Enkindle Wellness

Tag: energy

  • How Did the Diplodocus Hold its Head Up?

    You may experience some neck tension with stress and prolonged sitting at the computer, driving or working at a bench. But think of the poor old Diplodocus, how did they manage to hold their heads up with a 7 metre long neck?  They didn’t have a tall frame on their shoulders and the cables that we see holding up the long boom of the cranes on high-rise building sites.

    The Diplodocus used a wonderful structural design which is actually the structural basis of all life forms. It is the structure of all parts of us from our DNA to our cells to our organs to our bones, muscles and nerves.  It’s called the tensegrity matrix.

    The term tensegrity (“tension” + “integrity”) was coined by Buckminster Fuller (best known for the geodesic dome). Use of a tensegrity design creates a structure with the strength, stability, and flexibility far greater than would be expected of its individual parts.

    In plants and animals the matrix is the material that forms the structure of every part, from within the individual cells to the whole plant or animal. It is the tissue that supports, connects, binds together and transmits information.

    This is a vastly different model from the conventional understanding of the body as a skeleton clothed in muscle and skin.

    The Diplodocus’ very long and flexible neck, able to move in all directions and support its head, was due to its tensegrity structure rather than the lever and pulley system we see in a building crane.

    The tensegrity model explains how cells and the whole body can move and respond to forces from the outside and forces within. It also utilises the body’s energy and nutrients to remain strong and flexible. It is known as the tensegrity matrix.

    When we look at our body as a whole, the matrix is made up of connective tissues. Connective tissue consists of cells and fibres which weave their way throughout our bodies surrounding our brain, organs, bones, muscles and nerves. Connective tissue also includes: bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, fat tissue and blood and lymph systems.

     

    In addition, the matrix has specific structural and electrical properties that respond to changes to its tension and shape. These changes have been shown to have a significant effect on everything from the function of individual cells to the function of the whole body. In humans, these changes can have a dramatic influence on health and wellness.

    The tensegrity matrix is amazingly resilient and flexible, allowing us to perform all kinds of activities – from simple bending to gymnastics. It is even capable of bouncing back into shape after significant forces are applied it. But there is a limit – sometimes the forces are too strong for our structure to absorb.

    Trauma, as the result of a physical injury or from mental/emotional stress, results in a change in tension and shape of the matrix. This causes a region of the body to become more rigid and have a decreased flow of energy (electrical charge). This isn’t always experienced as local pain, but as the rigidity continues it can result in pain and stiffness in other parts of the body that are connected via the matrix.

    The techniques I use are designed to release tension in the tensegrity matrix. Positive changes to this matrix are more likely to occur with a very gentle specific contact than with a forceful one, because a forceful contact may cause the matrix to go further in a rigid protective mode. With the release of tension there is a greater flow of energy throughout the body causing increased strength and flexibility and improved function of organs, the brain and nervous system, the blood and lymph systems and the digestive system.

  • “I’m Stuck”

    It’s great when people come to see me and say they are “stuck” or “blocked” in some aspect of their body or their life. This is because realising you are stuck is the point at which moving forward is possible.

    “It seems as if I keep making progress then I hit a barrier, I feel like I’m running around in circles, I’ve tried EVERTHING, it’s SO FRUSTRATING!”

    If you think of something, it could be a pain (or any other aspect of your life), that you are experiencing (or have experienced in the past) a feeling of being stuck or blocked; observe the feeling that you “have tried everything.” And you probably have indeed tried lots of things, often treatments that are designed to “fix” the problem.

    These treatments will usually give symptomatic relief and psychological relief because a “professional” has told you they have found the source of your symptoms and given it a name (a diagnosis).  I’m not saying this is “bad” because it can be crucial and lifesaving.  But it is also the reason that our health care system fails many of the people who suffer chronic diseases and pain.

    When you are focused on and are receiving treatments aimed at “fixing” the problem you may get relief, but you continually dissipate the energy that is required to bring about real change. I know about this because I spent 20 years as a manual chiropractor, with the best of intentions based on my understanding at that time: trying to “fix” people’s problems. (Not to mention trying to “fix” my own problems.) I finally realised that I was only helping people to stay stuck in a “holding pattern” where they got relief from their symptoms (e.g. their headache) for a short period of time then the headache would come back because nothing had changed in their life.

    Fortunately there was the occasional person who did move out of that holding pattern and I noticed that these people often, not only resolved their symptom pattern but told me about changes they had made in their life – “changed my whole diet”, “left the job I hated” etc. These people inspired me to search for a way of working where I could help people break through their stuckness and achieve more of what they want to do in their lives. This is what I do now.

    Life creates layers of blockages within us. These blockages originally occur at times of stress, often when we are young and have a lesser ability to cope than an adult. These blockages are not bad things when they originally occur as they help us to be safe and to cope. Later in adult life they come out as symptoms and a restriction in our ability to be who we are capable of being. It is a lifelong process of clearing these blockages.

    When a person realises and expresses that they are stuck then the energy for change is available.

    Say out loud, with conviction; “I’M STUCK!!!”.

    Notice the energy that arises in saying this and a sense, in the background, that there is a spark of possibility that change can occur. Once that spark has occurred there is energy for change and my “work” can help you use that energy to move forward in the aspect of your life that is blocked.

    Once the energy for change is set free, you may find yourself wanting to say “Enough of this”, “I’m drawing a line in the sand”, or “I have a plan and I’m moving forward.” The energy that was bound up in the blockage is now flowing and creating real change.