IN SEARCH OF TRUTH

by Mary Bradshaw RN.

We all strive for a sense of wholeness and purpose in our lives. Our true nature is to be complete and at one with the divine. However, somewhere along our path many of us seem to have lost our way. We have become fragmented and have cut ourselves off from our truth. We no longer feel that we have control over our lives. We all have patterns of disempowerment, e.g. the victim, the child, the saboteur, the controller etc. that keep us from our true sense of power. These learned responses which we have assumed in order to cope with what was being done or said to us at a certain time is not who we really are. Life is a quest to be whole. Disease is routed in the belief that we are incomplete. We need to make a shift so we can find our true essence. Our spiritual journey then is to work at becoming whole by reconnecting with all those pieces that we have denied or disowned in ourselves.

Dr. Sigmund Freud in his work on the mind showed us how experiences and emotions that are repressed can emerge later in the form of mental and physical ailments, thus establishing the influence of forgotten or suppressed emotional events on our physical well-being. Emotions are generally not studied as they are thought to be in the spiritual realm. Candice Pert, an imminent neuroscientist has done research into the process of emotions at a cellular level. In her cassette tape series "Your body is your subconscious mind" Dr. Pert discusses how consciousness creates our reality and that emotions are our link between our physical and spiritual worlds.

Dr. Pert has discovered that neuropeptides or the molecules of emotion, once thought to be only in the brain are actually located in every cell in the body. Our body is our subconscious mind and our mind is in our body and not just in our head as is generally thought in the western paradigm.

The body is a field. Emotions are everywhere in the field and are simultaneously triggered everywhere therefore occurring in the head and the body at the same time. These molecules of emotion trigger different reactions and puts the entire body in an altered state of consciousness with each state appropriately doing what needs to be done in the moment, sometimes sleeping, sometimes emoting and sometimes excreting etc.

According to Dr. Pert, we are more like flickering flames with a dynamic range rather then like chunks of dead meat. Emotions are central to who weare, but we are living in a culture where emotions are suppressed. It is important to let our dynamic range be and not restrict it so as to be stuck in any one pattern. In her discovery of and follow up studies of the opiate receptor Dr. Pert concludes that " we are hot wired for love and bliss ".Weare supposed to enjoy ourselves and are meant to be in relationship withourselves and others. She says we have the potential to be in this blissful state and we already have better naturally occurring internal substances in the form of neuropeptides then any drug or substance we can take from the outside.

Dr. Pert discusses how it is time for us to stop ignoring our bodies and our emotions. We need to slow down and get back to a more natural way of living. It is important that we get back to nature because this means getting closer to divinity. We need to be more emotionally expressive and learn what our true feelings are. Emotions are stored in the body therefore we need to deal with them in the body. She discusses the importance of meditation, affirmation, visualization and bodywork such as massage and chiropractic care in our process of healing and how these methods have been scientifically proven to affect our health and well-being.

Network Spinal Analysis Chiropractic care is one method of bodywork that Candice Pert recommends that brings about great healing on both the emotional and energetic levels. I have been attending a network chiropractor for some time now and I too have found this system of bodywork to be very therapeutic and have had profound experiences during my treatments. Dr. Pert describes how the autonomic nervous system is loaded on each side of the spinal cord with neuropeptides and receptors. The neuropeptide action is determined by how the spine is configured so that if the spine is constricted, then less neuropeptides are released. All memory including traumatic memory is stored in every receptor in the body, therefore a touch in a certain way can illicit an unexpected response. Dr. Pert has found that the right chiropractic move can do something in 2 visits that might take 5 years of psychotherapy.

Network spinal analysis (N.S.A.) was started by Dr. Donald Epstein about 15 years ago. Research at the University of California have demonstrated that patients in network care reported significant improvements in their physical health and symptoms, emotional/mental health and symptoms, stress and life enjoyment A patient self reporting retrospective assessment tool was developed to assess these categories for overall quality of life. 76 % of over 2,800 patients reported improvement in every category. Although physical symptoms were reported to change most often within the first few months, patients reported their overall life enjoyment and quality of life was continuing to improve year after year.

Network Spinal Analysis is administered in a series of 4 levels of care, each level geared at that person’s ability to detect and resolve spinal tension and interference , and his/her increased self awareness and ability to respond to himself. As children most people were not taught that paying attention to oneself is vital to a happy and healthy life. Instead many were taught that paying attention to oneself was self indulgent and selfish. We have developed brilliant unconscious biological mechanisms throughout our lifetime to insulate us from our unpleasant experiences. Network Chiropractic helps us to pay attention to ourselves and helps us become more aware of our feelings by helping the separate parts to come together again.

Each network session is aimed at advancing that person’s ability to coordinate his body’s spinal integrity at an emotional and energetic level. Network care helps the internal cues to become more available so that people more often act, think, feel and respond in a more productive and healthier fashion. People have been shown to make healthier choices and to enjoy life more. People have also reported improvement or resolution of a wide range of physical complaints such as headaches, stiffness, pain, eczema, menstrual cramps and dizziness.

During N.S.A. care, 2 "healing waves" develop which are associated with dissipation of energy, enhanced vertebral motion, coordination of the spinal subsystems and enhanced well being. These are known as the respiratory and somatopsychic waves. The respiratory wave is characterized by a full and profound natural rhythmic breathing which begins at the base of the spine, progresses upwards between the shoulder blades, around the shoulders, and into the neck. It naturally gently rocks the vertebra "melting" tension and enhancing correction of vertebral subluxations. The somatopsychic wave (soma for body and psyche for mind or spirit) is associated with muscular contraction which pulsates and organizes various spinal segments into a fluid wave like coordinated motion. These healing waves help to move "stuck energy" and helps to promote well-being in a person.

 In his first book, The 12 Steps of Healing, a Network Approach to Wholeness, Donald Epstein gives us insights into the complex relationship between the mind, the emotions and the body, and he discusses how we can use these insights to promote health and harmony in our bodies and in our relationships. He tells us that healing has little to do with the removal of symptoms, but that " healing involves the harmonious alignment of the physical, emotional mental and spiritual aspects of our being and how we relate to the world . This results in a greater experience of wholeness, wellness and soundness."

In his latest book, Healing Myths, Healing Magic, Dr. Epstein explores the deeply engrained stories or myths we are told about our bodies which may not necessarily be true. These myths can create the magic of healing in our lives or they can stop the magic completely. He says that we need to question the myths that control our life or they may end up distroying us. In place of the untruth, Dr. Epstein offers an alternative statement on healing magic to help us reclaim our body’s natural ability to heal. On the topic that each of us is responsible for creating our own reality he says "I am not responsible for creating my own reality. I am responsible for my internal state of mind, emotion, and vibration. I am responsible for focusing my attention on my inner environment in relationship to my life circumstances. It is my gift to become aware of the state of tension, pain, or ease in my bodymind, and to accept my experiences- pleasant or unpleasant- with nonjudgment and love."

I believe that Network Spinal Analysis is a very useful tool in developing a greater awareness of our bodies, our tension and ease patterns, and our bodymind underlying rhythms and needs. N.S.A. allows us to access our place of power by allowing us to go deeper inside and find our true nature. We can then stop hiding out in our old roles and patterns and start really living. It is only when we connect with our place of power,can we reshape our lives, our relationships and our planet.

Website links

www.associationfornetworkcare.com

www.innate intelligence.com

www.tinm.org

References

Epstein D (1994) The twelve stages of healing. A network approach to healing. Amber Allen publishing, CA

Epstein D (2000) Healing myths, healing magic. Amber Allen publishing, CA

Pert C (2000) Your body is your subconscious mind, cassette tape series

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