Dooley Noted 5/12/2014
This past weekend, I attended the gait seminar series, “Anatomy in Motion.”
I help teach anatomy at several schools, including a podiatric medical
college. I am always fascinated by the fact that so few experts agree on each finite component of gait.
You won’t find Gary and his staff on faculty at any universities, but they darn well should be. Gary took gait assessment and biomechanics into his own hands, and he observed thousands of gait patterns over 8 years. He developed his own research method, through observation and foot mapping.
The result was a book, “What the Foot,” and a seminar series to share what he has learned.
The most impressive part of the this seminar was the lack of Powerpoint lecturing and time spent with a lecturer talking “at” us. We had discussions about the material and were encouraged to feel it in our own bodies. Then, we were asked to demonstrate what we learned to the group, in a supportive, encouraging environment of learning.
It was the way movement can be integrated into memory – through feeling it for ourselves.
We analyzed each other and discussed observations made in front of the class. Gary and his skilled assistants helped each individual person understand the suspension and propulsion phases of gait, from the foot to the skull.
This seminar blended so well with NKT, SFMA, FMS, ART, DNS, and other seminars I have utilized.
We all want the same thing: to empower the patient to earn back their pain-free movement.
I am thrilled about AiM Level II at the end of May.
I highly encourage any practitioner or movement specialist to take this seminar. I’m pulling for the fall here again in NYC. It’s definitely worth traveling if you don’t yet have a seminar near you.
If you would like to feel how gait affects movement, find an AiM practitioner near you.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley
