Glossary of Movement & Healing Terms

This is our jam. It's not a massage — it's an intentional, movement-based treatment that gets muscles, fascia, and nerves talking to the brain again. You'll often be moving during the treatment while we apply specific pressure — retraining your body while restoring motion. It's what makes our Day Method stand apart from traditional chiropractic or physical therapy.

Adhesions are like the body's scar tissue glue — when you've had an injury or long-term tightness, fascia or muscle tissues can stick together in places they shouldn't. Imagine two pieces of Saran wrap that got melted together. We find these often in shoulder and hip injuries, and part of our muscle release work is gently "unsticking" these to get you moving fluidly again.

Your alignment map is one of the core elements of your first visit with us. It's our snapshot of what's moving well, what's stuck, and what your body's trying to compensate for. From your ankles to your neck — we're connecting the dots between structure and function.

Fancy word, simple idea: biomechanics is how your body moves through the world. Are your hips firing correctly when you walk? Is your shoulder rolling forward every time you reach? We analyze biomechanics so we can fix pain at its root — not just rub where it hurts.

This is the medical term for your neck — but we look at it as a crossroads of nerves, posture, and movement. When the cervical spine is out of sync (hello, tech neck!), it often sends pain signals to the shoulders, jaw, or even triggers headaches. We reset this with both fascia and neurological work.

Not your granddad's pop-and-go. Our adjustments are customized on a 1–4 scale — meaning you choose how light or firm you want it. We blend traditional chiropractic with movement feedback and muscle balancing for a longer-lasting reset.

Ever notice how when one part of your body hurts, another picks up the slack? That's a compensation pattern. If your foot or knee isn't moving right, your hip might twist, your shoulder shifts, and bam — pain where you least expect it. We're detectives of this domino effect and map it out clearly in your plan.

Cortisol isn't just a "stress hormone" — it's your body's natural rhythm regulator. When it's out of balance, it can lead to adrenal fatigue, disrupted sleep, and low energy. We test this using the Dutch test and help get you back into your natural rhythm through lifestyle, diet, and nervous system work.

Our founder, Dr. Day, developed this unique system after years backstage with pro athletes —  blending chiropractic, fascia release, and nervous system reset into one seamless method. It's  customized, layered, and results-driven. Whether you're a surfer or a grandmother of four — this  is the upgrade your body deserves.

Think of this as the high-performance fabric under your skin that holds muscles and bones in place. When it gets sticky or restricted (from injury, posture, or inflammation), your whole system can feel off. We specialize in deep fascia release to restore function and flow.

Fascia is the hidden superhighway of your body. It's the connective tissue that wraps muscles, bones, and organs — and when it's tight, restricted, or inflamed, it can cause pain in places you'd never expect. At Mountain Movement, fascia is never an afterthought — it's the starting point of our healing process.

This is when the connective tissue that's supposed to glide smoothly becomes stuck, like layers of cling wrap tangled up. It limits mobility and can cause pain during even simple movements. We use advanced release techniques to unstick these layers and restore healthy movement.

A fascial adhesion is what happens when fascia loses its glide and flexibility — like when two sticky notes get pressed together. These adhesions can create restricted movement and refer pain to other areas. We locate and release these spots through movement-based therapies like

Functional Medicine is detective work — the deep dive into why your body is out of balance. Instead of chasing symptoms, we're looking at root causes: gut health, hormones, nutrient deficiencies, stress, and lifestyle. It's the kind of care we wish we had growing up — and now we bring it to Greenville with precision and compassion.

This is our movement x-ray. We use the FMS to analyze how your body moves — not just where it hurts. It shows us your patterns, compensations, and weaknesses, so we can build a treatment plan that's not just reactive, but transformational.

It's not just about touching your toes—it's about whether your joints and muscles move well in real-life situations, like picking up a child or reaching into the back seat. We test and train your body in the movements you actually use daily.

This isn't your average stool test — this is the blueprint of your gut. We use the GI Map in our functional medicine practice to understand what's living in your gut (good and bad), how well you're digesting, and whether inflammation or pathogens are slowing you down. It's how we solve fatigue, bloat, and immune issues at the root.

One of the most common things we see? Lazy glutes. If your glute muscles aren't firing, your back, knees, or even neck can end up doing the heavy lifting. Gluteal activation is part of nearly every movement plan here — helping retrain your muscles to wake up and do their job.

This doesn't just mean estrogen or testosterone — it means your body is out of sync. Hormones control energy, mood, metabolism, and recovery. We use tools like the Dutch Test and cortisol mapping to figure out your unique hormone story, then use lifestyle, nutrition, and nervous system balance to restore it.

These are muscles that are stuck in the "on" position — constantly contracted and often painful. They usually develop from chronic stress, compensation, or poor movement patterns. Our therapies calm the nervous system and release these overactive zones so your body can reset.

Not every fix requires a "crack." Joint mobilization is a gentle way of restoring motion to stiff joints — often while you're moving. It's part of what sets our care apart: we guide your body through dynamic ranges of motion that help retrain your brain and restore real-world movement.

Your joints aren't just hinges—they're loaded with nerve endings that send constant updates to your brain about position and pressure. Poor joint proprioception can lead to pain, instability, or poor balance. We stimulate these nerves with tools and motion-based therapy.

Your body isn't made of isolated parts — it's a chain. If one link (like the foot or hip) isn't moving right, everything above or below has to compensate. That's the kinetic chain in action. We assess it fully at your first visit to trace pain back to its origin and keep future issues from sneaking up on you.

Our secret weapon for pain, inflammation, and tissue healing. This high-tech therapy stimulates your cells to kick into repair mode — increasing circulation, calming inflammation, and even supporting nerve recovery. Think of it like a natural reboot button for your joints and soft tissues.

This often-overlooked neck muscle can be a real culprit in shoulder and neck pain. When it's tight or overactive, it can cause stiffness, headaches, and limit your ability to turn your head. We use manual release and neurocellular therapy to reset it back to calm mode.

How much weight, pressure, or stress your body can handle before it says, "no more." We help increase your load tolerance through graded movements, fascia release, and alignment correction—so your body can handle life without breaking down.

Your lymph system is your body's detox highway — and when it's sluggish, you feel it. We support natural drainage through movement therapy, fascia release, and breathwork techniques that get your lymph flowing and your system recharged.

We don't just treat — we teach. Movement Instruction is your toolkit for getting strong, aligned, and pain-free again. Whether it's a better squat, shoulder sequence, or hip hinge, we customize your rehab so you leave with knowledge, not just relief.

Think of this as the interconnected web of muscles and fascia running through your body—shoulder to hip, foot to head. Pain in one area often originates elsewhere along the chain. Our system looks at the full map, not just the local problem.

This is hands-on work where we unlock sticky, restricted tissue that's holding your body back. Whether it's neck tension, low back tightness, or hidden shoulder adhesions, myofascial release helps you move better, feel better, and reconnect your brain to your body.

These are highly sensitive, tight "knots" in muscle tissue that refer pain elsewhere—often the silent culprits of your chronic aches. At Mountain Movement, we find these in unexpected places that may be contributing to your neck, shoulder, or hip issues. Releasing them often creates instant relief.

Sometimes the pain isn't from the muscle or joint — it's how your nervous system is processing it. Chronic stress, trauma, or poor movement patterns can leave your system stuck in "fight or flight." Our goal? Restore your parasympathetic calm and get your healing systems back online.

Created in-house and inspired by years working with pro surfers and athletes, NCT targets how your nerves communicate with muscles and fascia. It's part movement, part muscle release, part reprogramming — and it's one of our most powerful tools for lasting change.

This is our jam. It's the science of rebooting your body's feedback loops between the nerves, muscles, joints, and brain. We use this concept in our Neurocellular Technique, helping your body "relearn" how to move properly and pain-free.

This is the process of helping your brain and body "remember" how to move correctly. After pain or injury, muscles forget their job. We retrain them through precise movement instruction, activation drills, and hands-on therapy to rebuild movement from the ground up.

A fancy word for your brain's ability to adapt and change based on movement, stimulation, and experience. We use specific therapies that tap into this power, helping your brain rewire old pain patterns and adopt healthier movement strategies.

When one part of your body is weak or injured, another part picks up the slack. Over time, this can create tightness, strain, and injury elsewhere. We track these patterns to uncover the true source of dysfunction—not just the symptom.

The key to healing? Rest and digest. We use breathwork, cranial balancing, fascia therapy, and even jaw and diaphragm work to get your parasympathetic system back in charge — the part of your nervous system responsible for recovery, hormone balance, and deep calm.

This is the "rest and digest" side of your nervous system—and it's critical for healing. Many of our patients come in stuck in stress mode. Through techniques like breath retraining, rib motion, and cranial release, we help reset this system so your body can heal instead of just survive.

This postural pattern can wreak havoc on your low back, hips, and even neck. If your pelvis is  stuck tilted forward or backward, it can throw off your entire kinetic chain. We identify the  pattern, fix the imbalances, and teach you how to move better so it stays fixed. Read more about Pelvice Tilt.

This describes how your pelvis tips—either forward, backward, or side to side. A tilted pelvis can pull on your spine and create long-term compensations, like back or hip pain. Our assessments catch this early and correct it with hands-on care and movement instruction.

Also known as laser therapy, this cutting-edge light treatment stimulates healing and reduces inflammation without drugs or needles. It's like giving your cells a reset button. We use this regularly for shoulder pain, sciatica, and tendon injuries.

Often mistaken for true sciatica, this condition involves a deep glute muscle compressing the sciatic nerve. It's sneaky, but treatable. Through targeted muscle release and joint balancing, we can relieve the pressure and get you walking, sitting, and sleeping without that radiating pain.

Often mistaken for sciatica, this occurs when a small muscle deep in the buttocks (the piriformis) compresses the sciatic nerve. We've seen hundreds of these cases where the root wasn't in the spine, but in this overlooked muscle.

When your head shifts forward, one shoulder hikes, or your hips aren't level—your body starts to compensate. These imbalances often create strain that shows up as chronic pain. We don't just treat the pain—we teach your body how to move differently.

Your body has built-in autopilot systems that help you stay upright and balanced. When these reflexes are off—due to injury, habit, or desk life—your body fights against gravity in inefficient ways. We reset these systems through movement cues and joint tuning.

This is your body's sense of where it is in space—crucial for balance, coordination, and joint stability. Through functional exams and muscle mapping, we evaluate how well your proprioceptive system is performing and retrain it for better movement and injury prevention.

Our personalized roadmap to getting your body back in sync. Whether you're dealing with fatigue, inflammation, gut issues, or chronic pain, we create a functional medicine-based strategy that's practical, doable, and based on your story—not a cookie-cutter template.

The sacrum acts as the foundation of your spine. When it's tilted or stuck, it sends ripple effects all the way up to your neck and jaw. We evaluate how your pelvis moves in real-life positions—like sitting or squatting—to rebalance the whole kinetic chain.

This term means your shoulder blade isn't moving how it's supposed to. Maybe it wings out, gets stuck, or doesn't glide during overhead motion. This is a huge cause of shoulder pain that we correct with movement retraining, muscle release, and posture work.

This is a fancy term for when your body's physical systems—muscles, joints, fascia—aren't working together properly. You may feel stiff, stuck, or off-balance. At Mountain Movement, we dig into this root cause to help you move better, not just feel better.

These are tiny sensors in your spinal joints that talk to your brain every time you move. If they stop firing properly due to trauma or sitting too much, your brain loses accurate feedback, and pain or tension builds. Our adjustments and joint stim tools reset this network.

In our office, this doesn't mean "bones out of place." Instead, it refers to miscommunication between joints and the brain. These glitches affect movement patterns, pain perception, and muscle balance—and we correct them with a nervous system-first approach.

A general term for tendon pain and dysfunction. We often see this in rotator cuffs, elbows, and Achilles tendons. Our method goes beyond rest—we address fascial adhesions, poor joint alignment, and overload from muscle imbalances to truly heal the tendon.

A fancy term for how your body holds itself together—tensegrity is the balance of tension and compression throughout your fascia, bones, and muscles. It's why we don't just treat one joint—we treat the relationship between joints, muscles, and fascia to restore total-body harmony.

This powerful sheet of connective tissue connects your low back, glutes, and core. It's the silent coordinator of movement—and often the root cause of nagging low back pain. We target it directly with fascial release and stretch-based table work.

Not just a tight spot—a trigger point is a hyperirritable area in a muscle that can refer pain elsewhere. We use pinpoint muscle mapping and hands-on release to deactivate these spots and rewire your muscle's firing patterns.

A common postural distortion where your chest muscles are tight, upper back is weak, and your head shifts forward. This creates the "tech neck" posture. We restore balance by opening up tight fascia and retraining deep stabilizers of the neck and shoulders.

Your body's "calm and connect" superhighway. The vagus nerve regulates digestion, heart rate, breathing, and inflammation. When it's out of sync—due to stress, trauma, or poor posture—everything can feel off. We use breathwork, upper cervical care, and fascial release to stimulate this nerve and bring your system back into balance.

Fascia isn't just around muscles—it's also around organs. Restrictions here can affect digestion, posture, and even breathing. In advanced cases, we'll look at how organ-related tension might be pulling your spine or pelvis out of balance.