Discovering Body Logic study group

Some of you may be interested in something I just came across, self myofascial release therapy, akin to trigger point therapy. For this see http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/self-myofascial-release.html. Looks interesting. Also see http://www.holisticjunction.com/categories/HAD/myofascial-release.html.

Lee, have you heard of such?

Hank

 

Thanks Hank! I haven't seen either of these sites before.

Good on you for joining in and sharing this. I believe that the ideas discussed in your NUCCA thread and those discussed here complement each other beautifully.

Lee.

 

Well, I am feeling a little panicked because I am going to loan out my DBL book and hopefully the lady will return it SOON!
I was reading this week's chapter this morning before I let it go and also went over next week's and took some notes.

I am very encouraged each time I read this book and today I was especially encouraged by this statement (page 123):
Once the healing process kicks in, symptoms disovle in thier own time and in thier own order. The body will do it just right. Trust it! There is no point trying to direct this, as we can't begin to understand the depth of this instinctive intelligence. Many will be able to regain thier posture of old, whereas others may have to settle for improvement. It's simply a matter of getting the conditions right then waiting to experience the extent of potential. It's an exciting journey.

This is really great to keep in mind and now that my body is doing some healing I can more identify with this statement and the book itself. It really is an exciting journey and I need to continue to remind myself that it takes patience and on days I am still discouraged I try to look back and see how far I've come in such a short time. I try to think that if I improve in the future as well as I already have I really will have total health again someday and hopefully soon!

 

Oh you are something SweetTater! I love the honesty and enthusiasm in your posts.
Isn't it funny how easy it is to forget how far we have come. It's ironic but now I'm healthy, it's my family (in particular my husband) who remembers the most vividly how low I once was. To me it's a dark, hazy and very sad place that I'd rather forget. It's hard when I'm asked to talk about this aspect of DBL as to explain how far it's taken me, I have to share where I have come from. My very best wishes to you Elaine.

Lee.

 

Thank you Lee - your encouragament means so much to me!

 

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Thank you Diane! It's so sweet of you & Lee to keep coming here and giving encouragement to those of us who are still getting all the 'kinks' worked out.

 

This week we will cover Chapter 10 Reclaiming Balanced Posture... open for discussion.

As I stated I have loaned my book out now but I made some notes before I let it go.

On Page 131 it states - When sitting, the key is to maintain the correct postural line of 'ear over shoulder over hip'. Weight is then stacked properly and so the curves can remain - or if you have lost them, have a chance to return.

I am encouraged to know these curves can return and that things can go back to where they are suppose to be. It would be sad to think we have messed up our bodies and they couldn't be repaired but the body is such a fantastic thing and I think it is so amazing when healing begins to happen and we can see and feel these changes taking place.

 

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Yes, I too have started to notice other people's posture and it's really sad how many people have horrible posture and it is refreshing to see those who as you say - move with grace.
I especially am noticing children and how much they slump - makes me want to correct them! I co-teach a Sunday school class and our children just sit all slumped over and I know that is the way most kids do these days. Very sad!

I see very old people all bent over and I am so thankful I have a chance to correct myself before I get to a point of no return!

 

Sorry, but I'm off topic again ;D ...

Have you ever wondered why there is such a large gap between the established medical system and 'alternative' therapies?

Think of the role of these for a minute:
Massage
General Chiropractors
NUCCA Chiropractors
Physiotherapy
Nutritionists
Healers
Naturopaths
Acupuncture
Reiki
Reflexology
Iridology etc etc (there are plenty more!)

These exist because the medical system doesn't extend to these areas. So we - the sufferers - tend to think they are only something to try when all else fails. But slowly but surely, individual doctors are starting to recognise the ENORMOUS scope of health care that the above therapies cover. But now there is the problem that each separate therapy doesn't really understand the other as they have all grown into their own Discipline, each with extensive training requirements. 'Simple' ideas have therefore become theoretically complex.

Now comes along a Meniere's sufferer. Medical care provides a name for the condition, but doesn't know the cause or the solution. So the sufferer may spend years wandering aimlessly around the vast array of alternative therapies, not really knowing what they are looking for. Hope perhaps?

For those who have read about the Body Logic concepts, can you see how these therapies 'fit'? Can you see that all each one is trying to do - from its own unique perspective - is remove the blocks so the body can heal?

I am soon to present the DBL concepts to one of these groups. Just think, they are a professional group, yet they are not threatened to look beyond their area of specialty, or learn from an 'ex'-sufferer. They realize there is a lack of integration between ALL healing arts ... which I believe is where the next step in health care lies. They also know that the body does the healing. This offers a unique opportunity to begin to put Meniere's disease 'on the map'. Actually any chronic condition could demonstrate these concepts, but as pain killers are unable to blunt the effects of vertigo, tinnitus, hearing loss or ear pressure, Menieres is uniquely compelling and instructive.

This thread often gets a hundred hits a day. I know there are many people out there who don't like to post, but are every bit as much a DBL'er as those on here. Here's to all of us!

Lee.

 

And following on from my last post ... only this time on topic ... a few questions:

Do you agree that correct posture is as important to health as, say, diet? Why do you think posture has fallen out of vogue?

 

I do agree with that Lee. I'm not sure I would've agreed with it a few months ago but now that I have begun to understand the importance of posture to overall health I would venture to say it may be more important than diet at least in some cases.
I would expect that good posture has fallen out of vogue because people really do not realize how important it is to their health and our lifestyles are so busy that people just aren't concerned with it anymore. I am afraid if things don't change we may see alot more MM sufferers in the near future, I hope I am wrong.

 

I for one am glad you brought this up Lee and I think you have such a great point to make. I hope that in the near future more of these methods will come together to help with overall healing and health. I know that I am combining your DBL, chiropractic and nutritional supplements in my quest for healing. I have been debating on adding more of the John of Ohio supplements to my routine, I am taking Lemon Bioflavonoids, C-2000 complex & Vitamin E from his routine so far but then I keep thinking if I do too many things I won't know what is actually working so in this way I am a bit confused as to what to do, I mean if it could help speed up the body's natural healing what would be the harm? I'm still debating with myself on this one!

I wish you much luck in your presentation Lee - I am so glad there is someone that is willing to spend her time and effort to help so many who have no answers and I still am in amazement at those who will not even consider the 'alternative' treatments that are helping people with this illness, I just don't understand why people won't at least give it a try! What have they got to lose?
Thank you Lee for all your efforts! I appreciate you!

 

Elaine, I hope you realize how much I learn from you and others who share openly here.
Thank you.

Lee.

 

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More quotes from the book- High breathing creates chronic tension in the muscles around the neck and collar bone. As you already know, the crimping and cramping effect of this causes all manner of symptoms. AND -
Page 136 - Posture is a key reason for ongoing tension. Correcting this is therefore one of the most valuable things we can all do for our health. Remeber any change is better than none.

I was never aware of this breathing causing tension anywhere until I read this book and began to observe my own body and how this is so true. I am working to correct this and I can tell a difference, at first belly breathing was very difficult for me but now I find it coming more easily.

 

Yes. Breathing and posture. I've been having to correct myself constantly. I find myself at strange angles when I do my accounting and I have to keep correcting myself. Of course, I feel better about the numbers when I sit properly! My back muscles are weak, though, so then I get tired of holding the good posture quite quickly.

Forgetting to breathe is ridiculous, but I do it! It's funny because it's like not availing myself of an abundant, free resource. I have to link it back to my scarcity thinking. I've also noticed that although I consider myself to be a positive person, I have a lot of fears. I'm working with the www.thework.com as much as I can to give myself realistic answers to my fears. But like posture, fear based thinking will take awhile to ease off...and for both it makes for an amazing opportunity to see directly how these thoughts of scarcity and fears have impacts on physical reality. A

As a geographer, I was fascinated by the quote "feelings flow into places" and the idea that you can go into the environment and interpret back the values of the people who have been involved in creating the environment. Now, I see that you can do the same thing with the body.

Still working with the upside down triangle model as well...of course, playing with my kids outside is on the bottom and really should be on the top! That would cover posture and strength and breathing and also fun. But in order to do that, I will need to work on the scarcity thinking!

Why are the alternative therapies so divorced from conventional medical practice? I think that it is because the changes that we are forced to make are at the very warp and weft of life and values. Food choices, lifestyle choices, money priorities, values and time choices. The work of seeing the impact of our thoughts on our health...and then the difficulty with psycho-somatic illness--and not wanting to de-validate peoples' health problems (ie. "it's all in your head"--which by the way is a ridiculous over-simplification). It makes for difficult work in a time when we are being sold the idea that we need instant gratification.

Yes, the changes in diet necessary to live healthfully take a lot of time and energy and commitment--at a time when we are under incredible pressure financially/time wise etc. And, if we start really asking the important questions, it's going to lead to an informed populace and that's bad for the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry--and it's challenging for women who work, too. Because a lot of the convenience food was to enable women to work outside of the home--liberal feminism relied on the economy of mass production-mass consumption to provide the domestic appliances to enable productive wage earning outside the home--while still maintaining a semblance of child care, food preparation and cleaning inside the home. Now, we're finding out that the very stuff/lifestyle that we've been buying to enable us to do the dual role (and paying well for, now that women are a targeted demographic for marketers) is making us and our children sick. But how will we go back? Who will cook from scratch? Who will clean with vinegar and baking soda? Who has the time? The energy consumed by the appliances and our reliance on nuclear power and fossil fuels and the general pollution ie. the landscape that we have created as a population with our prevailing values---it all links in.

Alternative therapies seem innocent enough, but if you really follow their threads, they begin to unravel the whole tapestry of modern life!

Tamara

 

You are very wise Tamara! Your last big paragraph there about diet and our lifestyle is so on target! I do believe in time we will be forced to go back to some of the old ways though because people are going to become sicker & sicker and like many of us they will be forced to take the healthy route, I don't know how we will ever 'go back' as you put it, I have been pondering this for the past few months and realising the need for this to happen but I think it is going to take more illness and I know illness is already rampant because of our lifestyles.
When you mentioned our dependence on nuclear power and fossil fuels it made me think of some of the recent conversations I've had with my husband, he works for a major oil company and he keeps telling me that one day the oil/natural gas supply really is going to run out! I can't imagine what we will do if alternative sources are not found soon.
Well, all of this really makes one stop and think doesn't it!
I also agree with your last statement. Very good and thought provoking post - thanks!

I also want to encourage you to just keep on working at correcting your posture and I think you'll in time find it easier and more natural, I know I have recently noticed it being easier after many weeks, at first I was so miserable too trying to stay straightened up and I didn't think it would ever get easier and wondered if Lee really was right on that point but in time I found out - yes, she was right! It finally just becomes something you do without thinking about it so much. I know I still have a way to go but I've come a ways too so just hang in there!

 

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