Your Body Keeps Receipts: Understanding Osteopathy With Mark Aquino

Written by Kristen Parise Registered Physiotherapist, PT BSc. MSc. BHSc. PT

Let's talk about the injury you've forgotten but your body hasn't.

That car accident from 2015. The fall you took playing soccer in grade 10. The whiplash from that rear-ending three years ago. Your postpartum recovery that involved more Netflix-and-baby-on-chest than actual rest. That time you worked through a back injury because you couldn't afford to take time off.

Your conscious mind moved on. Your tissues did not.

Your body developed workarounds, created compensation patterns, and found ways to keep you functional despite the restrictions. And now you're dealing with pain, tension, or discomfort that seems completely unrelated to anything current.

Enter: Osteopathy

Mark Aquino has been practicing Osteopathic Manual Therapy for over 25 years, and he specializes in Biodynamic Osteopathy—an approach that requires years of post-graduate training beyond standard osteopathic education.

Traditional treatment often focuses on where it hurts. Mark investigates why it hurts.

The Biodynamic Difference

Most manual therapies involve significant pressure, manipulation, or adjustment. Biodynamic Osteopathy uses the light touch to communicate with your body's natural healing systems.

Mark isn't forcing your body into alignment. He's listening to the subtle motions within your system, identifying areas of congestion or restriction, and giving your nervous system permission to release old protective patterns.

After a brief assessment, Mark follows your body's lead, allowing your self-correcting processes to unfold.

In his words, "Biodynamic osteopathy can be very quiet, still and often leads to a deeper

state of rest...It's not always about doing MORE. Sometimes it's about releasing what's no longer serving you, letting your body find its natural balance again"

The Evidence

Research on osteopathic treatment for chronic pain shows significant improvements in both pain levels and quality of life. Mark's own doctoral dissertation focused on how treating specific ligaments in your lungs can improve neck movement—demonstrating the interconnectedness of body systems that seems almost unbelievable until you experience it.

Mark's Background

Before osteopathy, Mark earned a Bachelor of Music and trained as a massage therapist, craniosacral therapist, and myofascial therapist. He completed a comprehensive osteopathy program including a thesis, then invested years in advanced Biodynamic Osteopathy training.

He continues that education with Phase 7 of his Biodynamic training this November 2025, Paediatric Biodynamics Phase 2 in March 2026, an intensive brain course in August 2026, and Biodynamics Phase 8 next November.

Who Benefits from Osteopathy

The person who has tried everything for chronic pain and is running out of options. The new parent whose baby struggles with feeding, reflux, or constant fussiness. The pregnant person dealing with pubic symphysis pain, rib restrictions, or sacroiliac joint dysfunction. The athlete stuck in compensation patterns that keep causing reinjury. Anyone who feels like they're fighting against their own body instead of

living comfortably in it.

Mark treats babies and children, teens through seniors, addresses issues related to pregnancy and postpartum recovery, and so much more.

The Reserve Concept

Mark recently shared a piece about healing that resonates deeply with what we see in our clinic. In his words:

"Your reserve is your body's capacity to heal—and nothing fully heals without adequate reserve.

We rarely complete the healing process properly. Everyone who's experienced injury, surgery, or trauma comments that they went back to normal life too early, should have taken longer, or needed more time to truly recover.

Without rest between musical notes, there would be no tone. Without pause, there's no awareness. Without space, there's no room for healing.

Exhaustion means your tank is empty. When you're running on fumes, adding more treatments, supplements, or exercise programs can actually deplete an already empty system. Sometimes the most therapeutic thing you can do is rest and let your reserve refill.

Low functional reserve doesn't allow anything else to take hold—not exercise, not dietary changes, not energy work. A depleted system can only be restored through rest, nervous system regulation, and self-knowledge."

The Blueberry Approach

Mark is part of our multidisciplinary team, which means we can coordinate care across different practitioners when needed. If you're seeing one of our pelvic floor physiotherapists and experiencing referred pain patterns, chronic tension, or restrictions affecting your pelvic health, osteopathy can be a powerful complement to your treatment.

Book online at https://blueberrytherapy.janeapp.com/#/staff_member/67/bio or contact us with questions about whether osteopathy might be right for you.

Your body has been keeping score. Maybe it's time to help it let go.

Kristen Parise is a Registered Physiotherapist and owner of Blueberry Therapy Pelvic Health and Pediatrics in Hamilton, Ontario. She specializes in pelvic health and has been advocating for clear, shame-free body education for over 25 years. Learn more about her work at blueberrytherapy.ca and listen to The Hole Shebang podcast on iTunes and Spotify.