TO YOUR HEALTH
Somatic Intelligence... ...continued from page 11
rounding the muscle and organ. Addressing restrictions in the connective tissue doesn’t just ad - dress our body symptoms and posture, it also addresses our emotion- al state. Recent developments in neurology show that the brain-body connection is a two-way street. Through pathways such as the vagus nerve, gut hormones, and spinal nerves, the body has the ability to change our brain chemistry, and therefore, our emotional response. When an organ is under stress due to connective tissue restrictions or other dis-ease, it sends the physical symptoms AND the psychological symptoms to the brain. Once the brain is done processing this feed- back, it dumps the residual information into the corresponding organ. Now, this organ becomes a sponge for any psychological stress that resonates with what this organ is currently holding. That is why we feel certain types of stress in certain parts of our body. Once we address the restrictions in our connective tissue and free up the muscles and organs for function, we must still address our pos- tural compensation patterns. One of the most overlooked correlations in Somatics is the connection between our posture and our perception of the world around us. Your position in space matters. Every joint and muscle fiber has a set of proprioceptors that tell your brain where you are and what you are doing. Your body is paying attention at all times. How you cross your legs while you sit at your desk, how you place your hand on your hip when you’re talking, how you tilt your head to the side when you’re listening, how you lean forward and round your shoulders when you’re thinking… all tell a story to your brain. These positions in space over time create our posture, which is often determined by our behavior. Our behavior is often influenced by our emotions, but is also heavily influenced by our culture. I often treat families in my practice. In these family members, I see daugh- continued on page 36
tinctures, flower essences, and cellular activators. Because digestive health plays a vital role in our cellular health and overall regulation, GI mapping can determine if issues like SIBO or H Pylori are disrupting the communication between the gut-brain axis. Addressing dysfunction in our cellular system will have a positive effect on our neuropeptide production, which will, in turn, have a pos - itive effect on our emotional state. However, what if our cellular health is just fine, but we are still experiencing mood swings and emotion - al dysregulation? This is where the “chicken or the egg” conversation factors in. If you look further down the chain, you will see that our behavior affects how our body feels; however, the reverse is also true. When our body experiences pain or discomfort, we are generally not our best selves. Body sensations affect our mood, which, in turn, affect our behavior. One of the most common causes of body pain or discomfort is dys- function in the muscle or organ due to restrictions in the surrounding connective tissue. Restrictions in the connective tissue create a tensile force in the body, acting as a vice grip to nearby structures and re- sulting in a length-to-tension discrepancy throughout the body. This length-to-tension discrepancy changes our posture over time, con- tributing to the restrictions and weakening the affected muscles and organs until they go into dysfunction and disease. One of the most ef- fective approaches to treating restrictions in the connective tissue is to work with a manual therapist who specializes in myofascial release or visceral manipulation. There are many other forms of manual therapy that focus on connective tissue, but I have found these two methods to be the most effective for addressing pain caused by restrictions sur -
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