Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Brill.
Victoria, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
When my eldest son was a born in 2002, I was captivated with the miracle of development and birth. But my level of intrigue went a bit deeper. I was fascinated by how he was formed structurally and how his body worked. My degree was in architecture, so it made sense that I found his growing form and ability to learn, move and function to be so enthralling.
As he began to grow, I began my own quest to learn everything I could about the way the human body was constructed. I started taking anatomy and physiology classes, and by the time he was 18 months old, I became a qualified massage therapist.
While studying massage, I was inspired by Dr. Ida Rolf’s work and her architectural understanding of the body. Two of her ideas in particular resonated strongly with me and aligned with my own architectural knowledge. First, the concept of stacking the blocks of the body to align with gravity, and second, envisioning the connective tissue as an organ of structure. Her work sparked my thirst for more, and I went on to study more of her teachings. After spending 18 years to date on my educational journey, I become a Board Certified Structural Integrator.
I have worked in the medical massage arena for more than 16 years, treating people with chronic pain, injuries, and both pre/post-operations. I have collaborated with various other medical professionals to aid in the healing process.
Body-work is a fundamental aspect in healing the body; however, healing is not a one-sided affair. It’s been my experience that the clients who heal the fastest and are the strongest are the ones who not only do their homework, but also are educated in their own healing process. To me, this is one of the main differences between traditional Massage Therapy and Structural Integration (SI). The first fixes, and the latter educates.
The holistic approach is what makes SI more than deep tissue massage. With SI, the body is seen as a whole instead of a collection of parts. For instance, what may be presenting as a back problem could stem from an issue with the feet or the neck, which has compromised the back. This is the purpose of conducting a postural analysis that is carried out before each SI session. The results, in turn, dictate the deep tissue bodywork that follows.
In addition, the way we move or function creates our form or posture. So, for the work to be long- lasting, movement re-education is paramount and an integral part of the SI process. Movement is carried out on the table as well as after the session in order to retrain the body in fundamental movements such as breathing, sitting, standing, and walking.
As a result of working with me and experiencing the educational process, my SI clients deepen their relationship with their body and learn ease in movement and awareness.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The biggest struggle is right now! I moved my office to Hermosa Beach from Manhattan Beach on February 1st 2020. The office is so wonderful, ocean view, room to assess posture and work with small classes in movement re-education. I also have an extremely talented massage therapist who works for me when I am not in office. Then, six weeks later the stay at home order was issued and the office closed. Within the first week of lock down, I missed my work, my clients and the energy that we create. I see my work as a service to keeping the South Bay healthy and thought on ways that I could do this remotely.
The quarantine has become a time of high stress for so many people, coupled with working from home in make shift office chairs at dining room tables. Given my knowledge of postural awareness, I posted a video on Facebook on how to sit to support your structure. This was followed by breathing exercises, how to stand, run, exercises and stretches that can be done to keep you healthy until bodywork can recommence. I have been working online with clients talking them through self-massage techniques and stretches to relieve sprains and strains during lock down. and have opened an online shop on the website for bath salts and essential oils to relax sore muscles and destress tired minds. This is now something that I will maintain when we are back in office again, as I realize the time between appointments is so important.
Please tell us about your business.
I love working with clients as a coach, educating them in how to best be in their bodies. Because of this approach, my clients tend to appreciate how a structural integrated body can increase functionality and performance. This is not just the professional athletes, musicians, singers, dancers, but also those who have recovered from strokes, injuries and surgeries. It is wonderful to see clients evolve as they go through treatments, they take on the healing as a sense of empowerment and nurture an understanding between the mind-body connection. I particularly love ‘the 10 series’ which is the orthodox structural integration series produced by Ida Rolf back in the 1970’s. Each session addresses a different part of the body, working through the fascial layers from superficial fascia to core, to realign the body to give a new vitality and awareness.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
For me, success it that moment when a client ‘gets it’; they have a light bulb moment about what they have done that has caused a block in the body. It could be a running pattern, how they stand, sit at their desk, drive their car, hold their stress or compensate for an injury, once they have this awareness, they can see how that pattern shows up in other aspects of their life. We are creatures of habit and when we are aware of what that habit is, we can work to change it.
Pricing:
- Structural Integration sessions $200 for the 2 hour session
- Introduction to SI 1 hour session $100
- Massage with Nuchi $75 per session
Contact Info:
- Address: 727 2nd st # 206
Hermosa Beach CA 90254 - Website: www.southbaystructuralintegration.com
- Phone: 3108834702
- Email: structurallyaligned@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram/southbaystructuralintegration
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/southbaystructuralintegration.com
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/southbaystrucutralintegration
- Other: new YouTube channel coming soon!
Image Credit:
Dan Brill
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