Structural Integration can improve posture, movement and overall well-being. Photos: Chris Emeott
Lakeville massage therapists offer structural integration for better movement.
When Lakeville’s Natalie Hammer began studying massage therapy a few years ago, she discovered a lesser-known modality that felt “more like a puzzle that you’re solving,” she says. “I became interested in structural integration because there’s more to it. There’s more challenge.”
Structural integration uses myofascial bodywork techniques, meaning that practitioners use skillful touch in combination with a client’s own movement to reorganize the connective tissues (fascia) to improve posture, movement and overall well-being.
Hammer’s son and business partner, Xavier Holland, had a similar introduction. He’d been a recipient of structural integration bodywork and soon after sought his massage therapy license, so he could offer the service to clients. “The work really helped me,” Holland says. “It’s been exponential.”
Hammer and Holland opened Somatic Healing & Alignment in Lakeville in September 2023. In addition to structural integration, they also offer somatic experiencing, a nervous system regulation technique that uses touch therapy to help people work through physical and emotional trauma.
Xavier Holland and Natalie Hammer, owners of Somatic Healing & Alignment, are board-certified Structural Integration practitioners.
Both Hammer and Holland work with “all types and kinds of people,” Hammer says. “Athletes can definitely benefit from this. If you’re older, you’ll benefit because we can help get better alignment, so your movement can be better and you have more ease.”
A typical session starts with a “visual body read,” Hammer says. Then, the client moves to the massage table, and the therapist uses their hands to release the fascia and allow it to move more easily. “There can be sensation, but it shouldn’t be painful,” Hammer says. Clients also participate actively by making small movements at the direction of the therapist “to bring more body awareness to that area,” Hammer says.
Holland says structural integration generally helps clients feel more aware of and grounded in their bodies. “The change of the whole body may increase your capacity to do something, because you physically have more space of movement,” she says. Hammer adds that clients often see increased breath capacity. “People will say, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize I was breathing so shallow,’” she says.
They often see clients who want to correct their postural alignment—thanks to the modern “hunch” many of us experience from looking down at screens for hours at a time.
Most people can continue their normal activities after a session with minimal soreness. Athletes should wait 24 to 36 hours before trying a strenuous workout.
Client Lisa Lindner had been struggling with chronic pain and started with a three-session series of structural integration work at Somatic Healing & Alignment. “I noticed such a dramatic change,” Lindner says. “It was honestly mind-blowing, the relief I felt.” Lindner notes that clients should be prepared for the deep-tissue nature of Structural Integration. “This is not a relaxing massage. You need this deep work to really see results,” she says. It’s been worth it for Lindner, who says she feels more grounded and moves more easily.
“Your physical body represents who you are,” Holland says. “It’s nice to touch areas you don’t pay attention to and move through them. There’s a lot of physical changes and personal growth.”
Somatic Healing & Alignment
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