About MRW
What
is MRW?
Myofascial Release in Water is a concept developed in 2013 by Tomasz Zagorski in cooperation with Marius Kurkowski and it is the effect of almost 20 years of exploration of different forms of manual and hydrotherapy. Principles of manual work were enriched with benefits of water immersion of the body and together creates the extraordinary blend of stimulus aviable in warm water pool or in cosmic space only.
Since warm water is more accessible we decided to use this conditions for both: assessment and treatment. In assessment we can see much more of specific fascial patterns in the water, when postural muscles tone is significantly reduced, due to lack of gravity. For the same reason we can access more easily certain layer of the tissue, and we can simply go deeper without causing discomfort or pain when applying treatment.
The structure of the soft tissue changes during warm water immersion due to Autonomic Nervous System`s response to the conditions, and despite the knowledge from many research used in creating our concept, yet there are still many questions, we do not have answers for. We would like to invite you to explore this New World of fascial work with us! It is going to be productive fun!
Body
in water
By stepping in the pool we switch from the gravity to the buoyancy and therefore the body is in completely different World in terms of forces distribution inside of the body. The tension that hold us in gravity field, both in movements demands and even in resting pose is not there anymore.
Water with thermal comfort temperature (33 - 36 Celsius degrees), correct body support in supine position, constant hydrostatic pressure and gentle passive movement by the therapist creates optimal conditions for decreasing muscle tissue tone. The fascial structures does not have tension demand neither, thus they tend to stay in their optimal length.
This unique situation gives the opportunity to see more details of the patterns seen on land as well as to reach to primary patterns more easily.
While moving in water we deal with the viscosity - water resistance, which depends on the surface size and the speed of the movement. In passive movement we can use this resistance to asses the quality of the movement and therefore confirm the patterns seen in stillness. Using the same property we can change the assessment for treatment, especially that water gives us multidimensional direction possibilities.
Doing active movement in water we can use Archimedes` Law, immersed body is off loaded and the structure takes less impact comparing to on land movement, what has significant meaning while working in pain conditions. The quality of the work on fascia without anti-gravitational tension demand is different too.
Conditions
and equipment.
The key element is water temperature which should be around body`s comfort zone level (33-35 Celsius degrees). The depth of the pool vary from 100 to 140cm, depending of the therapist`s height. Size of the pool should be minimum 3 square meters - large jacuzzi.
The most important equipment are leg floats. We recommend Student`s Choice Floats Made in Poland. In open positions we can use travelers head pillow for supporting the head and various devices for supporting lumbar spine and pelvis, like popular noodles.
For more info about floatation devices you can go HERE.
Acknowledgment
First of all I wish to thank to Marius Kurkowski, for his energy and input for this work. Every great journey begins from the first step and Marius encouraged me to make this step.
Secondly I wish to express my gratitude to my teachers. Hundreds of students asking inspiring questions had huge influence on shape of the work. They constantly provoke critical thinking and thus influence the research. It is impossible to list all of my teachers, despite my gratitude, however I will try to point out the most significant ones. Thank you Harold Dull for bringing me to the water. Thank you Tom Myers for giving me the answer for such many questions and giving such opportunity to grow. Thank you dr Robert Schleip for collecting such database for fascia work and valuable, specific practical tips. Thank you Willem Fourie for showing me how the little is the more. Thank you Prof Serge Gracovetsky for inspiring me for reverse thinking. Thank you prof Andry Vleeming for showing value of the research on practice. Special thanks for Jaap van der Wal, PhD, MD who explained how it all started in such beautyful way.
And I cannot abandon my parents here. They gave me the life, they rise me with curiosity for life and respect for values, supported me with my choices, and gave me the enormous amount of love I can share with others till my last breath. Thank you!