Jaap van der Wal
MD, PhD, anatomist-embryologist and phenomenologist Jaap van der Wal is a medical doctor from the Netherlands who specialized in human anatomy and embryology after completing his…
MD, PhD, anatomist-embryologist and phenomenologist
Jaap van der Wal is a medical doctor from the Netherlands who specialized in human anatomy and embryology after completing his medical studies in 1973,
Until his retirement in 2012, he worked as associate professor in Anatomy and Embryology at the University of Maastricht, in the Netherlands. He specialized in the functional anatomy of the locomotor apparatus with emphasis, later on, on the architecture of connective tissue and fascia, and its role in proprioception (sense of posture and locomotion).
His main interest, however, lies in the development of the human embryo along with evolution and genetics, and all that in connection with spirituality and the humanities. Gradually he developed as a teacher in the Philosophy of Science and in Medical Anthropology. He developed a phenomenological embryology that he has been shaping in the form of courses, seminars and webinars and publications for 40 years.
Van der Wal is known for his work in integral anatomy and somatic education, which emphasizes the importance of embodied awareness and the role of fascia and connective tissue in the body.
He is an "embryologist on the search for spirit" and has been teaching integral anatomy via dissection for over 25 years. He has met with Liz Koch (an international teacher and author who has specialized in the psoas muscle for over 43 years) to talk about the embryological model for understanding core integrity, the expression of psoas, and the importance of changing our perception of the body. He is the originator of the idea that the "anatomy" of fascia should be a paradoxical concept and rather speak about the architecture of fascia in the human body. The fascia as an organ or system of our inner being is one of the concepts arising from this dynamic morphological view of the human body. His concept of "dynaments" as architectural units (rather than separate units of fascia and muscles) is in contrast to Tom Myers' concept of Anatomy Trains and rather refers to the organization of the postural and musculoskeletal system as a system of biotensegrity.
In his phenomenological embryology, he also challenges the modern overemphasis placed on the brain as a kind of source of the human mind or soul and developed a morphology that rather does justice to the human being as a being of mind and body, which very much expresses, among other things, polarities morphology.
Read more about Jaap van der Wal at www.embryo.nl
Forskning av Jaap van der Wal1
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