Singing from Your Toes: High Notes from a Body Worker

Prompt Bodywork: Effective Emergency Relief
by Jocelyn Paine

 

It is the ability of certain dancers, athletes, parachute jumpers and cats to stay relaxed when they fall that saves them from excessive injury.

The aftereffects of a car accident are many. No matter how minor the incident, there are always things to deal with. Some details – such as damage to the car, insurance company calls and police reports – are so time consuming and overwhelming that the physical problems you might be experiencing are forgotten. Yet, many of the physical effects of even the most "gentle" moving vehicle accident don’t show up right away, and may not show up for weeks or even months later.

Just what happens in an accident? How does your body react? What parts are most vulnerable?

When you are driving in a car, you are an object in motion. As long as the car and your body are traveling at the same speed, there is no problem as the lines of force match. But, if your body and the car part company in any way (that is, if the lines of force, direction, motion and speed are disturbed), then the weakest link will bend or break. In a car accident, the weakest link is you! If the vehicle in which you are traveling stops abruptly, the car and your body go in separate directions. You hit the invisible wall of inertia. You may experience the result as the bruising, tearing strain and counterstrain called "whiplash."

Partly because there are other things happening at the same time, and partly because it is the nature of the injury, a whiplash is not always felt right away. An accident can put your system into an emergency mode. With pain-suppressing endorphins released, your body may postpone registering injury as a self-preservation technique. Some accident effects are not felt for up to a week after the date of the incident. By then, it is often too late to easily correct the damage, and a therapist must first deal with the compensations already developing.

The body’s first reaction is most often to resist – to tighten and pull back into place those parts of yourself that are being dragged out of position. Unfortunately, adopting a rigid physical attitude is the worst thing to do. If it were possible to simply "go with the flow," to travel along with the violent changes happening, we might be much better off. It is the ability of certain dancers, athletes, parachute jumpers and cats to stay relaxed when they fall that saves them from excessive injury. However, most of us are unable to have that much control over ourselves.

It is very important to be treated immediately after an accident. It is, of course, important to first establish that there are no broken bones, concussions, internal bleeding or other serious injuries. The types of injuries I am discussing here are "walk away" injuries, where you feel fine until the next day, when you wake up stiff and sore.

For example, let’s say your primary injury in a car accident is to the base of your neck. Most often the muscle running along the top of the shoulders (part of the trapezius muscle) is the first to tighten. Suddenly, you can’t turn your head as far when you look over your shoulder, nor can you tilt your head from side to side. This is the first compensatory reaction. Within a few days, other compensations may show up. Since the trapezius muscle runs in a large triangle shape that covers the area over the top half of your back, you may begin to feel a pain under the lower edge of your shoulder blade. After another few days or weeks, the edge of the trapezius along the top of your shoulder and upper spine begins to stiffen. Turning your back may feel restricted. Pain may appear in your mid-back. If the compensations are strong enough, your neck pain may actually seem less noticeable. Your posture beings to change. Your head thrusts forward lightly, your shoulders hunch up, your chest becomes slightly concave and your shoulders rotate inward. If the situation continues long enough, your posture (with compensations) becomes habitual.

If an injury is worked on while it is in the primary state, compensatory reactions can be avoided or greatly diminished. When working on recent injuries, bodyworkers use different techniques. Often a very light touch is all that can be tolerated or should be used. Sessions may have to be frequent in order to track body changes as they occur. I’ve worked on accident cases daily for a week to keep compensations from setting in.

CranioSacral Therapy can be highly effective following an accident because touch can be very light (less than the weight of a nickel). Additionally, the technique specializes in "unwinding" the imposed vectors of injury. All muscles and tissues seem to have a "memory" of how the vectors of injury occurred. If this pattern can be traced backwards, through each and every stopping point, it is as if the pattern is then erased. In addition, there is an important psychological factor in speeding healing: being cared for, gently and therapeutically, so soon after a frightening experience can be useful in triggering the body’s own abilities to heal and recover.

Recognizing your body’s needs and caring for yourself is not being "a baby." There is no long-term advantage to ignoring pain. The signals are there for a good reason, and there are enormous benefits to immediate recognition. With prompt care, the effects of some accidents can disappear within a few short weeks. On the other hand, I’ve seen clients who have waited a few weeks after the accident to seek treatment, only to spend many more months on healing. If I could have my way, a bodywork specialist would be part of any emergency team!

Jocelyn Paine, a bodyworker who practices in Anchorage, has been in enough car accidents to appreciate the value of immediate post-accident care. Readers may call her at 276-8195.

Please! I Don't Want To Turn, Turn, Turn...
A Bodyworker Unravels A Vertigo Mystery

by Jocelyn Paine

 

Vertigo is when, sitting still, the world seems to turn around you. Dizziness is when you are spinning in relationship to the world. It is a small difference when you are feeling so bad that you are ready to throw up…

At the end of 1999, one of my clients and her husband went out to watch the celebratory fireworks, muse on the century past and gaze at the stars. "Jamie's" husband, "Dave," turned to her, grasped her by the shoulders and moved her a foot to the right. "Why did you do that?" Jamie asked. "To get you away from that unlucky star you've been standing under all year!" Dave told her.

In the space of one year, Jamie had been rear-ended twice, strained her whiplashed neck while trying to protect a child in her care (Jamie is a special needs care provider) and fell hard enough on winter ice to see stars (not the unlucky one, though!).

Jamie had been my client since 1996; we had made great progress with her chronic cranial stiffness due to a jaw reconstruction operation that had left her with permanent wires. The wires restricted natural cranial movement, which I believe led to a series of problems: headaches, fatigue, back and leg pain. Jamie and I experimented extensively, using her ability to give precise feedback as I worked on her head. She was often able to tell me when a certain cranial/sacral release would also relax her lower back or stimulate a new feeling in her legs. Now, she had a whole new set of problems stemming from the car accidents and other injuries and, as before, no one in her medical team had any answers that gave her relief.

Jamie's neck had been whiplashed not once but four times. Layered injuries like these are very hard on ligaments. The scar tissue that forms from a whiplash acts like rigid threads in the ligaments and intercostal and interspinous tissues. Between the vertebra and the upper ribs, surrounding the clavicle (collarbone) and scapula (shoulder bone), are masses of connecting tissue. Some of this tissue has muscular attachments, and some of it has very short but important connecting ligaments. These ligaments not only hold things together, but also determine range of motion and mobility. When the tissues are overstretched, torn or strained during a whiplash, they respond by tightening. The tissue itself becomes rigid and 'dry,' for the natural elasticity is lost. Under a microscope, the tissue appears to have thin white threads -- this is scarification. During the natural healing process (or via a therapist encouraging stretching), the scarred tissue is gradually replaced by healthy tissue. When a new injury occurs before the healthy tissue replaces the old, however, scar is laid on top of scar, always at the most vulnerable point: where it was injured before.

There are other important systems affected by neck injuries. The lymphatic system has a number of nodules in or around the neck, and there are various nerves that run from the brain stem through the neck column to the rest of the body. There are also vestibular receptors in the neck. These receptors were very important to Jamie, as they are part of the systems that determine balance, part of the complex way we relate to the orientation of our world. Most people recovering from a whiplash injury will experience neck pain and stiffness, shoulder discomfort, headaches stemming from muscular tension and structural displacement or disk injury. In a few cases, such as Jamie's, there may also be dizziness, vertigo, related nausea, and spatial disturbances.

We balance upright by taking cues from several areas of our body. We look at the world around us and judge its horizontal and vertical references. We feel the ground beneath us through proprioceptors in our joints. (Our ankles, feet, knees, and even our elbows and hands have proprioceptor receptors.) We respond to the changes of delicate fluid levels in our inner ear, within the semicircular canals. These fluids, in turn, change the angles of hairs or vestibular nerve receptors and send signals to the brain about our balance. The fluid within the ear is affected by many things: hydration, or having enough fluid in the rest of our bodies, is in turn affected by our salt and sugar intake; blood supply, how well the arteries in the neck are working (often affected by whiplash injury); oxygenation, another blood-supply related cause of problems; and headblow or whiplash that disturbs the proper functioning of the inner ear through restrictions in the temporal bone of the skull, which starts behind the ear and extends up over the side of the head.

I began working on the hypothesis that Jamie's problems were related to restrictions in her ears caused by repeated blows -- the sharp shaking of her head in the car accidents. We had several clues. First, Jamie had a feeling of stuffiness in her left ear and top of the head pain that seemed to be specifically related to one of the intracranial membranes, the falx cerebrum. There was also tightness of the other cranial membrane, the tentorium, on the left side. There was pain behind and in her eyes, which is usually related to the sphenoid bone, in turn very important to ear health. Most of all, we had Jamie's positive response to cranial/sacral work, for any time I was able to move the restricted plates of her skull within their proper range of motion, she had reduction of vertigo and headache.

Jamie has vertigo, as opposed to dizziness. Vertigo is when, sitting still, the world seems to turn around you. Dizziness is when you are spinning in relationship to the world. It is a small difference when you are feeling so bad that you are ready to throw up, which has happened to Jamie all too often. On-going rehabilitation with the physical therapist focused on Jamie re-training her visual referential abilities, but only a little time with the moving, flashing objects was enough to send her to the bathroom with a wonky stomach.

I began to work on the plates of Jamie's skull that I presumed had been affected by the various accidents -- her occiput and temporal bones. As we didn't get positive or long-lasting results, I switched to working on what Jamie told me helped. It didn't matter that there was no reason that her temporal/parietal juncture should be affected; releasing that area, especially on the left side, relieved her vertigo. I dredged up techniques I hadn't used much: dealing with the pterygold and palatine bones.

One day, working inside Jamie's mouth (much of the tension inside the ear can't be directly accessed externally), I said in frustration, "I wish I had another pair of hands!" I wanted to put tension on the tentorium, typically done by pulling on the outer ears, while I was encouraging the sphenoid to relax on the left. Then it occurred to me that I had another pair of hands right there: Jamie's! She was a long-time client and sensitive to the cranial work we had done from the beginning. Holding the tentorium steady wasn't delicate or dangerous. This would be the ultimate in client participation!

As Jamie held her own ears and stretched the tentorium, I accessed the other systems from holds within her mouth. All of a sudden, I could feel how the place where the tentorium, running horizontally, and the falx, going vertically, were 'stuck.' I could even feel the direction of the torque. I directed Jamie to apply tension in the directions I felt were needed. Asking Jamie more precise questions about the tilt of her head (her feeling that she was being 'pulled' to the right) yielded more information about the internal tilt of the sphenoid and the resulting tension on her left inner ear. Knowing where the tentorium attached to the temporal made my work on that area more specific.

Working together, Jamie and I began to make major progress. Experimentally, we tried a six-hands technique, recruiting Jamie's 10-year-old daughter to hold Jamie's ears while Jamie worked on her eyes and I worked inside her mouth. However, the results weren't any better, and we decided extra cooks didn't necessarily improve the recipe. With Jamie's active participation in our sessions, however, I no longer felt like I was shooting in the dark and we were able to approach the vertigo problem with a distinct idea of what was going on inside and with a definite plan of attack.

There is no instant cure for severe, life-style affecting vertigo such as Jamie's. So far, however, our cranial/sacral four-hands technique has brought about the most change, giving Jamie whole days without significant disturbance and opportunities to expand her activities to include reading, sewing, exercising, driving and even flying (though the last is still difficult, as her fluid systems react to the motion of the airplane). The headaches and eye/ear pain is better, and pain relief is longer, each time we work.

I know it will take patience and Jamie's co-operation. She has already extensively changed her diet by reducing salt and sugar intake and eliminating caffeine-laced soft drinks. She stretches, to keep tight neck ligaments limber. Best of all, she hasn't given up and neither have I. It may take another year, but we will have her back to work, back to being active and healthy, and no longer feeling like her world is turn, turn, turning.

Jocelyn Paine is a cranial/sacral therapist who also practices structural release and Laban Movement Analysis in Anchorage (under a lucky star!). She can be reached at 276-8195.

Teamwork for the Tough Cases
by Jocelyn Paine

 

Teamwork has taken the best of our individual practices to provide a potent package of healing.

At the beginning of Matt Callison's class a couple of years ago I thought: What's a simple bodyworker like me doing in a class about acupuncture? At the end of the class I thought: This makes so much sense; how can I keep on doing it without being able to use needles? The answer, I discovered, was teamwork.

I was at the class because of my friend -- and now associate -- Rosemary Cody. She is an acupuncturist, and had sponsored Matt Callison to make his first Alaskan visit. Matt is an acupuncturist in San Diego, where he works closely with the University of California's athletic department (he travels with their football team) in developing therapeutic techniques for severe and recalcitrant problems -- you know, those tough problems everyone in the healing profession gets, such as the client who walks in bent over to one side with lumbar back pain, or the person with the torn rotator cuff who can't lift a pencil, or the client with three rear-ending car accidents in the last four months whose neck now looks like a winding country lane on the x-rays. Matt has created an approach called "The Energetics of Structural Balance," which combines applied kinesiology and structural testing (to pinpoint the area in need) with specific acupuncture needle patterns that he confesses he's mostly discovered by trial and error. He also incorporates some bodywork techniques, such as gentle structural corrections and Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretches.

The results are close to miraculous. I've been a professional bodyworker for over 25 years. During that time, I've studied and been exposed to several different types of therapeutic approaches, both to increase my own knowledge and practice and to heal my own body. I combine structural release (Osteokinethesis) and suggestions about changing body movement (Labon Movement Analysis) with whole-body affecting work on the intercranial membranes (Cranial/Sacral Therapy). I have a pretty good success rate with my clients, even with those hard cases. Matt Callison's work, however, makes a quantum leap beyond anything I've previously encountered. During that first seminar, I became determined to somehow integrate this knowledge into my practice, even though I'm not an acupuncturist. Matt was opening up that first class to massage therapists, giving us acupressure points instead of needling points, because there are so few acupuncturists in the state. Subsequently, however, I came to the conclusion that to be totally effective, his system needed to be practiced with needles, to "break loose" the stuck chi and prepare the client's body for a better structural balance.

Acupuncture, of course, is all about chi -- that intangible, powerful, essential force mapped thousands of years ago by Chinese practitioners. Within traditional Chinese medicine, working with structural correction is called "bonesetting." In the West, structural correction is achieved through several methods, such as chiropractic, Rolfing, Feldenkrais, etc. To combine the release of chi with the relaxation of the skeletal structure is a powerful prescription. The West has embraced acupuncture warily, making sure that safe practices are followed by instituting strict regulations. Every acupuncturist is licensed.

I had occasionally recommended acupuncture for clients needing relief from severe pain. Now I was learning a system that went beyond pain relief into healing changes! Shortly after the class, Rosemary and I got together to review and practice the work. At that time, I had a client who was afraid he'd have to quit his postal delivery job because of his crippling sciatic pain. He had been to several experts, but was still barely able to climb stairs. He was in constant burning pain and very worried. I had made a slight difference; he was more comfortable for a day or so after my sessions, where I would stretch and release his super-tight lumbosacral ligaments, gently pull and twist his lower body to attempt some structural movement and give him exercises, but my work wasn't lasting long enough to get him back to work. I sent him to Rosemary, but his pain was only slightly relieved. This man was willing to try anything! As such, he was an ideal subject for Matt's work. Neither Rosemary nor I felt secure about the complicated testing and I suspected that acupuncture was needed instead of just acupressure, so we decided with the client's permission to team up or, as he put it jokingly, "gang up" on him.

Our client didn't have any identifiable incident of injury, though we all suspected that the lifting of heavy packages was a factor. Severe and chronic sciatica and low-back pain often isn't traceable to an isolated event. The stress and wear-and-tear on the disks, infraspinus ligaments between the vertebrae and trauma to surrounding soft muscle tissue is a slow, accumulative process. Repetitive motion, such as lifting, turning, bending, doesn't help. Bad postural habits reinforce damage. When the body is in pain it often 'guards' and restricts movement; this can lead to an unconscious change in posture. Our client showed signs of guarding with a stiff, slightly bent-over stance and a careful, locked-kneed walk. In advanced cases, few postural changes can happen until a significant amount of pain is eliminated.

Rosemary and I mapped out a joint approach for our recalcitrant client. I would do the manual muscle testing, the applied kinesiology that would give us a map of his problem. Matt uses standard kinesiology tests. This involves gentle client resistance against the practitioner's pressure to reveal where potential muscle weakness lies. Matt's theory is that these tests show where the chi blockages can be found. Rosemary would place the needles according to Matt's patterns. I would support any soft tissue work for support (there are some muscle stimulations that are done manually). After our client had an appropriate time with the needles, they were removed and I would do a little more bodywork attempting to relax the skeletal structure and release pressures on the sciatic nerve. I also worked with him on his posture and exercise where necessary. At this point, our client was willing to try anything.

We were all amazed at the results. I found that releases I had attempted and failed at accomplishing were much easier after the needles. Our client experienced greater pain relief than with needles alone. The joint sessions had a much more profound effect; pain relief and ease of motion increased and lasted substantially longer. Our client wasn't only back on his feet and at full capacity in his job; he was back to health! Although it wasn't an overnight cure, we saw rapid progress working together where we had seen little progress working alone. Since our first joint client, we've worked on several clients with stubborn problems. Teamwork has taken the best of our individual practices to provide a potent package of healing.

I wondered why combining our different approaches worked so much better. Matt Callison wrote about this in the introduction to his class notes: "By structurally setting the body with manual methods, we are treating the body from the outside in; by using the energetics of Chinese medicine, the body is being treated from the inside out." Matt is talking about a "synthesis of modalities" that together make more than a sum of their parts. The different modalities reinforce each other, support each other, and provide opportunities for a more complete healing. This doesn't mean that our individual work is lacking. It only means we are complimentary to each other. Rosemary and I have gone on to treat several clients with chronic neck injuries, from repetitive car accidents to a broken neck. We've helped shoulder injuries (I also have a rotator cuff injury that put me in a sling and through months of recovery -- combining Matt's shoulder and neck points with good physical therapy has my healing ahead of schedule). After our first low-back and sciatica client, we've seen results on several others. Clients are willing to commit to a more intensive and expensive treatment because of the spectacular results. The proof is in their recovery. They don't mind it when we "gang up" on them!

Jocelyn Paine (276-8195) has been in solo practice in Anchorage for over 20 years. She is very much enjoying the day during the week she shares clients with acupuncturist Rosemary Cody (563-0071).

Rx? First, Try Mx!
by Mike Macy

 

Given the rough and tumble nature of birthing and childhood, anytime children fail to thrive, manual restrictions should be suspected, looked for and released first, before resorting to drugs and surgeries.

Common sense suggests that medications are usually not the answer. But when symptoms arise, we often reach for medicine first anyway, even though we might be much better off reaching for Mx – manual therapy – and a practitioner who views the body mechanically and is capable of finding and releasing mechanical restrictions regardless of their location or cause.

Think about it. When something is wrong with the car, our first response is to look for a mechanic, not to add something new to the gasoline. Yet, for too many of us, popping pills is our first response to illness. Like automobiles, the human body has numerous moving parts, and our health and vitality depends greatly on those parts being able to move freely.

Consider the colon, for example. The colon cannot function without peristalsis, the wavelike, intrinsic movements which propel fecal matter “southward.” Anybody who has ever tried to propel a wave down a garden hose knows that the wave stops where someone’s foot pins the hose to the ground. Lift the foot, eliminate the restriction, and subsequent waves pass through.

The first response to chronic constipation, therefore, should be to look for and free-up restrictions on the colon. Instead, over-reliant on a chemical model of the body, most of us reach for fiber, water, or laxatives, which may produce temporary, symptomatic relief, but fail to address the underlying problem, if—as is often the case—there is a mechanical restriction.

By adulthood, most of us will have restrictions on many of our internal organs, or viscera. In the colon’s case, restrictions can produce irregularity, gas, discomfort, breathing difficulties, impaired liver and immune response, circulatory problems, and chronic hip, lumbar, and cervical pain. Medicine tends to medicate these symptoms, ignoring the possibility that they are signs of a mechanical restriction elsewhere.

To function optimally, almost every internal organ, including the lungs, brain, heart, and the vascular system needs freedom of movement. When this movement is inhibited, symptoms begin to appear. Some symptoms, such as lack of energy, can arise so subtly or are so non-specific that they escape detection for years and can be mistakenly attributed to aging, hypochondria, and imagination.

Causes of restrictions include falls and other physical trauma, surgical and dental procedures, thermal and chemical injuries, infections, and emotional and spiritual wounds. When decades pass (as they often do) between the original injury and the appearance of symptoms, practitioners lacking mechanical diagnostic skills will typically be mystified and prone to focus on the symptoms rather than the underlying cause.

So why should every family have a mechanic? Because mechanical restrictions are unavoidable and eventually, if not sooner, will produce significant pathology. Consider children, for example: in the best of all circumstances, most kids arrive with at least a little trauma from in utero and the birth process. Soon, however, gravity happens: they fall or are dropped. They take on issues from their parents and others. They encounter emotional and spiritual upsets.

When it comes to kids, Mx is just what the doctor ordered. When baby's head is jammed for too long against mother's pelvis, CranioSacral Therapy can free up resultant restrictions in the head and spine. C-sections are the equivalent of "sudden loss of cabin pressure" and over-stretch the intracranial membranes; this impairs venous drainage from the head, thereby reducing the amount of oxygen available to the central nervous system at a time when it is most needed. Forceps and over-helpful birthing assistants can strain the delicate tissues in baby's neck, including muscles, blood vessels, and nerves. This leads to chronic neck and shoulder problems and may contribute to such problems as colic and learning challenges like ADD and HDD. CranioSacral Therapy can remove the residua of such trauma and optimize the motion and function of the affected tissues.

One of the most common childhood ailments is chronic ear infection. Antibiotics are not particularly effective, and carry a host of side-effects. CranioSacral Therapy has three specific temporal bone releases that can relieve earaches while improving drainage—without shunts. A fourth technique is excellent for lowering fevers when they become dangerously high. Given the rough and tumble nature of birthing and childhood, anytime children fail to thrive, manual restrictions should be suspected, looked for and released first, before resorting to drugs and surgeries.

Jump forward to parenthood. Having collected 20-plus years of trauma in her body, mom is now expected to cook, clean, carry, chase, and protect her child, often while neglecting some of her own needs. In the course of 15 years of birthing and child rearing, the average mom is going to sustain additional injuries. Appendectomies, C-sections, and hysterectomies typically result in adhesions which, if left untreated, will eventually have serious health consequences.

Dad may have been spared the strain of pregnancy and birthing, but he probably has his share of injuries from playgrounds, athletics, and work. Like many moms, he is under a great pressure to feed, clothe, and protect his family, too—and be strong enough not to show it—even if his knee or back is trashed.

The entire family needs a mechanic, and not just for their bodies, but for their spirits. A mechanic cannot change history; what’s done is done. But a good mechanic can help to release old traumas from the body, provide insight and perspective that allows us to “move on,” engage our inherent self-healing abilities, and free up restrictions so that internal organs and systems can operate as designed. This “turning back the odometer and rotating the tires” can greatly reduce the effects of all those miles.

Some mechanical tools are available to everyone. The power of human touch, when combined with proper intention and compassion is virtually unlimited—in part because each of us has the inherent ability to heal ourselves. Then, too, at the root of many health problems is an unmet need for love and understanding. More advanced techniques can be found through books, videos, and trainings. For those without the time or inclination to become experts, however, there are professionals.

Although reliable manual therapists tend to be more common in fields where practitioners specialize in hands-on work, they come in a wide variety of packages, including medical, chiropractic, naturopathic, homeopathic and osteopathic physicians; physical, speech, occupational, Reiki, Craniosacral, Myofascial, neuromuscular, acupressure, and massage therapists; Acupuncturists and Rolfers, to name a few.

In looking for a body mechanic, look for someone who has the ability, training, empathy, and willingness to take the time to use their hands therapeutically. Avoid self-proclaimed healers, because therapists are only facilitators or catalysts. They can help you heal, but only you can heal yourself.

Of course, life-threatening illnesses and true medical emergencies require immediate medical attention, and the associated drugs and procedures. In non-emergencies, however, consider Mx first, because mechanical work can address causes and prevent old injuries and traumas from creating serious pathology. By embracing Manual Therapy, you are less likely to encounter situations where you are told that your only options are drugs and/or surgery, both of which may entail serious, and sometimes irreversible, side-effects.

Mike Macy is an acupressure therapist specializing in CranioSacral Therapy and Visceral Manipulation in Anchorage. To contact him, call (907) 770-2722, extension 2; email mmacy@acsalaska.net or see www.althealak.com.

Finally, A Magic Bullet for Life & Health Challenges
by Mike Macy

 

It shouldn’t be surprising that so many children fidget... It shouldn’t be surprising that so many adults have mysterious ailments... No wonder there are so many adrenalin junkies and extreme sports enthusiasts!

We all know someone who is “wound a little too tight” or whose “game is just a bit off.” Maybe we see that person when we look in the mirror or perhaps sitting across from us at the dinner table. Often, the problem has been present so long that we assume that this is just the way it is or will always be. Forget that! Now we can change all that simply, safely, and swiftly. And, except for the facilitator, everything we need to make the change is already onboard.

All living creatures are wired for survival; humans are no different. The most primitive and important part of our nervous system is a collection of structures called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). This includes the pons, medulla oblongata, cerebellum, dural tube, and adrenal glands—although other structures can take over if one of these is damaged or unable to function. When working properly, the RAS gives us two strategies for responding to external threats to our safety: fight or flight.

The RAS is a positive feedback system: the system detects a threat and sends out an alert; the body responds by fleeing or fighting; the threat passes; and, the system automatically resets to detection mode.

Without external threats, normal physiological functions proceed. Those parts of the brain involved with higher functioning get the lion’s share of blood, cerebral spinal fluid, oxygen and other nutrients. Our organs of assimilation and elimination thus have free reign to obtain the foods and liquids we need. However, when a threat appears, ordinary activities are put on hold: blood, oxygen, and nutrients are instantly shunted to the lower brain centers responsible for survival and the big muscles of fight or flight (including our legs, arms, and jaws, which formerly were an important weapon for biting our way out of trouble). Our endocrine system literally hemorrhages adrenalin and other neurotransmitters. A perfect example of normal RAS functioning are the grazing herds of Africa , which run like the dickens to escape lions and then calmly return to grazing while the big cats dine nearby on a former member of the herd.

Like any other system, the RAS can get stuck in full alert. When it does, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and/or physiological problems inevitably arise. With humans, the most common reasons the RAS gets stuck are that the threat level is too high or too persistent, or that fight or flight are not options. One or more of these factors commonly confront developing fetuses and infants, children, hostages, policemen, firemen, soldiers and even office workers. Currently, most cases of elevated RAS go undiagnosed—indeed, few are the physicians who would even think to look for it, even though it’s reaching epidemic levels.

When the RAS gets stuck on full alert, the hindbrain and lower brain get the lion’s share of oxygen and nutrients, and develop at the expense of the cerebral cortex and forebrain. In other words, the muscles of fight or flight overdevelop at the expense of the internal organs of assimilation, digestion, and elimination. The adrenal glands discharge continuously and are chronically depleted. At the cost of all other activities, the nervous system focuses on detecting potential threats from the external environment and keeping the machinery of survival ready to go at a moment’s notice.

You’d be surprised at the range of in-utero exposures that can peg a newborn’s RAS system to the ceiling. These may include exposure to caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, anesthesia, recreational drugs, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals, or prolonged tension, anger, violence and threat of violence. Trauma at the time of birth (such as complications, inductions, caesarians, forceps, spinals, delays while waiting for a physician, etc.) can cause the RAS to get stuck in full alert. And then there’s childhood and all its potential exposures.

It shouldn’t be surprising, therefore, that so many children fidget, can’t focus, or are overly aggressive or passive. It shouldn’t be surprising that so many adults have mysterious ailments and symptoms or chronic cognitive, emotional or adaptive challenges. No wonder there are so many adrenalin junkies and extreme sports enthusiasts! On one level, their antics can be seen as crude attempts at resetting the RAS. Some day, we’ll look back and marvel that there were so many otherwise high-functioning people stuck in fight or flight. 

With the assistance of a properly trained therapist, the body will know when a reset is necessary and will actually direct the work. The reset may involve releasing mechanical restrictions and energies in any or all of the system’s structures, as well as other brain and body structures, and may be accompanied by emotional releasing. Typically, the reset can be done in one or two sessions, and the body will tell us what, if any, follow-up is necessary. (The only known contraindication to this work is mental illness.) Patients universally report profound and immediate changes in their chronic conditions and complaints. 

So, how can you tell if your RAS is set too high and needs to be reset? Having read this far, you may already know. Signs include persistent life or health challenges despite one’s best efforts and intentions. Likely suspects include kids who can’t concentrate, dads who never came home from the war or can’t make ends meet, and the otherwise great moms who have never really stood on their own two feet. 

However, resetting the RAS is not just for cognitive and adaptive challenges. If the RAS is elevated, a reset will allow the body to self-correct all kinds of chronic and mysterious health problems—from reflux to migraines and joint pains. Again, this is because, when we are stuck in fight or flight, routine operation and maintenance (whether it’s digestion or repairing damaged tissues) are set aside in favor of immediate survival. Essentially, anyone with a history of exposure to toxins, stress, or violence is a prime candidate for RAS reset.

Here is a simple self-test: Take a few deep breaths and ask your body if your RAS is set too high. Wait to hear the answer in your mind. If the answer is yes, ask whether it would be good to have it lowered. If the answer is yes or maybe, please call for more information or an appointment.

For the fortunate few, life is all smooth sailing. For the rest of us, the packaging admonition “Some Assembly Required” holds truth and—now more than ever—promise.

Mike Macy specializes in CranioSacral Therapy and Visceral Manipulation. Last October, he became the first person in Alaska trained in resetting Reticular Activating System. He can be reached at 770-2722 x2.