Thoracic and Upper Extremity Alignment & Activation

Unlock Whole-Body Potential: Manual Therapy for Shoulders, Arms, Chest & Hands

Why This Course?

Your upper body’s mobility and strength depend on more than muscles—it’s about the connections. This Align’d Approach course dives deep into the relationships between the lymphatic, visceral, and musculoskeletal systems, exploring how each joint’s alignment impacts the entire body with a systems-based mathematical approach.

Plus you will learn firsthand from Sheryl, who survived open-heart surgery and 10 minutes of clinical death at age 38 due to an undiagnosed congenital left coronary artery anomaly. Her recovery journey highlights the critical gaps in post-surgical rehabilitation—and how the Align’d Approach can play a vital role in supporting whole-body healing.

What You’ll Address:

Injuries & Pain: Frozen shoulder, rotator cuff tears, thoracic outlet and carpal tunnel syndrome, and postural imbalances.
Post-Surgery Recovery: Optimizing healing and restoring mobility after mastectomies, cardiac surgeries, or shoulder operations.
Chronic Conditions: Ribcage dysfunction, breathing issues, and neural impingements that affect performance and quality of life.
Restore Form & Function: Treat common thoracic postural dysfunctions—like rib flare, dowager’s hump, and collapsed chest—that silently compromise breathing, core stability, and shoulder mechanics.

Get beyond the muscles. Discover how restrictions in the nervous and visceral systems are often the hidden reason clients plateau or relapse—especially after high impact force, concussions, whiplash, surgery, or emotional trauma.

Discover how the respiratory diaphragm is is ground zero for functional movement and nervous system regulation. Its restrictions can mimic or contribute to low back pain, shoulder dysfunction, and even pelvic instability. In this course, you’ll learn how to release it manually and restore integrated function.
Understand how the heart and lungs don’t just support life—they shape posture and movement. Learn to assess and treat the thoracic viscera when tension here disrupts spinal mobility, and recovery.
Explore the powerful role of the vagus and phrenic nerves—key regulators of breath, digestion, inflammation, heart function, and emotional balance. The vagus nerve influences cardiac output and heart rate variability by modulating the parasympathetic tone, while the phrenic nerve controls diaphragm movement. You’ll learn how to work with these nerves manually to improve breathing, digestion, nervous system resilience, and recovery from chronic stress and trauma.
Master the lymphatic connections of the thorax and upper limbs—essential yet often missed in recovery. Learn how restrictions around the cisterna chyli and thoracic duct can impair drainage, immune response, and tissue healing, and how to restore optimal lymphatic flow for faster recovery and better outcomes.