Disrupting the positive feedback loop of chronic pain

Being in pain will ruin your day. Or, make it harder to do all those things you love to do. Thankfully, we’re beginning to understand chronic pain in some new ways. Separated by the ventricles which circulate cerebrospinal fluid through the inner brain, the amygdala sits atop the hippocampus, which forms long term memory. As amygdala fires again and again in chronic pain pattern, it creates a positive feedback loop between the body and the brain. The nervous system becomes over-sensitized to stimulus.

So, we now know that pain is all in the brain. If it fires, it wires, as the saying goes. And, that means there’s hope…

Have you heard of a term called neuroplasticity? The human brain can learn and grow all throughout life, changing and morphing in response to sensory stimulation. And, with a little intervention, we can slowly shift ourselves into a new, healthier pattern. Through the mindful breath practices of meditation, we can even increase grey matter thickness and decrease amygdala size! All by ourselves! Yup, we can change our own brain!

And, though they may have their place for a short time, we don’t always need pharmaceuticals in the long-term. Tap here for a sweet five minute explanation of chronic pain from Australia.

The amygdala. Screen capture from the excellent (and free!) iOS app, 3D Brain. Check out the developer’s page Genes to Cognition Online!

We can do so much for ourselves to affect our own chronic pain patterns. It helps to have a few handy dandy self-care tools for when the day gets rough.

So, here’s First of Nine’s 10 ways to disrupt the positive feedback loop of chronic pain!

1. Peppermint. Peppermint blocks pain receptors. A drop or two of essential oil on the forehead, your third eye, just over the pineal gland should do it. The pineal gland is part of your endocrine system, where the human being produces serotonin, the bonding hormone. Or, try some Peppermint Altoids for a quick, on the go, bresh-freshening, pain diminishing possibility.

2. Grab an ice cube and hold it up to the palette, the roof of your mouth, and let it melt. Cryotherapy for the deep cranial bones!

3. I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Grab yourself a spoon and pack yourself a big dollop of your favorite ice cream. Let it melt on the roof of your mouth. If you’re sensitive to dairy, explore the wonderful variety of ice creams made with coconut, or rice, or hemp! And, sure… Sherbert and sorbet work too! Its ok if cryotherapy is fun! All good things in moderation, eh?

4. Go for a walk. Gear up for the weather and dress for the elements. Keep your body moving. As lifestyles become more sedentary and based indoors, human beings have begun to develop all sorts of different musculoskeletal pain. It’s more important than ever to get oneself out into the elements of nature, exposed to the rhythms of the day, and move the body.

“Let your hands touch something that makes your eyes smile. I bet there are a hundred objects close by that can do that.” -Mirabai

5. Neoteny. Nurture that childlike sense of play and adventure. Have fun! Explore your world! Explore your body! Laugh often and smile wide!

6. Spend time in good company. Find yourself in the presence of folks who uplift you, who share like minds and like hearts. Build your community and foster those lifelong connections.

7. Sniff something! Our sense of smell is really powerful! The olfactory bulb is just deep to the nose and has connections to the amygdala. Sensory information from the nose carries really quickly to the brain due to the close proximity, faster than most other senses. That same vial of peppermint essential oil makes for a great on the go sniffer. But, any strong, pleasant scent will do. A great excuse to stop and smell the tulips!

8. Get some shut eye! Regular sleep can help so much in chronic pain management. Begin to wind your way down an hour or two before bed, shutting off computers and television. Set back and savor some chamomile or lavender tea. And, save stimulants, like caffeine, for the first half of your day. Most bodies need a good 7-8 hours of sleep a day. If you have trouble resting, naps are amazing! Viva la siesta!

9. Enjoy your own company! Set aside time to spend alone. We often need quiet, restorative, contemplative time to just think and process. This is especially true of introverted, sensitive folk. If you find your mind whirling about, how about a meditative practice? Start with 5 or 10 minutes in the morning while you’re still laying in bed. Watch yourself inhale and exhale, feeling the sensations of the air going in and out your nostrils. Meditation doesn’t have to be in an uncomfortable posture. We can find mindful awareness in any moment!

Thai massage therapy performed by Sarah K. Carl, LMT (OBMT #11,624) with Jennifer Dekany, LMT (OBMT#13,900) as the client. Photography by Hamid Shibata Bennett

10. Move what hurts. Slow, gentle explorations of your range of motion, combined with mindful breathing, can move through the pain, finding more comfort where it’s currently uncomfortable. How about a yoga class to give your fascia a stretch? Or, get yourself some structurally integrative bodywork with a licensed massage therapist. Myofascial release or Thai massage is pretty darn spiffy for reducing musculoskeletal tensions. A recent study shows that massage decreases inflammation and even changes gene expression. Develop your kinesthetic awareness with bodywork and dive into your self-care!

Yeah… This list goes up to eleven….

11. Snuggle with animals! There are so many reasons why dogs and cats have been in such close company to us human beings for so long. Reaching out and petting soft fur has a way of engaging our tactile awareness and bring us to the moment. If you’re kinesthetic, touch something that makes ya smile. Some folks carry a small, smooth gemstone or something soft in their pocket for on the go tactile experiences. It’s these simple pleasurable, moments that help to naturally shift the chronic pain cycle.

What natural methods help you or your clients with chronic pain?

Hamid : )
firstofnine.wordpress.com
transcendingtouch.com

psst… First of Nine’s deadline for the Smile contest has been extended! Enter to win Pocket Body, an excellent iOS anatomy app for iPad, iPhone or iPod! Check out the details here!

psst… psst… The pups are usually hanging out in the back room when I’m doing bodywork at Earth Body Wellness Center East on 38th and SE Belmont of Portland, Oregon. If you’d like to meet Sofie and Chaya during a bodywork session, just ask!

Bonus video!

Chaya and Sofie wanted to say howdy, so I cobbled together a short film. The pups are unconditional love in furry bundles of happy. They surely help to lessen my own chronic pain. This was shot with the Panasonic GF1 and edited in iMovie on the 24″ iMac. The song on the soundtrack is Four Winds Wednesday, recorded and mixed in Multitrack DAW on the iPad 2.

The movie is called Dogs in Bokeh. Mmmm… Tasty!

iPad users, if the video does not appear, tap in the blank space above, or tap here.

Smile, massage therapists! Ya might win an iPad or iPhone app! It’s contest time!

I woke up smiling today. Taking a self-care day off from the world. For sensitive folk, taking a step back from the quickening of the world is essential for balancing the adrenals. Gotta find your own rhythm of self-care if you’re giving so much to others.

How many muscles are involved in a smile? Zygomaticus major and minor? Levator anguli oris just deep to those lifts the mouth up by the lateral most corners. Orbicularis occuli gets involved, bringing a little more light to the eyes. A bodywork geek of a certain nature could really go on for ages, but it’s such a lovely day to be enjoyed.

Nearest I can tell, nobody knows. The web is littered with so many figures. It’s like guessing how many jelly beans are in the jar, high up on the shiny counter. Some say 4… or, 36… or… 17. There is no definitive consensus.

Do ya see just how silly it gets trying to break down the fluidity of movement in such terms? Though, it is a fun anatomic excursion, to be sure.

Or does a smile come from that indecipherable inner spark that conducts all of these little cells, these single celled organisms that, in marvelous concert, decide to organize in homeostasis to form…. Voltron! the human being. This incredible symphony of life. We are amazing critters.

So, how many muscles does it take to smile? I humbly postulate… All of ’em.

Sofie demonstrates a proper smile at Manzanita, Oregon. Photography by Hamid Shibata Bennett

Fancy yourself a bodywork geek? Got an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch with iOS 4.0 or later? Fancy yourself a free app code for Pocket Body?

Solid.

First of Nine is quite tickled to be working with Pocket Anatomy, the developers of the sweet iOS app, Pocket Body. I’ve been playing with Pocket Body on my iPad 2, showing it to clients and geeking out on the svelte slider-controlled layering system. Pocket Anatomy has graciously donated two iPad app codes and two iPhone/iPod Touch app codes for the US iTunes store. That’s $100 in free iOS apps! Dang! Thanks Pocket Anatomy! You rock!

Read my review of Pocket Body here.
Pocket Body on iPad [$29.99]
Pocket Body on iPhone or iPod Touch [$19.99]

So, show us your smile! Engage your buccinator and send in a photo of your smile! Silly, genuine, heartfelt, goofy! Any kind of smile will do! Ya might just see yourself in First of Nine!

Winners will be selected by Sofie and Chaya, with some form of doggie biscuit involved in the selection process.

To enter, e-mail a .jpg photo of your smile to tensegrityblog@gmail.com

Please, nothing over 1024 pixels on the long side. Camera phone pics are totally spiffy. And, tell me which code you’d like! iPad or iPhone/iPod Touch?

If you’d prefer not to send in a pic, here’s an alternative… Name at least five muscles that engage the smile (other than the ones I mentioned in this article!).

The deadline for the contest is Sunday, February 19th, 2012. Get your smile on! Winners will be announced shortly afterwards.

Hamid : )
firstofnine.wordpress.com
transcendingtouch.com

Bonus song!

I woke up Wednesday and grabbed the guitar. Plunked out a quick tune in Multitrack DAW on the iPad 2. Music has been a way to sonically chart the opening of my breath mechanics. And, it seems to be opening and opening through a bit of mindful awareness. On the third vocal track, I sustained a 30+ second note. None too shabby.

The song is called Four Winds Wednesday. Dig it!

iPad apps for massage therapists: Pocket Body

Welcome to the tablet generation, dear folks. The iPad 2 is pretty much the most amazing gizmo to plop out of Cupertino, since the Apple Macintosh. The iPad is infusing itself into education… From music, to algebra, to medical. With rooms full of iOS based tablets, we’re seeing test scores rise and students staying on task, providing a level of interactivity, focus and creativity recently misplaced in this over-medicated, ADHD culture.

The interactivity, the tactility, the versatility and innovation of immersing oneself into a stream of learning through playing with an iPad 2 has been a pure pleasure. My somatic mind soaks in information at a vastly different level with this style of self-paced learning. Plus, it’s a completely different, wonderfully ergonomic way of creating content.

I still use Information Architect’s brilliantly minimalistic word processor, iA Writer to compose every blog entry of First of Nine. The on-screen keyboard slows my regularly speedy typing to a more deliberate pace that is slowly improving with practice.

I learned to type on the venerable and stalwart keyboard of the Commodore 64. In middle school, I rivaled the teacher, sometimes hitting 90-100 words per minute. Really, nowhere near as quick here on the iPad. I still keep up with all my thoughts, which, these days, tend to tumble out in summer raindrops and occasional splashes of inner monologue. A keyboard based on a touch screen heeds a discipline in correct typing form, so I oft fall back to an advanced hunt and peck technique. This is still measurably easier than typing on the iPhone.

I’ve been geeking out over anatomy apps. And, there are a few brilliant iOS developers that are a notch above the rest. So, I’m beginning to share a few thoughts on my favorites. Today’s iPad app is Pocket Body!

Pocket Body from Pocket Anatomy

Understanding the multi-dimensionality of the human body is essential to a massage therapy and bodywork practice. Getting a sense of the 3D layers deep to our hands comes with practice, visualization and study.

Pocket Body (Musculoskeletal) app from Pocket Anatomy is a superb tool for visualizing the layers, available on the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. I’ve been happily using Pocket Body on my iPad 2. I love that zooming, panning and adding/removing layers is so effortless, with very quick load times. And, quite interesting that lateral views of the anatomical model are in a pose other than anatomic position!

Pocket Body has a nifty slider at the bottom of the screen, so you can slide through the layers… From skin, to several muscular layers, including the organs plus the vascular and nervous systems, down to joints, ligaments and skeletal structure.

It has pins for all the visible structures, though the red pins don’t have expanded information. You can leave your own notes on these. A watermarked screen capture can be easily snagged with a tap and saved to the iPad’s camera roll. And, the images look great when displayed on a projector.

Folks dig it when I break out the iPad. It has been an essential tool in communication, making a bodywork session more interactive and educational for the client. And, now that I’m beginning to teach continuing education, it’s becoming even more invaluable as an enhanced learning tool.

Download Pocket Body from the iTunes store…
Pocket Body on iPad [$29.99]
Pocket Body on iPhone or iPod Touch [$19.99]

First of Nine will be covering more kick ass iPad anatomy apps soon. For your dollar, Pocket Body is a solid investment. Dig it!

Hamid : )
firstofnine.wordpress.com
transcendingtouch.com

psst… Check back at First of Nine for contest time… Ya might just win a free app code!

psst… psst… Contest is groovin’! Ends Feb. 19th, 2012. Tap here for details!

Pendulation rhythm and standing client positioning

A film noir introduction to standing bodywork techniques by Portland, Oregon licensed massage therapist and advanced myofascial practitioner, Hamid Shibata Bennett, LMT, CAMT (OBMT #301). Features an original soundtrack, recorded on the iPad 2 at Earth Body Wellness Center East, featuring Hamid on guitar and the exquisite violin of Marcia Muench.

Palpation in motion with standing client positioning. Photography by Hamid Shibata Bennett

Standing bodywork applies the tensegrity principle, creating mechanical activity distant from where the hands make contact by engaging the kinetic linking of the fascial structure of the human body. We engage the Ruffuni, Pacini and Interstitial myofascial mechanoreceptors in the dance of structural integration. Useful for addressing equilibrium, gait function, breathing mechanics, scoliotic patterns, trauma release and whole body tensional patterns.

Here is the video… Pendulation Rhythm: Palpation in Motion

iPad users, tap on the blank space above, if the video does not show. Or, tap here.

How far down the the rabbit hole ya want to go?

More on pendulation…
http://firstofnine.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/pendulation-trauma-release-and-bodywork/

More on tensegrity…
http://firstofnine.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/tensegrity-got-rhythm/
http://firstofnine.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/tensegrity-principle-gene-expression/

More on myofascial mechanoreceptors…
http://firstofnine.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/myofascial-mechanorecptors/

Explore and find!
Hamid
firstofnine.wordpress.com
transcendingtouch.com

The four C’s of consciousness

Simon Lewis is part of the implantable generation. He was in an auto accident, losing his newly wed wife in the tragedy. He had a massive stroke and entered a stage three coma on the Glasgow scale for a month. That’s as deep as the human being goes, teetering on the raggedy precipice of death. In the 80′s, he also produced the mega-hit movie, Look Who’s Talking. Bygones.

“The brain is the first fully functional quantum computer. It can occupy multiple states at the same time.” -Simon Lewis

During his time in the coma he was experiencing an inner consciousness, where all was connected. He had the experience of feeling everything. Everything all at once.

His long-term recovery has been quite remarkable, partnering with the bleeding edge of the medical field. Through some amazing micro stimulant technology, he is able to walk. They are developing tiny, implantable devices with an 80 year power supply so they remain in the body, that returns the function of movement and touch to the body and brain. It works.

Traumatic brain injury effects not just the individual, but the entire family. The medical field kicks people out of the system at a very early stage of function and cognition.

“There is no long-term concept in the health-care system. Neurological damage, ten years of rehab, requires a long term perspective.” -Simon Lewis

At the time of his release from the hospital, his eyes were dull, his gaze downcast. Through the years, his medical team sought ways to bridge the gap between the lower functioning actual mind and the higher-functioning potential mind. To awaken the mind of consciousness. They did. And, it’s repeatable.

A portrait is all about the eyes. Photography by Hamid Shibata Bennett

There is something about our connection through the eyes that expresses so much about our state of consciousness. In this noisy world, there is a retreat from eye contact, as flicking, handheld devices dominate our attentions.

“We’re talking about a society that is retreating into depression and disassociation when we are potentially confronting the next great catastrophic climate shift.” -Simon Lewis

As a photographer, I study catchlights. The subject of most portraits are the eyes. Doesn’t matter what else is in the composition. A portrait is all about the light in the eyes, about a connection of consciousness.

From Simon Lewis’ Ted Talks, here are the four C’s of consciousness…

Cognitive training

“The plasticity of the brain means there is always a possibility, with treatment, to train the brain so you can regain and raise your level of awareness and consciousness. Plasticity means that there is always hope for our reason. Hope for our ability to rebuild that function.” -Simon Lewis

I am fascinated by neuroplasticity. No matter the time in life, we can rewire and strengthen our brain.

Craniomandibular alignment

“Ninety percent of head and neck pain is through musculoskeletal imbalance. The craniomandibular system is critical to that. This effects the entire body.” -Simon Lewis

How can the jaw effect the entire body? Simon provides a wonderful example. Say, you were walking down the road and there’s a grain of sand between your teeth. How far down the road will you get before that grain of sand needs to be washed out? Small deviations in craniomandibular function effect us that much.

So, bodyworkers, get to know the jaw. Get comfy with working the cranium. There’s a whole lotta folks we can help, regaining ease in craniomandibular function.

Circulation

“Imagine your body as one sealed-system. There’s a big pipe with blood flowing through it and around the pipe are the nerves, drawing their nutrient supply from the blood… If you press on a hose pipe in a sealed system, it bulges someplace else. If that someplace else that bulges is inside the biggest nerve in your body, your brain, you get a vascular migraine. This is a level of pain only known to sufferers of vascular migraines.” -Simon Lewis

In Simon’s Ted Talk, he showed a volumetric MRI of thoracic outlet syndrome. As the muskuloskeletal structure changes positioning, it will effect the volume of the thoracic outlet, the volume of flow of blood, oxygen, lymph and nervous system activity. They helped Simon with a surgery, removing a section of rib. However, bodywork provides a far less invasive way of affecting the thoracic outlet. By engaging the myofascial architecture, we change the functional relationships of the bones that may be pressing on that sealed system. Open up physiologically efficient breathing mechanics and everything else follows.

Press on a hose pipe in a sealed system…. Graphic from Pocket Body on the iPad.

Communication

“Consciousness, all consciousness, is about communication.” -Simon Lewis

I’ve said it before…. Bodywork is a form of communication. A kinesthetic dialogue. But, we can also guide our clients with verbal cues, guiding them to the realization of their own proprioceptive awareness. One’s sense of kinesthesia isn’t dictated by an outside source. Rather, it can be developed through a guided self-discovery. What do you feel here? Does it increase or decrease when I do this? I felt a change here, did you feel that too? Can you describe the sensation?

So, next time you give a massage, watch how it effects consciousness. Our clients often walk in the door, rushed, harried, in pain. What changes take place in their consciousness through the course of a session? Explore and find!

As Simon says… We can all rise and shine. Recovery from multi-complex injury and illness can take years. And, we have little to nothing in place within our current healthcare system to support one another in the long-term. And, there’s the Stumptown challenge! Let’s not just talk about it… Let’s build the healing arts community we wish to see! What would it look like? Share your thoughts and leave a reply!

Hamid
firstofnine.wordpress.com
transcendingtouch.com

Music bonus!

The other day, I had a great chiropractic session with the wonderful Shannon Livingston, DC at Awakenings Wellness Center in SE Portland, Oregon. I got home and plunked out a quick improv. This was recorded on the iPad 2 with Multitrack DAW. Dr. Livingston, big props for opening up so much breath! Groove is in the heart!

To schedule a chiropractic appointment with Shannon Livingston, DC, give her a call at 503-250-2280

The tune is called Presume. Dig it!

First of Nine’s 2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,000 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Twenty years cancer free

1991. January 4th. The year of the Gulf War. As rockets screamed over Baghdad and we watched war on television in real-time for the first time, I was at Providence Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. My girlfriend was recovering from surgery. A medulloblastoma.

I was a senior in high school. Lori was a year ahead. I barely graduated, at the hospital by her side as often as I could be.

They had talked about an experimental procedure, allowing chemicals going through the blood brain barrier. The family elected to go with traditional surgery. Lori was never quite the same.

And, then I got sick.

I had been sick for awhile, but was too ashamed to go see a doctor for a long time. I was 17; young, dumb and inexperienced. I finally went to see my family doctor and showed him the sore at the head of my penis.

That started a six month quest. I went to specialist after specialist. They thought it was an STD. They thought I was self-mutilating. They had me take Rorschach tests and talk to psychologists. No one was figuring it out.

Once a month, all the mystery cases go up the hill to OHSU, gathering in one ward. All the specialists come around and take a look. I stumped all the jocks.

I turned 18 in June. Then, two weeks after my high school graduation, I was admitted to OHSU. After two weeks they knew it was cancer. It took them another week to narrow it down and come up with a treatment plan.

Diffuse, large-cell, lymphoblastic lymphoma. Never gonna forget that diagnosis.

I started chemotherapy in the hospital. It turned my urine bright, neon pink and had me retching for days. I lost all my hair. I was young and healthy, other than the cancer, so they dosed me up good. They said if they had not caught the cancer, I would have been dead by February.

Chemo was challenging on my body. For years I could only walk a couple of blocks without my calves burning. For a time I had lost strength in my thumbs. I’d strum a guitar and the pick would fall from my fingers. Docs seldom talk about the long-term side-effects. I’m still challenged with irritable bowel syndrome, though it’s managed fairly well in the past couple of years.

They said the cancer was rare. Really rare. Though, it’s only been recently that I truly knew how rare the cancer was.

I have a friend at Northwest Cancer Specialists. Tracy has read my case study and used me in part of her thesis on survivorship. She’s given me a bit of insight.

I was the ninth documented case. I was the first to live beyond twenty-six months.

So… First of Nine. It’s not a Borg designation.

The final frontier. Cooper Spur, Mt. Hood, Oregon. Photography by Hamid Shibata Bennett

I recently asked my friend’s son if he could figure out the statistics of the cancer rarity. Ziggy does math to relax. Brilliant young man. You can see one of his emotive wire sculptures in the corner of my massage office. He said my case was one over the number of cases that have ever been diagnosed by a doctor in all of history.

As I write, it’s December 26th, 2011. Today marks twenty years since my last chemotherapy treatment.

It’s taken a long while to craft myself into someone worthy of this lifetime. To survive cancer and to begin truly thriving in life, I had to face myself. I continue to strive to learn and grow from every experience with compassion, empathy and honesty, while embracing the wonder and beauty of life.

I’ve come to find meaning; I have a job to do here in this incarnation. I work with folks living with cancer. I work with survivors. I’m going to continue to share my music. I’m going to continue to share my photography. I’m going to continue to share my bodywork. Cuz, this life is worth living fully.

Hamid
firstofnine.wordpress.com
transcendingtouch.com

Bonus song!

Here’s a quick tune recorded on my back deck with the iPad 2, inspired by the movie The Thin Red Line.

The tune is called Prelude. Dig it!

Merry Christmas from First of Nine!

The Christmas season has taken on quite a bit of new meaning for me in recent years. I’m caught up less and less with the commercial holiday. Pepper spray and trampling folks over commodities just doesn’t seem like a worthwhile way to spend energy. Somehow, a big chunk of this consumer culture has missed the mark.

It’s a peculiar time of year for me. In 2004, I brought my father home from the hospital on Christmas eve. He passed on a few days later. I get a bit quiet around the holidays.

These days, I’d rather spend a quiet evening at home, making some yummy food and kicking back with the pups. This is time of remembrance, of gentleness, of rest. But, there’s something about Christmas lights that have always mesmerized me.

Snow shoeing on Mt. Hood, Oregon. Photography by Hamid Shibata Bennett

A few years ago, I snapped a few hundred photos of Christmas tree lights with the macro lens. This week, I finally did something with them and threw a short film together. The music was a recording I did from about 2002, featuring some psychedelic sitar.

However you spend time celebrating the holiday season, I wish you joy, happiness and health. Thanks for taking the time checking out First of Nine. In six months, we’ve doubled readership! There’s a lot more coming about tensegrity, fascia, trauma release, oncology massage and the new science of bodywork in the new fifty-two!

Hamid
firstofnine.wordpress.com
transcendingtouch.com

The video is entitled X-mas Lights. Enjoy!

iPad users, tap in the blank space above if the video does not appear.

Tensegrity principle and gene expression

I found an abstract on the tensegrity principle. They attached hybrid EMG and MMG probes to the tensor fasciae latae and middle deltoid. When they massaged the peroneals, tensor fasciae latae showed mechanical activity. When they massaged brachioradialis, middle deltoid showed mechanical and electrical activity.

“Based on a tensegrity principle, direct or indirect connections between fascia or muscles which stretch the aponeurosis or intermuscular septum may allow the transfer of tension over long distances, without loss of muscle force produced during rest and activity… It was concluded that there was an electrical as well as a mechanical response of muscle connected indirectly by structural elements with the muscle being massaged indicating an application for the tensegrity principle in massage therapy.”

From the paper, Tensegrity principle in massage demonstrated by electro- and mechanomyography.

Now is that compelling, or what? We can create mechanical response distant from where our hands touch. And, sometimes (in this limited study, 50% of the time), we create mechanical and electrical response in distant musculature.

Fascinating.

I wonder what would happen if we stuck hybrid EMG and MMG probes on all the major muscle groups and proximated a big toe. Wonder what would light up? Anyone know how to fund a study?

Engaging mindful proprioception with Alicia Crockett. Photography by Hamid Shibata Bennett

I’d like to put a call out to the massage therapy community. How can our bodywork be gentler, on both therapist and client, while engaging the body with rich sensory stimulation? We know the efficacy of massage. There’s so much documentation out there. This stuff works. Period. However, bodywork doesn’t have to be a painful experience. One can find levels of efficacy with grace and ease. And, without hurting our clients or ourselves in the quest for deeper tissue.

Awhile back, I saw this spiffy National Geographic special on the fight science behind mixed martial arts. They had Tito Ortiz, Bas Rutten and Randy Couture on the show! Legends!

The exercise physiologist on the program was saying, after about 10 seconds of exertion, the human being becomes tired and lactic acid levels raise. So, they get “The Natural” Randy Couture to grapple with this fella for a solid minute. After a full 60 second rear-naked choke hold, exerting maximum contractile effort, they checked his lactic acids levels and compared it to the pre-exertion sample.

Couture’s lactic acid levels lowered. The docs were bewildered.

Turns out, the MMA fighter used a combination of breathing, relaxation and choosing which muscle fibers fired and for how long through a continuous series of micro movements. He was able to keep applying the hold, becoming more relaxed through his moment to moment monitoring of his physiologic state. That’s some proprioceptive awareness!

By golly, I bet we could apply that same thought to our bodywork. Except, our intention is very different than the MMA fighter (please don’t put your clients in sleeper holds!). We work with the slowing of the autonomic nervous system with the use of therapeutic velocities.

Our understanding of the body is finding a newfound flourishing, a renascence of poetry, artistry and curiosity. It’s worth exploring the new science of fascial research. According to Donald Ingber, PhD and smart fella over at Harvard, through mechanotransduction, exercise and physical therapies can effect the biochemistry of cells, including changes to gene expression. Frack me! That bit of info changes the game of bodywork!

I found one study on massage affecting gene expression of the gluteofemoral adipose tissue. Butt fat? Really? All that funding and they choose to study genetic changes in butt fat? Bygones.

After 6 weeks of massage on the gluteofemoral adipose tissue, they saw changes in gene expression.

“Conclusion: The protocol of mechanical massage used in the study promoted noticeable changes in the expression of genes involved in metabolic pathways.”

From Impact of a Mechanical Massage on Gene Expression Profile and Lipid Mobilization in Female Gluteofemoral Adipose Tissue.

Curious.

I think we can do better. I think we can find more relevance for every day folk. How about we study peripheral neuropathy or birth weight or post-traumatic stress injuries or cancer survivorship? Let’s see solid research get us out of the pseudoscience of the past.

Bodyworlds was a kick. Have you checked it out at OMSI yet? If you work with the human being, the sensory experience will fire your axons, light up your dendrites and enliven your multi-dimensional understanding of the human experience. So, tune up your interoception and track the subtleties of the hepatic flexure! Feel the tug of sternohyioid catch your swallow! If you’re jazzed about the body, clap your hands!

So, medical community… The massage scene of Portlandia is just waiting for ya. Let’s see how far the healing goes.

C’mon… Put a bird on it!

Hamid
firstofnine.wordpress.com
transcendingtouch.com

Bonus video!

I debuted this short film at my first Myofascial Mechanoreceptors class in November of 2011. It features the exquisite violin of Marcia Muench. And, I plunk around on the guitar too.

Dr. Jean-Claude Guimberteau says we are an arachnid world inside. So, I spent all summer letting my yard go, finding illustrations of tensegrity in lovely morning light. Music was recorded on the iPad 2 and the video was shot with the trusty Panasonic GF1. It was cobbled together in iMovie on the 24” iMac.

This video is entitled Tensegrity! Dig it!

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Somatic grieving and the craniosacral rhythm

What falters in your rush? What crumples in your spine? What catches your breath as you lurch in your cries?

The air has a wet crisp, that gives hardship to our immune system. It’s this lovely northwest climate shift; the adaptation to the season can tax the nervous system, especially those new to Stumptown.

We see an increase in death this time of year, as winter looms closer. We see those on their way out. And, those in their gravest states, where every breath may be a struggle.

We see mothers who grieve. We see families who mourn. We see fathers saying goodbye.

Where do you feel the body when in grief? Can you give it a quality? Can you describe the sensation, the somatic phenomenon in the loss?

Bring touch there with a soft palm. Bring breath there with slow intention. Let yourself feel the emotion in every part of your body. Breathe into the sensations… and, breathe here… and, breathe here…

Even when you cry… and, even when you laugh… Return to the breath and feel the emotion in your viscera, in your chest, in your throat… Be present to this and witness the change. The softening, the slowing of breath…

That one big sigh… You’ve probably engaged the autonomic nervous system. Respiration rate, heartbeat, perspiration, organ and metabolic function… Bodywork reaches this.

To be present, to be listening with compassion, to let go of our judgements… We can do that as massage therapists. The grieving process can be felt deep in the core of every being. Watch through the eyes of mindful observation.

It’s difficult work, this. End-of-life care. None of us gets out of this lifetime alive. That’s a given. But, we can be there for someone in their last days; help them breathe a little easier. We can give a little hope. We can offer a little break from the poking and prodding and certainty of the medical care system.

Shall we bring the study of compassion into every health care field? I’ll do my part to get it there. For now, let’s nurture the art in our somatic practices.

Craniosacral therapist and Reiki Master, Karen Hart Asbury, LMT, LMP (OBMT #18003, #MA60205629). Karen practices in both Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Photography by Hamid Shibata Bennett

The craniosacral rhythm is a subtle level of touch, that just about anyone, even the medically fragile, can receive. It is a palpable rhythm in the body separate from the breath and heart rate and every bit a contributor to our aliveness. It is the ebb and flow of our portable oceanic tide. The bones of the cranium gently move in a cycle of subtle expansion and contraction with still points at the high and low tide. The vertebral bodies of the spine find a gentle undulation along it’s length. The nutation, or nodding, of the sacrum acts as an aquarium pump, keeping the brain and spinal column bathed in cerebrospinal fluid within the dural tube. The spine unbound should move like the gentle sway of seaweed in the ocean breeze.

“Oh! Have we got a video?!” -Vivian, The Young Ones

I cobbled together a home movie, filmed at the first Myofascial Study Group retreat on the Oregon coast in May of 2011. I set down the iPad 2 for artistic video projects of this scope. I used iMovie on the 24″ iMac for this project. Narration was recorded with a USB mic and it was filmed with the ever-trusty Panasonic GF1. Oh, yeah… You might hear Harlan, my pearled cockatiel chirping away in the background of the narration track. As I’ve been editing, Harlan has been calling back and forth to herself!

This is Ebb and Flow: The Rhythm of Craniosacral. Dig it!

Hamid
firstofnine.wordpress.com
transcendingtouch.com

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