Like Doing Yoga Without the Work
By: Kate Blake, Guest Blogger & Former Division I Scholarship Track Athlete
Although I hadn’t heard much about KMI before, after years of physical therapy visits and lingering overuse injuries, I was definitely open to a new form of healing. KMI stands for Kinesis Myofascial Integration. It’s a different type of a massage that works your fasciae and connective tissue, to help break up old patterns and habits that the body holds onto.
When I walked through the door at Portland KMI, Connor was there to great me with a strong handshake. He sat me down to go over the basics of KMI and cover my health history, injuries, and goals for the session. He was very thorough and easy to talk to. The session started with a body reading where he looked at my posture, alignment, how I walked, and looked for symmetry and balance.
After the body analysis I laid down on a massage table. He began working on my feet and it felt like this really intense stretch that I’ve never felt in a massage before. He then evaluated the tightness and movement of muscles and ligaments and used some compression during the massage while he instructed me to flex my feet back and forth (this stretches the muscle while it’s contracting).
In between working different the muscle groups he had me stand and walk around afterwards to see if I noticed a difference. It was shocking how the side he had worked on felt so much more flexible and light compared to the unworked side.
With KMI, there are typically 12 sessions, however everyone is different and requires specialized treatment. Conor is flexible and can cater to fit your needs and schedule. After my first session I definitely wanted to do the entire course. If you can feel this good after one session, I wonder what your body will feel like after all 12!
I think Conor described it best when he said, “it’s like doing yoga without having to do the work.” Conor literally does it for you. When I asked him how he got started he said he had it done, and was hooked. I can see why…it’s an incredible feeling. I can’t put into words how good the stretch feels, you’ve just got to try it for yourself.
