The goal of the Aston Paradigm is to assist the individual in reclaiming his or her own natural structure. In the Aston problem-solving approach, there is no "ideal body type" to achieve or conform to; the uniqueness of each individual is respected. Practitioner and client work together in a gentle, precise and powerful way to unravel the layers of history stored in tissue. Visible changes in alignment and movement patterns accompany the relief felt as the body rediscovers and refines its natural sense of what feels "right".

Structural alignment, all segments are stacked up on top of each other to create support from the bottom to the top.

In a well balanced body, fascial tissue is loose and moist, but under continual stress (physical and emotional), lack of movement, injury or trauma it becomes rigid and loses fluidity. Layers of fascia begin to glue together, causing the muscular "knots" familiar to so many people. The sheaths of fascia stick together in a systematic way based on habitual patterns of lack of movement. In the Aston paradigm and Hellerwork, we believe that inflexibility stems from connective tissue known as fascia. Fascial tissue consists of plastic-like sheets that cover the muscles and muscle fibres and that come together at the ends of muscles to form tendons, which in turn attach muscles to bones.

As ageing continues, more and more of these physical and emotional patterns become embodied in the connective tissues and we lose flexibility. The body gets caught in a trap - the more misaligned with gravity we become, the more tension and stress we experience and the more energy we expend holding ourselves together. The body shortens and stiffens and we age more rapidly. Aston Movement Coaching and Hellerwork aim to reverse these processes.

Movement coaching first starts with learning more efficient and less stressful ways of performing the simple movements of everyday life, and progresses to complex activities such as sports and musical instrument performance. These movement designs can also be used to specifically release accumulated tension in the body. In all aspects of the movement work, the aim is to evoke easy and efficient activity.

For more information on Aston work check out the Aston Training Centre.