Thursday, January 28, 2016

Thursday Book Report: Anatomy Trains


Anatomy Trains by Thomas W. Myers is directed at “manual and movement therapists,” but has plenty to offer other readers as well.  It focuses on what Myers describes as myofascial meridians that run from place to place throughout the body, a shift in focus from seeing muscles and their connecting tissues in isolation, or “Though some preliminary dissective evidence is presented in this edition, it is too early in the research process to claim an objective reality for these lines… the… concept is presented merely as a potentially useful alternative map, a systems view…” (p.2)

The philosophy, then, of the book is more holistic and less reductionist.  It asserts, like the old song, that the knee bone is connected to the shin bone, but as part of an interconnected web of tissue in which dysfunction at one point may show up somewhere else along the line. (I admit, that version would be harder to sing.)


If nothing else, the book has great illustrations, including photographs from dissections, clear drawings, and “case study” samples.  It is fascinating for anyone who wants to know what’s going on under the skin.

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