Rectus Femoris/Vastus Intermedius

For this fulcrum you will work with the heels of both hands together. The direction will be from lateral to medial.  You will be working along the lateral margin of rectus femoris and across its belly. The structural objective will be create more freedom of movement between vastus intermedius and rectus femoris.  The impact is amplified if you involve the client’s active movement. Ask them, while you stroke across the leg, to laterally rotate the femur. Let them “win” - do not make it too hard for them to turn.

Place the heels of your hands together along the upper thigh, into the lateral margin of rectus femoris. Ask the client to gently press their heel into the table, stabilizing the leg.  Then take out the looseness alongside the rectus femoris and ask the client to slowly laterally rotate their leg. Try, not too heavily, to pin down the lateral margin of rectus femoris, so that as they turn, it helps to free the underbelly of the rectus from the vastus intermedius underlying it.  As they rotate a bit further, ease up a little and effleurage with medium depth across the rectus muscle. Clearly disengage. Repeat this fulcrum two or three times depending on the length of the person’s thigh, each time a little lower than the last.

Purposes:

a)  To enhance a feeling of spaciousness within the anterior thigh

b) To soften the quadriceps group

c)  To facilitate energy flow through the stomach meridian and 1st chakra 

d)  To facilitate a feeling of aliveness in the thigh

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