At RENEW: Mind-body Health I believe in a combined three pronged approach: hands-on corrective bodywork; remedial movement/strengthening exercise; and the role our mind plays especially in stress induced physical symptoms. If this information is complete and accurate, the brain can orchestrate the body’s profound ability to maintain itself in a state of wellness. Integrated Bodywork understands how this flow of information can become ‘blocked’ or incomplete, and can identify the specific places in the body where these ‘blockages’ exist. Practitioners then apply a highly practiced stimulus, by hand, in specific sites and directions on the body. This in effect sends new information from these areas to the brain, which will then regulate the body more efficiently according to this new information. Commonly these ‘blockages’ will result in unnaturally tight muscle causing compression of nerve and other tissues, in various places on the body, with accompanying stiffness, discomfort or pain, as well as affecting the performance of various organs and systems of the body. Remember that the ‘blocked’ pathways can lessen the brain’s ability to regulate any tissue in the body. IB is hugely effective in reducing or eliminating pain and discomfort, and helping the body to recover optimum mobility and function, but perhaps the most profound aspect of this technique is its ability to help the body to release compression that has been building up for years or decades. What are Blockages? There are many common examples of how the brain itself will ‘ignore’ or ‘shut down’ sensory stimuli. Consider this: are you aware right now of the pressure of your watch strap or shoes or belt? Chances are that you will be now, now that your attention has been drawn to these sensations. Normally the brain will screen out these constant but insignificant stimuli (like ignoring a distant ringing telephone) – and thank goodness, otherwise you might be aware of so many tiny sensory distractions that you would not be able to function efficiently. Imagine trying to study if your brain didn’t switch off the sound of the ticking clock, the neighbour’s dog or the traffic! Now if your watch strap were to be slowly tightened, say 1% over a week, the brain is likely to continue to ignore such a slowly increasing compression… If this compression slowly and continuously increased, over time there would be some degree of bruising (inflammation) on the wrist, and eventually some wear and tear, tissue damage etc. While this is happening, it is possible that there is no pain or discomfort, as if the brain has “turned off that constantly ringing nuisance distracting telephone”. If you apply this simplistic example to the slowly increasing pressure on areas of the spine, caused eg., by sitting, you will have some idea of what hidden distress occurs in the body. This may help to explain the “shutdown” or “blockage” phenomena that Integrated Bodywork helps to overcome. How do IB practitioners find these 'blockages'? IB practitioners are trained to recognise subtle disturbances in the flow of energy in and around the body. These fluctuations are picked up by the practitioners’ own body on a very subtle energetic (unconscious or intuitive) level. A pendulum is sometimes used in a very specific way which helps the practitioner to more easily and accurately identify the precise location and direction of these ‘blockages’.
