Post-Partum Depression, Back Pain, and other seemingly unrelated things:
HOW MANUAL THERAPY RESETS NERVOUS SYSTEM, BODY, & BRAIN
first posted June 6, 2012 as: Post-Partum Depression, Back Pain, and Other Seemingly Unrelated Things: What’s Really Going On?
i spent some years traveling to study with Upledger Institute and volunteer in their Intensive Therapy Programs to be part of miraculous patient stories. During that time, mysterious connections were revealed between common symptoms and conditions plaguing our clients, and subtle structures in and around the brain and spinal cord.
The (craniosacral) membranes (the “dural sheaths) that encase the brain are highly sensitized, and respond to input from organs and nerves along the entire spine.
This is how a fall on the tailbone sends shockwaves throughout the entire nervous system; the force of impact creates strains and torsions (twisting) in the cranial bones and actual brain tissue.
YES! Just like muscles get twisted and strained , so does brain tissue; and then our entire body structure is yanked and morphed by the twisting forces in the brain. If not released and corrected, these strain patterns become permanent distortions that can affect any and all body functions.
Symptoms of brain torsions run the gamut from hormonal and musculo-skeletal pain, to migraines, to mood swings, anxiety, chronic fatigue, depression, autoimmune disorders, rapid cognitive decline, even psychosis.
Our bodies endure numerous accidents in our lives, both large and small - starting at or shortly after birth, then as children falling off our bikes or down the stairs; and on it goes.
(for example, Animal’s hard fall from the 5th floor book shelf 9-2017)
Our body structure gets jarred suddenly and forced into unnatural contortions; while the brain/nervous system splints the area to keep the injured parts safe and prevent further damage.
Then we relearn our lives with these chronic distortions intact - with our parts twisted and shoved out of place - nerve lines and blood vessels running crooked - so we take on compensatory movement patterns; and perhaps don’t notice for years that our life force has been slowly draining away. The energy simply could not flow…
Postural distortions are like kinks in the garden hose - sooner or later the flow (nerves, blood, hormonal secretions) shuts down.
The membranes of the central nervous system, and all the microscopic regions of the brain, are fundamental to basic existence; and yet, they remain unrecognized in our ailing patients’ complaints!
So what about post-partum depression?
In the field of craniosacral therapy, studies have been done seeking structural causes for depression and depletion, and new mothers provided consistent symptoms and results. In virtually every case, the same three bony compressions existed:
1) lumbo-sacral, where the curve of the low back meets the buttocks
2) occipito-atlantic, where the base of the skull meets the top vertebrae of the neck
3) spheno-basilar, where the base of the brain meets the bone between the eyes
When these bony junctions were decompressed using gentle craniosacral therapy techniques, the womens’ depression and exhaustion lifted right away. Studies done with otherwise depressed people and cases of low back pain indicate similar findings: correcting the subtle misalignments in the cranial base (bottom of the skull) and pelvis has definite mood elevating and health enhancing effects.
Alignment matters. Inside and out.
Likewise, Dr Chikly, D.O., founder of Lymphatic Drainage and advanced brain-lymph release, studied and treated numerous Iraqi war vets at Walter Reid Army Hospital in Washington D.C. with groundbreaking results. These men all suffered from closed-head injuries (loud explosions, bombs and gunfire, and direct impacts to the head/brain) - which are invisible from the outside, and cannot even be diagnosed, let alone treated, by any modern medical machine or technique.
In fact, conventional doctors can’t find anything at all, except that these patients are basically vegetative and dependent.
For these war vets, as for all his patients, Dr Chikly examined and treated subtle brain structures - membranes, nerve ganglia, lymph pathways - and watched these men come back to life, become self-sufficient, and find their path and purpose again.
DR CHIKLY’S RECIPE FOR BRAIN HEALING:
Subtle anatomy structures; sensitive techniques; a deeply loving pair of hands.
(Dr Bruno Chikly with me circa 2017)
As a therapist, i specialized for decades in structural bodywork for recurrent pain and movement issues; and as i incorporated Dr Upledger’s craniosacral therapy and Dr Chikly’s brain therapies, resolution came fast through the nervous system and fluid flows; thus, it required less treatment time and went even deeper to the root cause.
Inner alignment eliminates obstructions to flow - and we may interpret this on all levels.
When energy flows freely, we are healthy and have clarity, inspiration, and direction to step into our power, and live authentically as our true self.
Just imagine going to the source of your symptoms through directly treating the nervous system and the brain!
What if more people had the opportunity to create this kind of deep healing - in the tissues and membranes of the central nervous system itself?
What if every new mother and baby had their bones gently decompressed, and their brain and fluid flows reset?
In fact, what if everyone alive had this chance?
FIND A HIGHLY TRAINED MANUAL THERAPIST:
Upledger Institute https://www.iahp.com/pages/search/index.php
Chikly Institute https://chiklyinstitute.com/find-a-therapist
(just enter your/patient’s zipcode to find nearest listings)
anatomy photos are screen shots from Anatomy: A Regional Atlas of the Human Body 3rd ed by Carmine Clemente; and Human Anatomy Atlas digital program
Wow, I finally understand how your work works. ✨
Hi Yolanda,
A friend of a friend is losing the will to eat food, they have suffered from tremors since mid-20s. Doctors have diagnosed this to be Parkinsons over past 40 years. She is in her 60s.
I suspect this woman to have suffered from terrible trauma when she was captured as she attempted to escape Vietnam and was imprisoned for a week or two back in the 70s.
She finally made it and arrived in California and rejoined her family but then developed tremors I suspect are related to extreme trauma when she was imprisoned. She denies that she suffered trauma.
Can you recommend any therapy to help her regain her appetite and will to live?
She feels she is a burden.
Thank you