02/23/2023
John Barnes
Sometimes we do things that work, and only later understand why. Discovering this “why” is one of the great pleasures of massage school and continuing education. It is also key to becoming better at our work, because it enables us to make educated choices, rather than relying on blind luck. John Barnes successfully treated people for years as a physical therapist and massage therapist, but it was only after he began learning more about fascia in the body that the work that has spread his name across the globe took shape.
Born in 1939 and raised in Philadelphia, Barnes knew since high school that he wanted to be a physical therapist. Lifting weights in the gym, he loaded the barbell with too much weight and found that he was unable to rise from his deep squat. Stuck, he attempted to roll backward, but landed on his tailbone with 300 pounds on his shoulders. He brushed off the injury at first, thinking it minor, but his condition worsened with multiple reinjuries. Surgery reduced, but did not eliminate, his pain.
Of this experience Barnes would later say to Robert Calvert, “I don't really mean this should happen, but in a way, every physician or therapist should be severely injured, and not just hurt for a week or two or a month, but a couple years. It's a whole different story when you are a prisoner in your own body. I felt broken, and I was broken. It was a horrible, horrible experience.”
Barnes graduated from the University of Pennsylvania as a physical therapist in 1960 and began his practice. His style was slow, rhythmic, and focused, and he was able to help many patients with their pain. But it was learning about fascia that truly illuminated the process for him. Fascia, the thin, iridescent connective tissue that surrounds and suffuses the various structures of the body, proved to be the missing connection between treatment and result. Further study and practice resulted in the development of the John F. Barnes myofascial release approach.
Barnes began teaching others his approach in the mid-1970s and continues to teach it today. His method is systematic yet holistic, and he encourages his students to give up the compulsion to fix everything: massage therapists cannot fix anything, they can only offer the body and mind tools to change themselves.
To massage students and new graduates, Barnes advocates for advanced continuing education. Reading about a technique or taking an introductory class is a nice start, but insufficient, and can lead to bad habits and dangerous mishandling of the technique. He also recommends learning many different forms of massage and bodywork. That way, no matter the needs of your client, you always have a skill that may be able to help.
Barnes's advice for new massage therapists is to continue learning advanced methods after graduation. Simply reading about a bodywork concept or a basic introduction to a modality is insufficient to practice it successfully and, in some cases, may lead to bad habits or faulty techniques. Barnes suggests learning as many forms of bodywork as possible to adapt to the wide range of client needs.
Barnes has written two books and many articles and continues to teach his method all over the world. Massage Magazine named him one of the most influential people in the profession in the last century. He is the president of The Sanctuary, the Myofascial Release Treatment Center, in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and of Therapy on the Rocks in Sedona, Arizona.
Given the choice between the treatment that seems to work and the treatment that does not, choose the one that works. But do not give up on trying to understand what makes things work, even if it leads you down some uncomfortable roads. Follow the example of John Barnes and never stop learning. Never stop asking why.
Quoted from massage therapy book
