity which involves touch (Haptics ) energetic stimulation or the application of pressure or vibration to tissues of the body, includingmuscle s,connective tissue ,tendon s,ligament s, andjoint s, also may be termed bodywork.see|List of branches of alternative medicine.Popularity of bodywork in the U.S.A.
In " [http://nccam.nih.gov/news/2004/052704.htm More Than One-Third of U.S. Adults Use Complementary and Alternative Medicine, According to New Government Survey] ", a May 2004 press release by the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), theNational Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), and theNational Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported on a survey conducted as part of the 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) conducted by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The survey, titled " [http://nccam.nih.gov/news/report.pdf Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Adults: United States, 2002] (.pdf), reported on who used (CAM), what was used, and why it was used.According to the survey, when
prayer used specifically for health reasons was included in the data, 62% of adults used some form of CAM therapy during 2002. Among the ten most common complementary and alternative therapies used in the United States in 2002 were chiropractic care, yoga, and massage. Whenprayer was included, meditation and chiropractic virtually tied for the sixth most commonly used therapies (7.6% and 7.5%, respectively); yoga and massage tied for 7th place (5%). When the data for prayer-based therapies was excluded, 36% of adults used some form of CAM. Of the remaining practices, natural products (18.9%), previously in third place, was the most common. Deep-breathing exercises (11.6%), previously in fourth place, ranked as the second most common; meditation and chiropractic were third, and yoga and massage fourth.Consistent with previous studies, the survey found that the majority of individuals (54.9%) used CAM in conjunction with
conventional medicine .See also
Somatic disciplines External links
* [http://www.aarc.org/ American Association for Respiratory Care]
* [http://www.aarc.org/iers/6/index.cfm International Respiratory Care Education]
* [http://www.aobta.org American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia]
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