Body Language: D

An Excursion Through the Alphabet in Somatic Terms
by Thomas Myers

In this article Myers examines the qualities of the letter D and its association with the Hebrew word for door, daleth. Myers states that the door in bodywork is "the opening from the known into the unknown" or the "portal" to "open up new areas of perception, feeling, though and movement, to bring new ways of being." He goes on to describe the connection between the obturator muscle and "the sense of movement" implied by the letter D. Myers discusses Erik Dalton's Myoskeletal Alignment Technique (MAT). Myers notes Dalton's Rolfing experience, his self-rehabilitation from two serious martial arts injuries, osteopathy, and the soft-tissue research of Vladimir Janda, M.D., as influential factors in the evolution of MAT. Outline by Myers is the MAT directive, "Don't chase the pain!" but rather "recognize the strain patterns before they become painetter D, patterns." He continues to explain the place MAT holds in the bodywork field by differentiating it from Rolfing and chiropractic. D is also for depth, as Myers concludes the article with a list of the five components of depth and asserts that "going deeper and going harder" are "not remotely equated."