The Move Easy Method
I am Tobias, an Osteopath and movement therapist based in Estoril. I specialise in teaching people, just like you, how to heal your body through movement.
It is proven that movement is a primary driver for physical, spiritual and mental health. I have chosen to dedicate my professional life to help people make their own journey from limited or painful movement to optimal health as intuitive and rewarding as possible, whilst reducing the need and dependency for medicine or surgery
Fixing the Cause Not the Symptom!
When I was first introduced to the concept of not focusing on treating pain in Osteopathy school, I learnt that the founder of Osteopathy (Andrew Taylor Still, M.D.) had once said:
“Anyone can find disease, to find health should be the object of the doctor.”
The wisdom of this statement resonated with me and marked the beginning of my personal and professional journey to align my practice with this approach towards health. Many people are being told to train harder, and exert more stress in order to achieve greater health. The problem with this approach is that even though it might feel good in the moment, long term it causes unnesseccary stress and often result in injury.
This is why I designed the Move Easy Method. Adapted from the principles of Osteopathy, Pilates and the science behind the Functional Movement System (FMS), the Move Easy Method takes my clients from poor function and pain to optimal health and strength by:
- Improving mobility
- Optimizing coordination
- Building strength
The program starts with a movement screening which assesses your individual movement capacity and is tailored specifically to you. The main objective is to ensure you adopt a healthy movement practice that is sustainable long term.
What is Healthy movement?
Healthy movement, unlike performance training, can be seen as working towards a lifetime of freedom of movement without pain. An Olympian, for example, trains hard, not guided by principles of health but by principles of performance. These are two very different things. The path of elite athletes is tainted by injuries and permanent damage to the body. Healthy movement however focuses on fundamental movement patterns and training, not on overloading your body.
When I meet patients for the first time, I guide them through this distinction and assess their long term goals. Are they training to become an Olympian or do they want to perform optimally, without pain, long term? For me personally, my reason to train is to enable me to continue living a fun and engaging life well into the later stages of my life. For you the goal may be having the ability to play golf without nagging pains or limited movement, to hike in nature without fear of injury, or to simply lift up your children or grandchildren from the ground with ease.
What is a Fundamental Movement Pattern?
A fundamental movement pattern is a fancy way of saying ‘movements that we use in our everyday life.’ These movements serve as the measuring stick for your success and development as you progress through the Move Easy Method on your journey to optimal health and freedom of movement.
Your progression through the program follows the neurodevelopmental perspective used by Functional Movement Systems, developed by globally renowned doctors including Dr Gray Cook. This allows the body to develop in a natural way, similarly to when we are born and learned to move for the first time. We start with the neck and then add more and more complex movements as you gain more competence.
Following your initial screening and assessment , we will work on your mobility and basic coordination. After that we will develop your stability. Once you are mobile and have the ability to control it you can start to add weights and more complex movement patterns into your program, increasing your strength and competency without the risk of injury or pain.
What Next?
There are many reasons why your mobility may be compromised. It may be due to a sedentary lifestyle, or it could be injury through work or sport, no matter where you are on that spectrum from poor movement to optimal freedom of movement you can rest assured that I will:
- Treat you safely.
- Identify your limitations and correct them.
- Build a balanced body that ensures you feel stronger for longer.
Through the Move Easy Method I apply sound and scientifically informed systems, designed by the best in the industry, and while you can probably find bits and pieces of these modalities elsewhere I am unique in the fact that I have the ability to see you through the whole journey. And in doing so I have the honour of developing the optimal recipe for your success!