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on the soft-tissue attachments to these bony structures. This will leverage the Golgi tendon organs' ability to modulate the resting tone of the entire muscular group. 9 First, to reach the level of these osseous attachments, it is important to work down through the outer layers of the back's myofascia, including the superfi cial fascia, the serratus posterior inferior, the outer layers of the thoracolumbar fascia, and the muscular tissue of the erectors, as we did in the Thoracolumbar Fascia Technique in the previous column. Once you've prepared these outer structures, carefully locate the sensitive end of the 12th rib. While meticulously avoiding pressure directly against this rib's end (or into the free end of the 11th rib just lateral and superior to it), use your thumbs to gently apply pressure to the 12th rib's inferior margin (Images (proprioception), rather than focusing primarily on symmetrical distances, positions, or shapes. In my own clinical experience, symptoms such as back pain seem to correlate more clearly with mobility asymmetries than they do with positional asymmetries, and research fi ndings support this. 8 From this perspective, mild scoliosis or rib cage asymmetries are not necessarily problematic, unless there is pain or diminished function. Furthermore, these symptoms often respond more readily to work aimed at achieving our goals of improved tissue elasticity, mobility, and proprioception, than to changes in position alone. As we did in the Iliac Crest Technique ("Working with the Lumbars: The Thoracolumbar Fascia," Massage & Bodywork, September/ October 2014, page 115), we'll focus www.Advanced-Trainings.com info@advanced-trainings.com | 877-499-8811 Costa R ican R etreat Myofascia & Movement A Cross-Disciplinary Training with Til Luchau and special guests Bibiana Badenes Brian Halterman Larry Koliha Bethany Ward Chris Pohowsky 2014-15 Advanced Myofascial Techniques seminars Anchorage AK Ashland OR Boulder CO Dubois PA Durham NC Eugene OR Fairbanks AK Lewes DE Portland OR Vail CO Australia, Europe, and more! Feb 7-14 2015 Myofascial Techniques DVDs on Sale Now! $49 limited time CE: NCBTMB, etc. Organizer inquiries invited! 108 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k n o v e m b e r / d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 5 and 6). It is on this lower edge of the rib's shaft that most of the back's tissue layers attach. If the rib is diffi cult to distinguish, or seems deeply embedded within the back's tissue layers, additional preparation may be needed. Once on the rib's lower margin, ask for full, gentle breath in order to facilitate fascial softening, and to increase proprioceptive awareness of this often-forgotten region. Keep your pressure directed superiorly into the lower margin of the rib, staying right on the bone, in order to avoid pressing into organs or the lumbar transverse processes. You'll sometimes feel thicker, hardened tissue along this bony margin; these are the attachments of the TLF. Wait in each place for a tissue response, and then proceed medially and superiorly,