What is Aston-Patterning®?

Aston-Patterning® is an effective and precise system for addressing the underlying stress patterns in our bodies that are responsible for creating and maintaining tension. But even more than that, it serves as a powerful educational tool that can help individuals to increase their body awareness so as to enable them to live their daily lives in a body that is relaxed, responsive, and best able to support them in their activities.

Aston-Patterning is a unique body paradigm in that it employs a comprehensive approach to the whole person. Specific problems are analyzed within the context of the person’s comprehensive history, taking into consideration not only the individual's injuries, but also their movement and postural habits, as well as their emotional experience of the world around them. There are no preplanned recipes for managing a given problem; a different course of action is determined for each person, depending on their unique history.
 
Many of the limitations we experience are a function of the way we use our bodies. An Aston-Patterning assessment takes a look at how an individual uses his or her body within specific activities and seeks to create optimal performance through the creation of proper alignment, appropriate muscle tone and efficient body movement. The resulting awareness and new body-movement potential achieved through Aston work can readily be applied to one's daily activities.

The theories of Aston-Patterning can also be presented in a workshop format. Topics vary depending upon the interest of the group. Obviously, workshops do not contain the bodywork component, but they do serve as an effective way to address activity-specific interests. Possible workshop topics include ergonomics for office workers, optimal alignment for runners, and best-body usage for gardeners.