Article Options

Reaching a deeper level

Holistic techniques aim for the root of problems

By Brent Stewart, The Southern

Tuesday, October 30, 2007 2:29 PM CDT

It seems our lives tend to get more and more complex.

Every day there's a new problem; whether it is work, finances, or relationships. Our bad habits increase as a way of dealing with the stress in life and the tension in our bodies.

Sometimes it feels like you're just plain messed up from head to toe; bent and contorted and twisted from letting things build up and not doing anything to take care of them.

As with acupuncture, many of the different holistic medicines tend to reach for something deeper than the outward symptoms in finding ways to promote the overall health of an individual.

The recently opened Dayemi Health Center in Carbondale has a number of different options for those seeking alternative care.

If you haven't heard of Rolfing, the Alexander Technique or Energy First Aide, here is a quick overview of each to find out if one is appropriate for your situation.

Rolfing

Originally called structural integration, Rolfing is a technique developed by Dr. Ida Rolf, an osteopath. During her research, Rolf discovered the importance of the fascial system.

Fascia, according to Grace Powers, a certified Rolfer, is "the saran wrap-like coating that wraps everything in your body; each individual muscle, each bone, your internal organs."

Powers said that over the course of time as we use our bodies, the fascia will form itself around our posture, our habitual movement and the way we hold ourselves.

"The smaller picture of Rolfing is going through and finding where there fascia is shortened, where it's stuck, where the scar tissue has built up and releasing it; breaking up scar tissue, separating fascia, lengthening fascia and getting your body back to its more fluid, juicy state," Powers said.

Rolfers use a specific 10-session program to reshape the fascia in the body with physical manipulation in order to educate clients on using their bodies more efficiently, according to the needs of each particular person.

"The big deal about Rolfing to the average person is, 'This used to hurt, but now it doesn't hurt anymore,'" Powers said, "but that's not really what structural integration's all about."

Rolfers will talk about how the relief of pain is a side effect, but it's really about finding the line of your structure and balance.

"Ida Rolf really had the mind of an engineer," Powers said. "First you prepare the structure, you build the support, then you bring the core up and toward the end, you work ahead. The last three sessions are more about integration."

The physical techniques involve deep tissue manipulation with the elbows and fingertips in slow, deep continual pressured movements.

"It's very intentional, very specific, very physical," Powers said.

The Alexander Technique

There aren't many of us who haven't been criticized about our posture while growing up. Most of the time, those warnings were probably forgotten or ignored as soon as we were out of the watchful eye of our elders.

It takes a long time to develop improper ways of using our bodies, and it's even harder to turn them around after years of practice.

"When we're young, we have great body mechanics," said Liz Patula, a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique. "As we get older, we develop those (bad) habits."

The Alexander Technique is a way of overcoming the discomfort that has developed through improper patterns of movement and return to a more natural overall poise.

"I teach people how to use their bodies well," Patula said.

In order to show a client what habits are present, hands-on work is used to help integrate what's going on in their bodies to their consciousness.

"What I can do in the lesson is give you the feeling of that freedom, not being locked in old habits and then that's a reference that you can use," Patula said. "If you find yourself in an old habit, and you're able to release that habit, then eventually people are able to catch themselves."

You'll start with simple things like standing or coming to a chair, understanding where the joints are in the body, analyzing that and learning how to do things differently.

And it won't change overnight.

"If you think that you're going to wake up one day and have perfect poise, it's totally unrealistic," Patula said. "To feel the difference between compressing on themselves or being tense versus the feeling of being open and free; it happens over time."

Energy First Aide

Deborah Bouton teaches Energy First Aide, a daily system of energy therapy based on the principles of acupuncture and acupressure.

"The master teacher that taught the system to me called it 'first aide' because there is a built-in time clock in the body that energy needs to move around," she said.

Bouton was taught that this universal energy focuses on different systems, depending on the day, month and year.

"He believed that if you move this energy around the body where nature intended it to be, depending on those times and those seasons, you don't get into trouble as much," she said.

Bouton said some people who have had Rolfing or Alexander work done are getting minimal results. The problem is parts of the body aren't getting the energy signals from the brain that they need.

"All things need food to do their job well, including the physical bodies," she said. "By teaching someone how to work these energy points according to the time of day and the prescription, it can go a long way to good health.

"It won't unboil a hard-boiled egg, as my teacher taught me, but it does have tremendous impact on the movement of the body, on clarity of mind."

She gives the example of being sluggish in the morning. That's because the energy goes into the internal organs at night when we're sleeping to do their healing work, which is what they're supposed to do.

The energy is moved around by the touch of certain pressure points on the body, similar to the points where needles are placed in acupuncture.

"There are specific points that you do first thing in the morning to bring that energy back out of the internal part of the body and back out to the extremities so you can get up and do your day," Bouton said.

There are points that are done midday around the head, when most of our work is communication, thinking and seeing.

"I work with teaching people to keep the energy balance moving throughout the system and that will support whatever you've got going on," Bouton said.

brent.stewart@thesouthern.com

351-5074