As a holistic practitioner I am always asking the question whether an issue in the body is Structural, Biochemical or Emotional in origin.
Structure includes joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and fascia. Fascia is amazing stuff. Also known as connective tissue, Fascia is a network throughout the body. It runs from the Plantar Fascia up to the top of the skull. Until very recently, students in cadaver labs wouldn’t even see fascia, since it was regularly removed to better study the muscles. But within this thin film of tissue is a whole other world!
Receptor sites for emotional polypeptides are found throughout the body in the fascia. (read Candace Pert’s book “Molecules of Emotion”). Research has also unveiled pathways of water molecules which directly follow the Meridian System as described in Chinese Medicine! And this is where it gets interesting.
For over 20 years, I have been practicing Neuroemotional Technique (NET). The technique utilizes muscle testing and addresses the emotional physiology of the body. Since we store emotional memory in our fascia, this technique allows the practitioner to access it in a non-emotive way, with the goal being to restore harmony in the physical body.
My experience with acute pain episodes is that it is frequently associated with some other stress in a person’s life – usually relating to love or money! By following a NET set of algorithms and using muscle testing, we can often find an underlying cause (trigger) that may be setting off that part of the body.
For example, the low back is frequently directly triggered by a stressor in the digestive system, which shares the same Lumbar spinal nerves as the low back. I remember seeing Depak Chopra MD speaking live in the early 1990’s and he talked about how a gut feeling really was emotion manifesting in the body. I had no idea that 10 years later I would be a holistic practitioner utilizing this very concept.
In a typical low back treatment, I may adjust a patient’s back or hips, release a tight muscle or engage a muscle that’s not fully “on,” and balance an emotional “charge” using NET. The order by which I find and correct these imbalances is determined through muscle testing and other diagnostics from Applied Kinesiology (AK), Proprioceptive Deep Tendon Reflex Technique (PDTR) or clinical chiropractic methods. I may then address postural imbalances and introduce corrective exercises or stretches.
What makes NET so special is how it incorporates Chinese Acupuncture theory so flawlessly, enabling the practitioner to determine which meridian is “out of balance,” as well as which emotion and even memory in a timeline (the seed) is triggering this event.
One thing I love about studying NET is that at any given professional training I will often meet Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, Psychotherapists, Nurse Practitioners, holistic MDs, DOs, NDs. It is a truly holistic technique, and is also supported by the ONE Foundation, based at Thomas Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, which publishes ongoing research into mind-body medicine that you can find online on such sites as PubMed.
My purpose in this Blog article is to simply introduce the concept that emotions play out in the body. There is so much more to share in future blogs about Mind-Body Medicine, so stay tuned.
