Unlocking Your Movement Potential: The Power of Joint Mobilisation
- Lyndsey Harwood
- Jul 8
- 3 min read
As a therapist trained in Erik Dalton’s Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques (MAT), I work hands-on to improve joint mobility and reduce restrictions that might be contributing to pain and dysfunction. But this work doesn’t stop in the treatment room. Thanks to the Brookbush Institute’s accessible self-mobilisation methods, you can also take ownership of your joint health between sessions.
Let’s take a deeper look using a common area of restriction — the ankle joint — and how both therapist-assisted and self-led mobilisation can:
Improve your movement quality
Help reduce pain or tension
Restore your performance potential
Why Joint Mobilisation Matters
Whether you’re an athlete, a weekend warrior, or someone who just wants to move better, healthy joint motion is essential. Restrictions can lead to:
Compensatory patterns (your body finds a workaround, often using the wrong tissues)
Chronic tension and overuse injuries
Poor performance during squats, lunges, or even walking/running
Delayed rehab or plateaued progress in strength or mobility work
A Therapist’s Approach: Erik Dalton’s MAT Techniques
Using Erik Dalton’s methods, I work to assess and treat joint fixations that traditional stretching or massage often miss. These gentle but precise mobilisation techniques:
Target the arthrokinematics (joint surface motion) that affect mobility
Address neuromyoskeletal tension — how the nervous system locks down areas of dysfunction
Help release deep, often long-standing restrictions in joints like the ankle, hip, or spine
Provide immediate changes in range of motion and movement ease
For the ankle, that might look like:
Mobilising the talocrural joint (where the shin meets the foot) to improve dorsiflexion
Releasing surrounding fascia and soft tissue to allow better joint glide
Restoring better foot-ground contact for balance and strength
I’ll share a video of this ankle release technique in action — you’ll be surprised how much freer your foot feels afterwards.
Your Role: Brookbush Institute-Inspired Self-Mobilisations
The Brookbush Institute offers excellent, research-driven self-techniques that empower you to keep improving mobility outside the clinic. For ankle joint restriction, this may include:
Band-assisted joint glides to improve talocrural and subtalar mobility
Wall dorsiflexion drills to increase ROM and assess side-to-side differences
Foam rolling and SMR (self-myofascial release) to reduce surrounding muscle tension that inhibits mobility
These techniques:
Are easy to learn and apply at home or in the gym
Can be integrated into your warm-up or cooldown routines
Support and prolong the benefits of hands-on therapy
Help you track and own your progress
I'll be sharing a video guide to some of my favourite self-mobilisations for ankle ROM — perfect to try at home.
The Ankle Joint: A Key Player in the Kinetic Chain
Restricted ankle range of motion, especially limited dorsiflexion, can impact:
Squat depth and mechanics
Running gait and stride efficiency
Knee and hip stability
Plantar fascia and Achilles health
If you’ve ever felt like one foot moves better than the other, or that your knee collapses in a squat, your ankle might be the hidden cause. Working together — therapist and client — we can:
Identify and address joint-level restrictions
Teach you how to keep those improvements going
Reduce your injury risk
Unlock smoother, stronger, and pain-free movement
Let’s Make Movement Easier — Together
As your therapist, my job is to create space in your joints so your body can move as it was designed to. But your job — with tools like Brookbush’s self-mobilisations — is to keep those joints moving every day.
Got a sticky ankle or a stubborn pain pattern that hasn’t shifted with stretching? Let’s take a different approach.
DM me, book a treatment, or ask me about your joint mobility — I’d love to help you move better.
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