What is Ortho-Bionomy?

Ortho-Bionomy® can quickly relieve your pain and discomfort. Practitioners of this work engage our natural ability to heal by paying close attention to the client's muscles, bones and joints. With this information they place the body into specific, often comfortable, healing positions. The founder of Ortho-Bionomy, Dr. Arthur Lincoln Pauls, D.O., believed that the body had an innate intelligence that knew how to self-correct.

Each position helps reset the sensors in the muscles and joints known collectively as proprioceptors. Creating the right twist and pressure in the muscles can reset these sensors very quickly. This supports a fast and effective reduction in body pain. Over a small number of session most clients report a decreased level of pain.

Once the Practitioner moves a joint into a comfortable position, within 10 to 90 seconds the body begins to release muscle spasm, restore normal muscle tone, increase circulation, remove pressure on nerves, and allow bones and joints to move freely. All the energy and attention that was used to deal with pain is now available to the body’s healing process. In many cases the position created is the original position of injury. When everything is in its proper place transformation is possible.

Finding the best position for release is not just about the pressure and distortion of the proprioceptors, but depends on the intention of the practitioner to encounter (and be in relationship with) our natural self-healing. Dr. Pauls also developed Ortho-Bionomy energy techniques to access more subtle levels of healing.

Ortho-Bionomy therapy is extremely helpful for pain and trauma. It may also help with a wide range of problems including:

-Hip pain, Sciatica and Sacroiliac pain / disk problems
-Neck pain, migraines and tension headaches
-Fibromyalgia Syndrome
-Knee, foot and ankle pain
-Trauma and PTSD
-Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
-Sprains and inflamation of various joints / arthritic conditions
-Stress management and prevention
-Whiplash, falls and other impact injuries

I have been practicing Ortho-Bionomy for the last 19 years. Its amazing work. I practice in the Chicago area. See more about my practice.

You can find a practitioner in your area by going to the Society of Ortho-Bionomy International webpage

Ortho-Bionomy® is a registered trademark of the Society of Ortho-Bionomy International, Inc. and is used with permission.

Holding space for spirit

Those of us who see that there is more than this reality have a duty to hold this truth for those unable or unwilling due to their circumstances to believe it. Not everyone is born or privileged to experience the touch of spirit or the blessings of grace.

Releasing Trauma

Trauma can be released slowly and carefully by focusing on its physical dimension. The most current understanding of trauma focuses on the body. Our natural response to danger is flight, fight or freeze. Trauma is often related to the freeze response (or immobility response).

"Trauma in humans can be caused by sexual abuse, violence, the threat of either, or the witnessing of either, particularly in childhood. Catastrophic events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, war or other mass violence can also cause psychological trauma. Long-term exposure to situations such as extreme poverty or milder forms of abuse, such as verbal abuse, can be traumatic."¹ Often these kinds of trauma are classified as post traumatic stress disorder.

Peter Levin in his ground breaking book, Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma: The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences, explains how its built into all animals and in our own physical bodies to become immobile if severely threatened. Animals will than shake after the danger has passed to release the freeze response and reset back to normal. In humans, trauma is often caused by psychological events or situations, but becomes locked in our physical bodies.

Humans, with our large brains, can override the shaking response, holding the freeze in our tissues, nerves, energy and emotions. Cultural and social values play a large role in holding trauma indefinitely. The physical freeze of trauma can keep us stuck at the time of the original danger. Symptoms can include:

•Re-experiencing the original trauma(s), by means of flashbacks or nightmares
•Avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma
•Increased arousal, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger, and hyper vigilance

Ortho-Bionomy, Lymph Drainage, Chapman's Reflexes and Energy Techniques can all be employed to unfreeze trauma. These methods help to discharge trauma slowly by releasing contraction, gently stimulating the nervous system and freeing blocked energy.

I am effective in helping clients reduce trauma by helping them to shake at very small, manageable levels. Often this requires creating a sense of safety by holding the trauma immobile. I can than carefully support a release into relaxation. Once unfrozen, the client can become more adaptive and respond to challenges without going back into immobility.

One key to helpful trauma work is allowing the traumatized area to begin to be felt again. Going very slowly and steadily is often the best way to sustain the movement back to natural functioning.

¹ "Psychological trauma" in Wikipedia.

Learn more about my practice at: Healing Body Therapeutics

A Natural Approach to Healing

Many of us who practice Alternative Health have a unique way of thinking about healing. In the medical model practiced by doctors, health is a matter of alleviating symptoms. Either drugs or surgical procedures are used to restore the body to a condition minus the symptoms that presented. In the Alternative perspective that I follow, health is a matter of balance.

My goal is to stimulate the natural, self-healing properties of the client. Our focus is towards any variable that interrupts or limits this capacity to self-correct. We believe that hyper contraction of tissues, improper alignment of boney structures, emotional distress, trauma, spiritual despair, poor diet, stress, bad posture as well as social and cultural factors prevent out physical systems from functioning properly. We consider that these factors depress our immune system's responses to our environment and make us vulnerable to bacteria, germs and parasites. The normal function of cells, organs and glands takes place in the absence of these interruptions.

Since balance is our intention, we try to provide the client with the least amount of therapy possible and than see how they respond. Based on the follow-on to our work we can make adjustments that are subtle and careful. Unfortunately many of the health challenges in the medical model are unintended consequences from unknown effects of drugs or unforeseen drug interactions.

Alternative approaches have their limits as do all health systems but the focus on balance lessens unexpected side effects. We also try to leave the client with more resources to maintain their health. Empowering the client is the ultimate goal. When balance is restored the natural vitality of the client improves the quality of their lives.