Meet Taum Sayers
Helping people understand their bodies, respond more intelligently to pain, and restore comfortable movement.
Corrective bodywork, movement education and the Lauren Berry Method® in Truckee and Reno.
Understanding the Body as an Integrated System
For nearly five decades, I have dedicated my life to studying, practicing and teaching a whole-body approach to pain, movement and manual therapy.
My work has been deeply influenced by the Lauren Berry Method®. Over thousands of hours working with people from every walk of life, I have also developed my own way of observing how the human body functions as an integrated, adaptive system.
I do not see the body as a collection of isolated muscles, joints or organs. Every part influences every other part. When one area loses efficiency, the rest of the body begins reorganizing itself to compensate.
Pain is rarely the beginning of the story. It is often the final chapter of a compensation pattern that may have been developing for months or years.
That perspective changes the questions I ask, the areas I examine and the way I approach treatment.
The Body Is Always Making Sense
My first assumption is not that the body is broken. My first assumption is that it is adapting.
A tight muscle, an altered posture, a guarded movement or a painful compensation may be the body's best available solution to a problem it has not yet solved.
The question is not simply, “What is wrong?” The more useful question is:
Why is the body choosing this strategy?
Once the reason for the strategy becomes clearer, the path toward more efficient movement often becomes clearer as well.
Pain Is Information
I do not believe pain is the enemy. Pain is information.
Pain tells us that the body has reached a limit. It does not always tell us where the original problem began. For that reason, I never assume that the painful tissue is the only tissue—or even the primary tissue—that needs attention.
Rather than asking only, “Where does it hurt?”, I also ask:
- What changed?
- What is the body trying to protect?
- Which structures are compensating?
- Which movement has become inefficient?
- Where is the body rotating—and where has it stopped rotating?
- Which correction may allow the greatest overall improvement?
These questions guide every evaluation I perform.
Searching for the Primary Driver
Some restrictions matter more than others. Rather than treating ten symptoms as ten unrelated problems, I look for the restriction, compensation or movement pattern that may be organizing many of the body's adaptations.
I call this the primary driver.
When an important driver improves, secondary symptoms may begin changing without each one being treated directly. This does not mean that every problem has one simple cause. It means that some relationships have a greater influence on the whole system than others.
Every compensation has a reason.
The body makes sense when enough of the pieces are understood.
How I Think Through a Complex Pain Pattern
Observe Before Treating
Treatment begins with observation. I pay attention to breathing, posture, gait, balance, rotation, guarding and the ways the body organizes movement.
Look for the Largest Pattern
I examine how the entire person moves rather than reducing the problem to one painful joint, muscle or isolated structure.
Follow the Compensations
Compensations are not mistakes. They are intelligent solutions. I follow them backward to understand what originally required the body to reorganize itself.
Test Every Theory
Every treatment is a hypothesis. If movement changes, I have learned something. If it does not, I continue asking better questions. The body is the final authority.
The Lauren Berry Method®
For nearly fifty years, I have studied, practiced and taught the Lauren Berry Method®, a whole-body approach to understanding movement, pain and manual therapy.
The method is not simply a collection of isolated techniques. It is a framework for observing the body as an interconnected system and investigating how injury, habit, compensation, circulation, lymphatic flow, breathing mechanics, internal structures and movement influence one another.
Pain may be felt in one location while its underlying mechanical or functional source lies somewhere quite different. Rather than simply chasing the symptom, I look for the relationships that may be creating or maintaining it.
This systems-based perspective guides not only my hands-on work, but also the way I evaluate posture, teach movement, design exercises and help people think through complex pain problems.
Teaching, Not Just Treating
Education is not an extra part of my work. It is central to it.
My goal is not simply to help someone feel better during an appointment. I want people to understand why their body developed a particular pattern, what may be contributing to it and what they can do to support healthier movement afterward.
When people understand why something hurts, they become more active participants in their own care. They can make better decisions, recognize patterns sooner and become less dependent upon treatment.
Knowledge creates confidence. Confidence changes movement. Better movement changes lives.
Throughout my career, I have taught healthcare professionals and worked with people ranging from those living with persistent pain to highly active individuals and elite athletes. Every person is different, but the underlying approach remains the same: understand the pattern, improve function and help the person learn from what their body is communicating.
What You Can Expect
A Whole-Body Perspective
The painful area matters, but it may not be the only area we examine.
Careful Observation
Movement, breathing, posture and compensation provide important clues.
Treatment as Investigation
We test ideas and allow changes in the body to guide the next step.
Practical Education
You will learn what I am seeing and what you may be able to do for yourself.
Respect for Adaptation
We do not forcefully remove a compensation without considering why it developed.
Curiosity Rather Than Formula
No two people are identical, and no single protocol fits every body.
A Lifetime of Curiosity
After nearly fifty years, I still approach each person with curiosity.
The body continually teaches those who are willing to observe carefully. Every person presents a different history, a different set of adaptations and a different puzzle. That continuing process of observation, learning and refinement is what has kept me passionate about this work throughout my career.
No practitioner ever finishes learning. The body is far too remarkable for that.
My Goal
My goal is not simply to reduce pain.
My goal is to help uncover what the body has been trying to communicate, restore more efficient movement and give people greater confidence in understanding and caring for themselves.
I believe the human body possesses extraordinary intelligence. Given useful information, an appropriate environment and the removal of unnecessary restrictions, it often knows how to adapt and move toward greater balance.
Help people understand the remarkable intelligence of their own body.
More About Taum
2002–Present: Private practice, teaching, and continuing development of the Lauren Berry Method®,
presented through workshops throughout the United States.
1990–2002: Primary Training Coordinator and Therapist, Resort at Squaw Creek, Squaw Valley, CA.
1987–2003: High Sierra Fitness Center, Truckee, CA.
1985–1986: Bodytime, Incline Village, NV.
1980–1982: Assistant Manager and Therapist at A Santé, Tahoe City, CA.
1978–1985: Private practice, Squaw Valley, CA.
Professional Recognition
Invited to teach at the Cayce/Reilly School, Virginia Beach, VA.
Invited to provide therapy for players during the San Francisco 49ers Training Camp.