Integrative Medicine

The Mézières Method

Francoise Mézières (1909–1991) French physiotherapist and teacher of anatomy and physiology is the creator of the Mézières method. In 1947 as a result of a discovery based on her observations, she revolutionized the world of manual therapy, developing a powerful therapeutic tool and a whole new set of biomechanical laws.             

In essence, Mézières discovered that all muscular skeletal problems and deformations of our body (except those that are congenital or caused by fractures) are the result of an excess of muscle tone in our muscular chains.

The basic principle of the Mézières method is that muscles behave as a single unit, overlapping like tiles on a roof. Mézières named this anatomical arrangement Muscular Chains (MC). She identified four in our bodies. The main one is the posterior chain, running from head to toes. Because the muscles in a MC are knitted together, they are especially strong, the tone of each muscle adding up to the tone of all the others. Muscles chains constantly shorten and stiffen, twisting and distorting us in many ways, causing us to suffer a wide variety of structurally related pathologies. Our bodies attempt to resist this shortening through compensations, which provoke sideways bending and rotations of the spine, inner rotation of the limbs and the ultimate compensation, holding our breath in inspiration. The diaphragm is our main breathing muscle and part of the antero-inner MC. Holding our breath in inspiration is a major way of compensating for any stretching, pain or concentration. The Mézières method focuses on the exhale as an essential therapeutic tool as it helps decrease muscle tone.

Treatment:

The work is based on detailed observation of the patients shape and the adoption of very precise postures in which all the segments of the body are carefully aligned and in which all compensations are eliminated. The postures seem very simple, but are at first, very difficult to hold. It is very physical work both for client and therapist and requires a constant dialogue between them in order to build up the postures and eliminate compensations.

Instead of focusing on a specific dysfunction, the Mézières Method restores function through a reshaping of the whole body. This is achieved by passively extending and then contracting the MCs without allowing them to shorten (eccentric static contractions of the MCs).

By stretching the tight MCs, the strength of the weakened antagonist muscles improves automatically and gradually, durable global structural balance is restored and pain disappears. The results are a return to our normal shape and the creation of a new inner image of our balanced body.

A normal shape is one that is not altered by retractions of our MCs, it is harmonious and symmetrical and is the reflection of an inner state of health and wellbeing. It is our birthright and can be found at any age.