The Best Manual Physical Therapy is at Body Reform.
Body Reform® offers our clients a unique approach to wellness. Informed by our philosophy that real healing must be approached holistically, we have pioneered and perfected a multi-disciplinary approach to confront and manage the root of your problem, not just address your symptoms. At Body Reform®, you benefit from the combined decades of experience of our entire team, who work together to address your needs. We all have one goal: keeping you moving in as healthy a way as possible for as long as possible.
Manual Physical Therapy
The core of our treatment approach is The Bowstring Method® of manual physical therapy. This hands-on system improves muscle tone quality and eliminates restrictions caused by stiff myofascial tissues and altered joint positioning. By addressing more than your symptoms, this technique gets to the root of the problem. Our unique system of manual therapy is designed to influence the ‘software’ of the central nervous system. Our hour-long treatments allow the time to correct aberrant tension patterns throughout muscle and joint complexes, normalizing tone, position, and function.
Created by Body Reform co-founder, Physical Therapist Shannon Harris, The Bowstring Method® consists of more than 100 individual techniques and protocols that help effect positive and long-lasting changes throughout the body, and in a way that is intense but uniquely tolerable to the client. This hour-long, transformative style of bodywork partners well with flexibility and strength training to facilitate improved positioning of bones, muscles, and nerves, freeing your body to lengthen and conform to a more optimal position.
The Bowstring Method® is the best manual therapy for individuals experiencing recurring chronic pain or stiffness, and for those with overuse injuries such as painful symptoms in the back, shoulders, elbows, wrists, thumbs, hips, knees, and ankles. Bowstring treatments mitigate the problems caused by repetitive patterns and localized strains because they enable the body to move with greater fluidity.
Learn more about The Bowstring Method
In addition to The Bowstring Method®, other manual therapy treatments offered include Manual Lymphatic Drainage massage (MLD), TMJ treatments, and chiropractic adjustments.
Movement Therapy
Body Reform also offers a range of movement therapy options tailored to address each client’s specific needs, goals, and conditions. Overseen by co-founder Mary Perkins Harris, your personalized protocol may include a number of disciplines such as strength training, corrective exercise, pilates, yoga, or core conditioning. Posture and gait corrections are a key component of every session. Your movement therapy plan can be developed either as a complement to your Bowstring sessions, as a fitness-only approach, or as a bridge to transition you back to your own personal trainer or workout program.
How you move and interact with your home and work environment is also important, so we offer house and workplace ergonomic assessments.
Hypermobility Friendly
Our posture-focused movement and exercise programs, combined with The Bowstring Method®, greatly benefit patients with all orthopedic conditions, including those with connective tissue complications, such as Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) or Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS). Body Reform® has been successfully treating clients with hypermobility disorders for 20 years, longer than that when you consider co-owner Mary Harris’s decades of undiagnosed hEDS. Our therapists receive ongoing continuing education from courses and updates provided by the Ehlers-Danlos Society. For further details, please visit:
. For further details, please visit EDS/HSD and Services pages.
Our seasoned therapists include:
- Co-founderShannon Harris, MPT, is a physical therapist and creator of Body Reform’s signature manual therapy, The Bowstring Method® . This joint-friendly bodywork effectively treats the myofascial system layer by layer, decreasing aberrant tension patterns throughout the body. It’s highly effective for every patient, from professional athletes to those with conditions such as Hypermobility Ehlers-Danlos and osteoporosis.
- Co-founder Mary Perkins Harris, CMT, CAFS, is a Movement Therapist specializing in complex disorders. She utilizes her certifications in corrective exercise, Pilates, TRX, ViPR, yoga, core conditioning, posture, and gait training for a functional and integrative approach to rehabilitation and fitness. Mary specializes in working with the hypermobile community such as those with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. She’s certified by the EDS Society’s ECHO program in “Fundamentals of the Integral Movement Method.”
- Nate Edwards, DPT, is a physical therapist and fully certified in The Bowstring Method® of manual therapy, Manual Lymphatic Drainage, Tai Chi for rehab, and ergonomic assessments. He works with all orthopedic conditions, including those with hypermobility.
- Alex Czubakowski, D.C., is a chiropractor and manual therapist trained in The Bowstring Method®.
- Grace Yi is a movement therapist, utilizing Pilates and corrective exercises to build strength and stability in our clients, including those with complex disorders.
For more detailed information on our staff and the services they provide, please visit our Meet The Team and Services pages.
Have questions?
We’d be happy to chat and schedule an appointment for you. Body Reform serves the areas of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Century City, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, West Hollywood and the surrounding areas with physical therapy for Hypermobility Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and all orthopedic conditions. We’re also available for tele-health consultations for patients who can’t make it into our office.
Raising the Standard of Care:
Body Reform® is dedicated to raising the standard of care in our industry. We not only provide regular training and education to our employees, but we teach our system of manual therapy and functional fitness to other medical professionals, bodyworkers, and fitness trainers through workshops, videos, and The Bowstring Method® of Manual Therapy Instructional Guide.