A lesson in FUNCTIONAL INTEGRATION® (or FI® for short) lasts 45-60 minutes on average. The Student lies fully dressed on a low table, or is sometimes seated, while the Practitioner employs gentle touch and manipulation to explore and modify the Student's habitual movement patterns. In this highly calmed position, the Student's body is freed as much as possible from the demands of gravity, allowing the muscles to rest and the skeleton to be more available for manipulation. Functional Integration is tailored to the individual needs of the student.

In an ideal world every one of our 230 joints would move freely, producing optimal integration of all parts of the body in any action we call upon our body to fulfill. However, long-standing habits, injury, previous faulty learning, amongst many other causes disturb this optimal integration. This produces strain and discomfort, and a feeling of dissatisfaction in our movement, and in our relationship with our world. The aim of FUNCTIONAL INTEGRATION® is simply to restore our sense of satisfaction and harmony with our world, and to liberate us to be more fully ourselves.

A FUNCTIONAL INTEGRATION® lesson begins with an initial diagnosis,  to identify where full skeletal integration is restricted. The practitioner's aim then is to restore as many degrees of freedom to the relevant joints as possible.

Skeletal freedom allows the muscles to perform their functions freely, without restriction or overwork. This produces an altered quality of awareness and greater freedom in movement. Over a course if FI lessons, the Student becomes increasingly independent of the Practitioner, as their skills become sustainable and they become able to sense and respond to physical challenges more appropriately.