From Back Pain to Birth Prep: How Align Movement is Redefining Perinatal Healing
What if your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery weren’t about just getting through it? What if this season could be transformative—not in spite of the challenges, but because of how you move through them? That belief is the foundation of Align Movement: that healing during the perinatal period isn’t just possible—it can be powerful, connected, and deeply embodied.
From Dancer to Healer
Before I was a therapist, a doula, or a movement specialist—I was a dancer. I trained professionally in New York City and earned my B.S. in Exercise Science with a minor in Dance from Montclair State University. Even then, my passion was understanding why movement felt good—or didn’t.
I was the person in class adjusting my peers, guiding them into better alignment, noticing the small patterns that others missed. When the body was in alignment, everything clicked. When it wasn’t, the entire system struggled.
But my real turning point came from pain. A car accident during college left me with excruciating back pain. I tried epidurals, physical therapy, surgery… but nothing truly helped. I didn’t want to just manage pain—I wanted to understand it. And more than that, I wanted to help others move through it.
The Birth of Align Movement
Between 2013 and 2016, I worked in PT clinics, became certified in Pilates, earned my CAFS credential through the Gray Institute, and worked closely with orthopedic clients and athletes. I saw firsthand how powerful it was to blend manual therapy with intentional movement.
Everything changed while working in a boutique, cash-based PT clinic in NYC. Patients there received hands-on therapy and functional movement support—and the results were transformational. Sessions were integrated. Individualized. Actually effective.
In 2016, I launched Align Movement to bring this quality of care to women navigating pregnancy, postpartum, and long-term healing. It was also when I became a licensed massage therapist, which allowed me to integrate all my training—movement science, biomechanics, fascial therapy, and manual techniques—into a unique, full-body healing system.
Discovering the Missing Piece: Fascia, Function & ELDOA™
In 2017, I began training under world-renowned osteopath Dr. Guy Voyer in SomaTherapy and SomaTraining. His model finally connected the dots I had been chasing: fascia, joint mechanics, fluid dynamics, breath, lymph, posture, and organ health—all working together as one intelligent system.
I became a Level 4 ELDOA™ Practitioner and trained in advanced osteopathic techniques like joint pumping, visceral manipulation, circulatory techniques, and ligament protocols. ELDOA, in particular, changed everything. These tension-based postures aren’t just stretches—they reorganize the body at a deep structural level.
I’ve also layered in complementary techniques such as cupping therapy, which helps improve circulation and reduce fascial restrictions. And I continue to evolve my work through advanced mentorships—including Dr. John Barral’s visceral manipulation, and most recently, with Anna Hartman of Movement Rev, whose approach to treating “the entire organism” has transformed how I listen to the body.
These studies have taught me to let the body lead, rather than impose a rigid protocol. There is no one-size-fits-all path—especially during pregnancy or postpartum. Every session is personalized, intuitive, and rooted in how your body presents that day.
When you meet the body with that kind of respect, the results aren’t just better—they’re transformational.
Today, I’m one of only three practitioners in New Jersey trained to this level—and the only one applying it specifically to pregnancy, birth prep, and postpartum recovery in such an integrative, layered way.
What Traditional Care Misses—And Why It Matters
Most pregnancy care is surface-level. Most postpartum rehab? Almost nonexistent. You’re handed a sheet of core exercises or told to “wait six weeks and take it easy.”
But recovery isn’t linear—and it’s not just about your muscles. When your systems aren't working together, healing doesn’t happen.
At Align Movement, I take a different path. I don’t treat symptoms in isolation. I treat your body as the connected system it is. My work blends manual therapy, functional movement, breathwork, and fascia-focused techniques to support:
Posture & spinal decompression
Fascia & joint mobility
Circulation & lymph flow
Nervous system balance
Visceral health (organs, digestion, hormonal pathways)
This work helps with:
Swelling and fluid retention
C-section and abdominal scar tissue
SI joint, hip, or pubic bone pain
Diastasis recti and core reconnection
Constipation or sluggish digestion
Hormonal fatigue and energy crashes
Nervous system overload or trauma
This Isn’t Just Massage—It’s Preparation for Birth & Beyond
With advanced training in osteopathic manual therapy, ELDOA™, visceral techniques, and Pregnancy Pain & Beyond certification (Dr. Lynn Schulte), I use precise, gentle techniques to:
Balance the pelvis
Relieve round ligament or low back pain
Mobilize old scar tissue (C-section, tears, surgeries
Support optimal fetal positioning
Improve fluid movement and pressure balance
This work lays the foundation for:
Smoother labors
Fewer interventions
Faster, more complete postpartum healing
These techniques even support breech presentations and ECVs (External Cephalic Version) by gently creating space for the baby to rotate and settle more symmetrically. Making procedures like ECVs have better outcomes when it comes to breech babies.
Regulate. Reconnect. Rebuild.
Postpartum healing isn’t about crunches or kegels. It’s about rebuilding systems. Your breath. Your core. Your nervous system. Your capacity.
Through hands-on work and intentional, breath-based movement, I help mothers reconnect not only to their bodies—but to their babies, their strength, and their sense of self.
Motherhood Changed Me—And My Mission
My first son was born in 2020. A powerful, pandemic-era birth that taught me how deep healing can go when you understand your body.
My second son came in 2022 via emergency C-section. I was sick, exhausted, and traumatized. I passed out in the OR, woke under an X-ray machine, and didn’t hold him for 24 hours. That experience nearly broke me—but in processing the emotional and physical trauma, I discovered the final missing piece in my healing model.
That’s when I knew—I needed to help women not just recover physically, but emotionally. Because your birth story lives in your tissues. And you deserve support in every layer.
From Birthworker to Bodyworker
I became a VBAC-certified doula in 2022 and began my DONA training in 2023. Since then, I’ve integrated manual therapy, birth support, breathwork, movement, and trauma-informed care into one comprehensive system.
I now help women:
Prepare their bodies for labor and birth
Rebuild strength and core connection after delivery
Heal from surgery, trauma, or pelvic floor dysfunction
Feel confident, powerful, and pain-free again
Align Movement Is Personal
Align Movement isn’t just my business—it’s my story. I’ve lived through vaginal birth,
C-sections, trauma, and healing. I’ve been disconnected from my body and rebuilt from the inside out.
Now, I help other women do the same. Because when you understand your body—and have the right tools to support it—you feel powerful again.
You don’t need more generic advice. You need a guide who sees all of you.
Let’s Redefine What Healing Looks Like.
If you’re pregnant, postpartum, or simply not feeling like yourself—there’s more available to you. Not just care. Not just recovery. Transformation.
Rachael Van Schoick
Align Movement
LMT, Birth Doula, Prenatal and Postpartum Exercise Specialist, SomaTrainer and ELDOA Trainer
New Jersey Based but Available Online
@alignmovement_therapy
