About Square 1

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Pain often makes us focus on one place.

The shoulder hurts, so we work on the shoulder.
The low back hurts, so we work on the low back.
The hip feels tight, so we stretch or treat the hip.

Sometimes that’s exactly what the body needs.

But sometimes the same problem keeps returning.

That’s where SQUARE 1 offers a different way of looking at the body.

The SQUARE 1 System™ is a neuroscience-informed movement assessment and treatment framework designed to evaluate how the nervous system is organizing movement.

Rather than beginning with the question:

“Which muscle is tight?”

SQUARE 1 asks:

“How is your nervous system responding to this movement?”

Your Nervous System Controls Movement

Every movement you make requires an enormous amount of information.

Your brain receives sensory information from your joints and muscles, along with information from your visual and vestibular systems. It continually uses that information to determine where you are in space and how to coordinate movement.

Ideally, that process happens efficiently.

But our bodies also adapt.

Previous injuries, stress, repetitive movement, changes in sensory input, and other experiences can influence the strategies the nervous system uses to accomplish a movement.

The result can sometimes be compensation.

Instead of simply chasing the muscle that feels tight or the area that hurts, SQUARE 1 gives us a systematic way to assess the nervous system’s response to movement.

How Does SQUARE 1 Work?

A SQUARE 1 session may look very different from the bodywork you’re accustomed to.

We begin by testing.

Using gentle resistance, specific joint positions, and movement patterns, I evaluate how your nervous system responds to different movements.

These tests require very little force. You may simply hold your arm or leg in a particular position while I apply a small amount of resistance.

We’re looking for consistency.

Can your nervous system organize and maintain that movement efficiently?

When we identify a position that produces an altered response, we investigate further.

SQUARE 1 allows us to progressively narrow that response down to increasingly specific movements and positions.

Once we’ve identified the appropriate input, the intervention itself may be incredibly simple.

It might involve:

- A gentle isometric contraction

- Holding a specific joint action

- A particular breathing pattern

- Moving your eyes in a certain direction

- Moving or positioning your head

- Combining several of these inputs

Then we test the original movement again.

Test → intervene → retest.

The change isn’t based simply on how something “feels.” We can immediately go back to the original test and see whether your response has changed.

Why Would My Eyes or Breathing Affect My Hip?

This is one of the most interesting parts of SQUARE 1.

Movement isn’t controlled by muscles acting independently.

Your brain has to integrate information from multiple sensory systems to determine where your body is, where you’re going, and how to safely and efficiently get you there.

That includes information from your:

Visual system
Your eyes provide constant information about your environment and your orientation within it.

Vestibular system
Structures within your inner ear provide information about head position, acceleration, orientation, and balance.

Proprioceptive system
Receptors throughout your muscles and joints provide information about body position and movement.

These systems continuously interact.

That’s why changing an input somewhere that seems completely unrelated to your painful area can sometimes change strength, balance, range of motion, or movement somewhere else.

We’re not simply treating individual muscles.

We’re looking at the system responsible for coordinating them.

What Can I Expect During a Session?

SQUARE 1 is gentle.

There is no need to “push through” painful exercises, and the testing requires only light resistance.

You’ll be actively involved throughout the session.

We may have you stand, walk, move a joint, hold a position, breathe in a particular way, move your eyes, or gently contract a muscle.

And we’ll continually retest.

That means you often get to experience the difference yourself.

A movement may feel stronger.

Your balance may change.

A previously uncomfortable movement may feel easier.

Your range of motion may increase.

Or a movement that previously felt awkward or disconnected may suddenly feel much more natural.

Every nervous system is different, so responses and outcomes vary from person to person.

Is SQUARE 1 Massage?

No.

SQUARE 1 is primarily a nervous-system and movement assessment/intervention system rather than traditional massage therapy.

A SQUARE 1 session may involve very little traditional hands-on tissue work.

However, it integrates beautifully with the manual therapy already offered at BodyRock.

Sometimes the nervous system is the most useful place to begin.

Sometimes the tissues themselves need treatment.

And sometimes the best approach involves both.

Adding SQUARE 1 gives me another way to determine what your body may need rather than automatically applying the same type of treatment to every problem.

Who Might Benefit From SQUARE 1?

SQUARE 1 may be worth exploring when you’re dealing with:

• Recurring pain or tightness
• A problem that repeatedly improves and returns
• Unexplained differences in strength from one side to the other
• Restricted or inconsistent range of motion
• Balance or stability issues
• Movement that feels awkward or uncoordinated
• Compensation following a previous injury
• Difficulty getting a particular muscle or movement to “turn on”
• Athletic or movement-performance limitations
• A problem that hasn’t responded the way you expected to conventional approaches

You do not have to be in pain to benefit from SQUARE 1.

It can also be used to investigate movement efficiency, stability, strength, balance, and performance.

Why SQUARE 1 at BodyRock?

My approach to bodywork has never been about simply rubbing the place that hurts.

I’m interested in understanding why your body is doing what it’s doing.

Manual therapy gives us powerful ways to influence painful or restricted tissues.

SQUARE 1 adds another piece to that puzzle by allowing us to systematically assess how the nervous system is responding to movement.

Sometimes the answer is in the tissue.

Sometimes it’s in the way the body is organizing movement.

Sometimes it’s both.

The goal isn’t to force your body into a particular pattern. It’s to figure out what is limiting the movement, give your nervous system a different input, and see how your body responds.

You Don’t Have to Be an Olympian to Train Your Nervous System

This is the same SQUARE 1 System™ that has been used with Olympic and elite professional athletes looking to optimize strength, stability, mobility, and performance.

But you don’t have to be an elite athlete to benefit from it.

The same system can be applied to an athlete searching for the smallest performance advantage, someone dealing with recurring pain or movement limitations, an active person who simply wants their body to work better, or someone working toward something as fundamental as feeling stable and confident enough to stand and move independently.

The goals may be completely different, but the system we’re working with is the same: the human nervous system.

Whether your goal is to perform at the highest level, return to an activity you love, move with greater confidence and stability, or simply hurt less, SQUARE 1 gives us a different way to investigate what may be standing in the way.

You don’t have to be an Olympian. You just get access to the same system.

That’s why I’m so excited to bring the SQUARE 1 System™ to BodyRock.

Ready to see what your nervous system has to say?