Body Awareness is Key to Healing

Who would think that pulling on someone's arm, directing them into body awareness, could help their chronic pain? Any practitioner of the John Barnes Myofascial Release Approach would! We see it all the time. Body awareness, often leads to insights about how one's emotions and limiting beliefs have caused a holding pattern in the body that results in chronic pain. My patient-clients hear me say several times in every session "what do you feel?", "what does this feel like?", or "tune in and focus on that sensation." The Arm Pull is a treatment technique often used in John F Barnes Myofascial Release (JFB-MFR) treatment sessions. Like all Barnes MFR techniques, it is gentle and sustained for many minutes at a barrier (an amount of pull or stretch that is tolerable for the patient-client to relax into for a while). The therapist holds steady at that barrier until the tissue releases some degree of restriction, and then adjusts to maintain the same degree of pull at that new barrier, waiting for additional releases. It can release restrictions and tension in all parts of the hand, forearm, upper arm, and shoulder, and can even extend into the chest, neck, and head. People vary a lot in their tolerance for different amounts of pull on the arm. Some people hardly feel anything no matter how firm the pull. Either they have no restrictions there or their awareness is not in their body. And others wince or cry in agony before the pull even begins. A rather reserved, quiet patient-client with 20 years of chronic shoulder pain and decreasing range of motion, was enjoying a very sustained (longer than 30 minutes) arm pull, since it was slowly and deliciously releasing some old very tight areas, revealing others that were being "protected" and hidden by them. "Layers of an onion" were becoming apparent and responding to the treatment. But they kept noticing that it would start to hurt more at times. Curious, and following instructions to tune in to the feeling of it, they just kept observing and feeling this, occasionally briefly speaking about the feeling or saying a few other things that came to mind. Eventually, in a calm, quiet, contemplative sort of state (that John Barnes calls "Channel 3"), they suddenly realized that the areas of arm tightness would feel more painful each time they spoke a few words. Their arm would suddenly tighten a bit against the pull, and it would hurt a bit more. And then they realized that it even happened when they were just thinking about saying something, or whether to say it, and how to say it! And suddenly they recognized their life-long fear of speaking, of saying the "wrong" thing, in the "wrong" way, fear of being heard, fear of being criticized or ridiculed. They had been tightening their arm this way for their entire life since first grade in elementary school! No wonder their arms and shoulders and neck were so tight and painful after decades of this. After that session, with this body awareness more in their consciousness as they moved around in life out in the world all day, they became less and less frozen in that holding pattern over time, allowing progressive healing of the restrictions, tightness, and pain in their arm. Body awareness is the key to Healing. Awareness is not possible without Feeling. Feeling is Healing. Book an Appointment Return to Home Page at RealReliefMyofascialRelease.com