Karen M Gabler - Your Bodys Brilliant Design: A Revolutionary Approach to Relieving Chronic Pain

P RAISE FOR K AREN G ABLER AND S USTAINABLE B ODY

Mary Kay K., registered nurse/holistic health professional

Sustainable Body is one of the most intelligent and commonsense explanations and demonstrations of the cause of pain and dysfunction. The method gives me the tools to feel better and the support to make much needed, life-affirming lifestyle changes. Pure genius .

Margot C., musician/performer

What I love about Karens Sustainable Body method is that its highly effective and the exercises are so enjoyable that I actually want to do them. My body likes them. I feel an ahhh of relief when I begin and a hmmm of new energy when I finish. They dont take a lot of time, and they work to strengthen me and give me a feeling of well-being for the day. My chronic shoulder pain is reduced or eliminated.

Erin C., critical care nurse

I have noticed that the Sustainable Body routine helps my body work through traumas and achieve a deeper healing than what I had thought possible. Never have I experienced relief that is so profound, lasting, and thorough.

Krista Q., yoga instructor/wellness coach

I came to Karen because I had been experiencing chronic pain radiating from my low back to my hips for years. [I] had seen chiropractors, orthopedics, and physical therapists with fragmented success. [Karen] guides you with a combination of techniques and innate intuition toward an intrinsic alignment of body, mind, and spirit. Months later, I can return to pain-free or close-to- it activity using Karens Sustainable Body method.

Fran W., photographer/author/professional gardener

I have learned so much about how the human body works, thanks to Karen. Her visual images and cues have helped me to understand the importance of fascia, hydration, and the bodys ability to support itself using this misunderstood component of our essential core.

Linda K., camp owner/professional pianist

I had debilitating pain in my foot, and my walking was increasingly compromised. I saw a podiatrist and then a surgeon. Both had a bleak outlook. Karen was optimistic from the start. She worked with the domes of my body, analyzed my gait, and worked at the level of the fascia. I am still amazed that I have regained normal walking ability with little or no discomfort. I can use the elliptical and do floor exercises again. I can take walks and do all the activities I had been forced to give up. I am delighted with this outcome, which is so different from my doctors pessimistic opinions.

Jerry M., associate professor of engineering

After many restorative sessions in Karens knowing hands, I am finally doing, at age sixty-eight, what my mother had always told me to do. I am beginning to stand up straight, and I am happy to say that I feel comfortable when I do.

Erica C., PhD student, mother of three

After several years of chronic back pain I had gotten used to viewing my body as problematic. Working with Karen I found a way to reconnect with the inherent strength and wisdom of my body. For the first time, I experience my body as a healthy, whole unit, not as separate problem areas. The Sustainable Body roller routine serves as a daily reminder to reconnect, stabilize, and strengthen my inner core, and when I miss a few days I notice the difference.

P RAISE FROM P RACTITIONERS

Laura H., massage therapist, polarity therapist, Zero Balancer, movement educator

[Sustainable Body] empowers people to take charge of their bodies and make new, informed choices for healthier daily habits. What I continue to learn is that bodywork alone, as potent and healing as it can be, can sometimes generate only temporary change. If we can also identify and work with movement habits that are creating discomfort and dysfunction, day after day, and develop new patterns of moving that draw upon the bodys innately intelligent design, we amplify the possibility of lasting change. This kind of redesigning of the body is exactly what Karen does in her work. [Sustainable Body] bridges bodywork and movement work in new and skillful ways that facilitate an experience of strength, connection, and wholeness.

Megan G., yoga instructor/dancer

The tangible clarity Karen brings to the understanding of our miraculous bodies, with her elegant explanations and user-friendly exercises, is revelatory to all who it enlightens. Add to that, she is a gifted healer who walks her talk. I personally cant wait to use her book as a reference and tool in my work as a full-time yoga instructor.

Joy F., fitness instructor

[Sustainable Body] is an invaluable resource for fitness professionals such as myself, whose job it is to keep up on the latest trends, teachings, and discoveries. Thanks to Karen, I now more fully understand the interconnectivity and fluidity of the human body and I can pass this on to my clients through improved cueing and explanation. Karens body of work is important for all of us: yoga teachers, fitness instructors, and all of those dedicated to living their best lives.

Cynthia W., Ortho-Bionomy practitioner/instructor

What I love about Karens work is that it is a unique creation that allows for strength and support in the body without overworking muscles. The work comes from a place of ease that accounts for an individuals posture and looks deeply into the body, taking its foundation from the breath.

Deborah R., PhD, psychologist

As a psychologist who also treats trauma patients from a mind-body perspective, Ive learned a great deal both personally and professionally from Karens work. At times, it has been extremely uncomfortable emotionally and physically, but I now understand this is part of clearing out the effects of trauma on many different levels in the hopes of repatterning the muscles, fascia, and nervous system itself.

Copyright 2017 by Karen Gabler

Foreword Copyright 2017 by Yaron Gal Carmel

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Jenny Zemanek

Cover illustrations: iStockphoto

Print ISBN: 9781510716414

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-1642-1

Printed in China

Represented by Danielle Burby

Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency

37 West 28th St, 8th Floor

New York, NY 10001

Authors Note

This book presents a point of view and is not meant to be a complete analysis of the role of fascia or its role in pathology. This book combines my thirty-plus years of a hands-on therapy practice working with the bones, fascia, and movement to help myself and my clients embrace the bodys brilliant design. This design supports our posture, movements, and our overall health. I would like to share with you my fascination with the alignment of bones, muscles, and fascia and how movement brings them all together. With this fascination, I share with you the role of fascia and the new research on fascia that is helping us understand its importance. The more we understand fascia, the more we can understand its holistic nature. The more we use new imagery that shows us our bodies as whole, interconnected webs of relationships between the parts, we can embrace the wisdom of the architecture within us.