Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/465652
directions: medially up off the table, cranially toward the head, and so on, all in extra-slow motion. Your hand remains soft, without sliding, poking, or exerting effort (Image 9). Your intention is gentle, whole-abdomen mobilization and relaxation. Working with the breath, monitor your client's ability to rest and let you have the weight of her viscera. If you feel your client tensing or holding the breath, stop or back up, and invite your client to relax the belly even more. Easing the Mesenteric Net In the same patient, sensitive manner, you can now feel for the mesentery itself. It is important to emphasize we are not trying to touch the mesentery directly, nor are we using direct techniques to stretch or lengthen it. Because of the belly's extreme sensitivity, we use an indirect technique here, slackening rather than stretching the mesenteric tissues, by gently supporting the abdominal contents cranially and medially in the direction of the mesenteric root. We can be a bit more directive than we were with the soap-bubble peritoneum, but still very delicate and soft in our touch. On a client with a smaller belly (Image 7), a light touch is all that is needed. On a person with a larger gut, we can use some strength to take the actual weight of the viscera and relieve the mesentery's pull on the spine. In both cases, as you support the intestines toward the mesenteric root, feel for a gentle easing in the lumbars with your posterior hand. This may take the duration of several breaths and will be most apparent when there is mesenteric involvement in low-back lordosis or discomfort. Wait for this easing of the posterior hand, or a quieting of the breathing rhythm, or another sign of autonomic nervous system shift, such as a sigh, twitch, or eye flutter. Then, slowly release the hold and continue with other aspects of your treatment. INDICATIONS The mesentery, as the structural connector of the spine, intestines, and the neural complexes associated with both, can be thought of as a key access route for working with a variety of client complaints. Consider including the Mesentery Technique when working with these client conditions, among others: • Digestive distress, irritable bowel syndrome, and related gastric complaints, because 108 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k m a r c h / a p r i l 2 0 1 5 The parietal peritoneum (blue) is a thin, resilient fascial layer surrounding the intestines. Source images courtesy Primal Pictures, used by permission. 5 of direct mechanical effects on the intestines, the interoceptive (sensory) refinement from the focused attention of hands-on work, and, especially, from the calming, palliative effects of touch itself. • Low-back pain, disc issues, and axial sciatic pain, due to the mechanical pull of the mesenteric root on the anterior lumbars, especially in obesity. (For a discussion of axial versus appendicular sciatica, see "Assessing Sciatic Pain," Massage & Bodywork, July/August 2011, page 110.) • Pregnancy and postpartum recovery, since peritoneal and mesenteric work can help ease displaced and crowded viscera. • Recovery from abdominal surgeries and injuries, due to the capacity of gentle manipulation to reduce adhesions and inflammation of the abdominal fascia, and improve postoperative intestinal functioning. 7 • Sacroiliac (SI) joint pain, particularly of the right-side SI joint, since the slightly diagonal mesenteric root crosses the anterior aspect of the right sacroiliac joint. 8 • Stress, depression, anxiety, and the effects of unresolved trauma, due to the enteric nervous system's role Schematic cross section of the lumbar region, showing the continuity of the mesentery and the parietal peritoneum and their relationship to the spine. Image courtesy Advanced-Trainings.com, based on Gray and de Rosa/Porterfield. 6 Small intestine Aorta Inferior vena cava Thoracolumbar fascia Ascending colon Erector spinae Psoas major Quadratus Iumborum Descending colon Mesentery Parietal peritoneum Rectus