Many people believe chronic pain is just part of life, the aging process, or an active lifestyle, and is something they can’t change, but thats not true. Whether you are suffering with pain and muscle tightness, recovering from an injury, surgery, want to improve athletic performance or are just interested in improving how you feel and move “Healing Movement” can help.  

I utilize Postural Therapy and Somatics to assist help people to learn how to restore healthy, functional movement that feels good. In addition to seeing students for private posture and movement coaching sessions, I teach Tai Chi as a method through which to strengthen and reinforce functional posture and movement, and as a whole human being health maintenance practice.

Posture Therapy

 Posture Therapy focuses on correcting posture and movement habits that create pain and limit mobility by improving whole-body alignment through the use of gentle exercises, stretches, and static positions that are designed to create balance throughout the body.  The practice has proven to be effective at helping people to reduce and eliminate chronic pain that’s caused by imbalances in the musculoskeletal system in order to help optimize use of the body in daily life, and in athletic pursuits.  Originally created by Pete Egoscue, who founded the Egoscue Method of Postural Therapy in the early 1970’s, the practice primarily focuses on improving symmetry and alignment of the load bearing joints in order to facilitate free, healthy, movement that feels good.  When we feel pain in the musculoskeletal system, it is often the result of misalignment of the joints and imbalances in muscle tension relationships that result in  muscular compensation, wherein muscles attempt to do the work that other muscles are not doing, which can create restrictions in mobility, and pain.  And, because the body is meant to function as a unit, imbalances can result in pain anywhere within the system, which means the site of your pain may not be the source of your pain.  Posture Therapy differs from many other approaches in that  it does not treat the site of the pain (the symptom).  Rather, it seeks to restore balance by bringing the entire body back into alignment.

Somatic Movement

Somatic Movement is a practice that involves learning how to move through awareness of the body as experienced from within, using what is often referred to as the “felt sense”.  Somatic movements are exploratory, without a specific end result in mind, and are typically performed very slowly because this is the natural way the human nervous system learns to control muscle tension, posture and movement.   It is the method through which we all learn how to use our bodies in early human development as infants and toddlers.  No one teaches us how to move, we learn it on our own through interaction with our environment with sensory awareness during the early developmental stages of life when all the exists is that which we take in through our basic senses.  As a therapeutic practice, Somatic Movement/Education utilizes movement experiments and explorations, and sometimes more structured exercises to help you re-program  faulty patterns that may be creating tightness in the muscles, pain and limited mobility.

Tai Chi

Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese practice for cultivating health and longevity.  Founded on the principles of nature, Tai Chi is a proven method for creating a sense of calm and well-being in the body/mind/spirit.  Its gentle, circular, flowing movements, paired with deep relaxed breathing strengthen and condition the entire body providing a myriad of health benefits.  As a movement method Tai Chi is unrivaled in its ability to combine all facets of human movement engaging the nervous system through awareness, the art helps to develop and condition the entire human organism through training of the felt senses, interoception, proprioception, kinesthetic senses.  As a somatic practice, the principles of tai chi teach can help a person to learn how to use their entire body with maximum efficiency in anything they are doing, and while Tai Chi is primarily thought of in the mainstream as being a form of  exercise, the movements, and meditative synchronization with the breath have the capacity to take the practitioner far beyond the physical body into the spiritual and emotional realm.  As such, Tai Chi is actually a whole being cultivation practice

Improve Posture and Movement

Improve your Life

Office Location

Minnetonka, MN (Open By Appointment Only)

11621 Live Oak Drive

Minnetonka, MN 55305

612-760-9935

Bayfield, WI (Open By Appointment Only)

10 South 5th Street

Bayfield, WI 54814

612-760-9935

 About Marty

Marty’s interest in human movement and healing began in 1980, when he began to study the martial arts. He continued to study and practice several styles of martial arts through high-school and college then embarked on a career in federal law enforcement. Over the next 20 years he added Ashtanga and Yin Yoga to his studies, and was drawn to interest in massage therapy as a result of injuries and chronic hip and shoulder pain. In addition to exploring many different forms of bodywork for his own health, he earned a basic certification in Swedish massage.

However, the defining moment that led him to intensify his studies came when he sustained a serious knee injury while practicing Aikido in 2004. After an initial surgical procedure, he was referred to a prominent sports medicine surgeon who recommended additional surgery, but he found no strong evidence in any of the studies that had been done on the procedure to support the risks involved and he decided to look for another answer.

Soon thereafter he discovered the Egoscue Method of Postural Therapy and within only a few sessions with a certified therapist he began to notice significant improvement in the chronic pain with which he had suffered for many years. In late 2004, he began to explore Chinese Medicine and after begin treated by an MD from China, he started to study Tai Chi, Qigong and other Taoist healing arts. Over the next year his knee healed, all of his chronic pain cleared up he noticed significant improvements in sleep, digestion, and his overall sense of well-being.

In 2008 he returned to school to earn a Masters Degree in Human Development, began to explore a variety of Somatic Movement methods including the Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, Kinetic Awareness, and Hanna Somatic’s, then became certified in the Egoscue Method.

In 2018 he retired from federal law enforcement and founded “Healing Movement”with the intention of helping those suffer with chronic pain, or who simply want to improve the quality of their lives through movement and other natural practices.

Marty draws on his background and training in the Egoscue Method, Tai Chi Chuan, Qigong, Yoga, as well as his studies in Somatic’s and other eastern and western healing and wellness methods in his practice. He teaches Tai Chi and Qigong both within his therapy practice and independently, as a method through which to heal, maintain health and longevity.

Marty is certified as a Postural Alignment Specialist (PAS) with the Egoscue Method, holds an M.A. in Human Development- Holistic Health and Wellness, from St. Mary’s University in Minneapolis, and has been studying and practicing movement arts including Aikido, Tai Chi, Qigong, Yoga, and a variety of Somatic methods for over 40 years.

In addition to his work in human movement, he is the co-founder of Wild Rice Retreat, a year-round respite on the shores of Lake Superior in Bayfield, Wisconsin. Founded on the pillars of expression, movement, and nourishment, Wild Rice Retreat offers resort stays for guests looking to curate their own getaway and guided retreats for those looking for an instructor led experience. The retreat offers a safe and vibrant space for grounding the mind, body and spirit through integrative artistic and holistic life experiences that support creativity and human development.