Introducing Four New MAT Workshops for 2027
In 2026, we asked MAT workshop participants what they wanted from the next generation of Dalton Myoskeletal education. Their answers helped us identify six priorities for 2027 workshops.
Keep the Focus on Techniques. Erik Dalton’s extensive collection of innovative hands-on techniques is what keeps therapists coming back for more. We’ll maintain an emphasis on technique practice while introducing methods previously taught only in our online courses, giving students even more variety.
Understand the Why. Learn why Erik designed his techniques the way he did and what makes their mechanics so distinctive and effective.
Strengthen Their MAT Foundation. Develop a clearer understanding of the core principles that define Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques (MAT).
Understand Brain-Based Bodywork. Erik built methods that deliver complex mechanical loads to the body causing proprioceptive richness. MAT techniques provide novel sensory input that modulates pain, reduces sensory amnesia, lowers protective guarding, and expands the brain’s idea about what movement means.
Make Sense of Biomechanics. Better understand biomechanics, compensatory movement patterns, and the relationships between different regions of the body as part of MAT assessment and treatment.
Integrate MAT With Confidence. Learn how to incorporate MAT principles and techniques into complete MAT-only sessions or into the massage and bodywork they already provide.
We listened, and their feedback helped shape four new workshops launching in 2027. Each workshop explores a different aspect of the MAT system, making connections between the principles behind Erik’s methods and the hands-on skills that help therapists work with greater clinical reasoning, precision, and expertise.
Try these four techniques. Each is taught in one of the new workshops.
Discover Four New MAT Workshops
In 2027, Dalton Myoskeletal is introducing four new workshops designed to take your understanding and application of the MAT system to the next level.
Each workshop explores MAT from a different perspective, connecting the principles behind Erik’s distinctive methods to the practical skills you use every day. Whether you’re new to myoskeletal work or an experienced MAT practitioner, these immersive, hands-on experiences will expand your clinical reasoning, sharpen your techniques, and introduce new ways to help clients move and feel better.
MAT Sequences for Better Client Outcomes
Discover how individual techniques become more powerful when organized into purposeful treatment sequences. Explore kinetic chain relationships, common biomechanical restrictions, and compensatory patterns while practicing regional sequences for the lower extremities, pelvis, spine, and upper body. Learn how technique selection, order, and continuous reassessment can make your sessions more strategic, responsive, and effective. Available in 16-hour, 24-hour, and 30-hour formats.
Break the Pattern: MAT Techniques for Upper & Lower Crossed Syndromes
Get your hands on two structured MAT treatment protocols inspired by Vladimir Janda’s Upper and Lower Crossed Syndromes. Explore the relationships between the neck, shoulders, thoracic spine, pelvis, and hips while practicing Erik’s distinctive combination of soft-tissue techniques, assisted stretching, joint mobilization, and active client movement. With an emphasis on demonstration and partner practice, this workshop helps you build technical precision and confidence. Available in 16-hour and 24-hour formats.
MAT Techniques to Change the Brain’s Mind About Pain
For more than 20 years, Erik Dalton has urged massage and bodywork therapists to look beyond tissue findings and pay attention to emerging pain science. A pioneer in bringing that science into hands-on practice, Erik built MAT around the idea that techniques with complex, layered mechanical loads, graded movement, rhythm, joint play, and client participation can change the brain’s mind about pain.Available in 16-hour and 24-hour formats.
Treating Trapped Nerves: Neurodynamics “The MAT Way”
When burning, tingling, numbness, or radiating discomfort complicate a client’s pain picture, muscles and joints may be only part of the story. Learn how peripheral nerves respond to mechanical stress and movement, recognize common nerve-related pain patterns, and practice targeted neurodynamic techniques. Discover how MAT combines soft-tissue preparation, joint mobilization, and nerve gliding and tensioning to expand your options for challenging upper- and lower-body complaints. Available in 16-hour and 24-hour formats.
Erik Dalton’s legacy lives on through the hands and hearts of the therapists who practice his techniques. As we continue to explore, teach, and share his remarkable body of work, we honor his passion for innovation, his commitment to lifelong learning, and his belief in the power of skilled touch. Join us in carrying his vision forward by helping clients move beyond pain.
