Elements of Neural Touch™

Is there truly nothing new under the sun? Is there no totally new therapeutic technique availble?

Little Joey is asking his father another installment of his endless series of questions about the world he is so amazed to find himself in — “What’s that bird called?” “Where does your lap go when you stand up?” “Who made light bulbs?” etc.

His father doggedly answers them all the best he can, a bit relieved that at least the light bulb question is relatively straightforward. “It was a man named Thomas Edison who invented the light bulb.”

“Wow,” says Joey with admiration, “You really know so much stuff! Do daddies always know more than their little boys?”

“I guess so,” muses his dad.

“Then why didn’t Thomas Edison’s daddy invent the light bulb?”

Each generation stands on the shoulders of the one before. Without the foundation and language of previous science, fresh inspirations would have no context in which to develop into usefulness. Besides, the human body is indeed a marvelous creation, but it has been around relatively unchanged for a very long time. Countless therapists have struggled to “break its code” in an enormous but ultimately finite number of ways. Different therapeutic practitioners will use elements in common, whether they have consciously appropriated them from others or “reinvented” them — just because the body in question has certain prevailing properties.

Occasionally an innovator will come along whose synthesis of previous techniques is so powerful that he or she deserves to be acknowledged as a major player in the field, and become the “source” material for future appropriaters and consolidators. A few who come to mind are Ida Rolf, Randalph Stone, Andrew Taylor Still, William Sutherland, Stanley Leif, Moshe Feldenkrais, Milton Trager, Frank Chapman, Lawrence Jones, and Thomas Ambrose Bowen.

Following is an accounting of the major antecedents to and influences on Neural Touch. This is not to say that it is comprised of just a list of recipe ingredients. The adaptations of these practices, and procedures resulting from these adaptations are of Gene Dobkin's invention. Students find Neural Touch to be a well-cooked and seasoned “stew,” a blending of principles and tools that has it’s own logic and advantages.

By studying with generous and talented teachers, Gene has been spared the necessity of having to reinvent everything they previously had to search out and process in order to develop their practices and classes. Likewise, students of Neural Touch will not have to repeat all of his learning steps over the past decades of study and practice. Our fondest desire for our students is that they take what is offered, add it to their storehouse of technique, and come up with work that far eclipses the scope of the courses.

Understand that Neural Touch™ is NOT a mish-mash of techniques. Bowen is the core of both the philosophy and application, and other influences have been incorporated, interpreted, and 'Bowen-ized' in order to expand its usefulness beyond strictly archived procedures.

With each technique listed below is a brief history and description and the reasons why it is part of Neural Touch.

Bowen’s Technique

Tom Bowen’s history is important enough, and misunderstood enough, to warrent its own section (history of Tom Bowen) . Gene has had hundreds of hours of instruction in a variety of versions of Tom Bowen’s work, including exposure to three of his original students. He has taught and written about the work since 1994.

Benefits: An elegant and eminently useful system of body mapping and treatment; virtually foolproof; improves local conditions and strengthens virtually all systems of the body.

Why it’s incorporated: This technology is sufficiently dynamic and effective as to be the central core of Neural Touch. Although many other approaches are used, they are within the framework of Bowen’s systematic orbit.

Cranial Technique

Everything, it seems, has a pulse, from the tiniest sub-atomic particle to the universe itself (alternating from boom to bust with an unfathomable periodicity). Of particular interest to therapists is the regular topping-off and outflow of the cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) within the skull and spinal column. When this pulse is interrupted or impeded by injury, trauma, postural problems, or other misalignment in the body, there is a mechanical, endocrine and neurological price to pay.

Most credit William Garner Sutherland, D.O., as being the first to posit convincingly that cranial bones and other supposedly fused joints actually do move — like expansion joints on a bridge roadway, they “breathe” with the cranial pulse. He also developed the first methods of facilitating this flexibility. Modern popularizers and adaptors of the work include John Upledger and Hugh Milne.

Modern “Cranial-Sacral” (or “Sacral-Occipital”) techniques are sophisticated and complex, and many are strikingly effective. Gene's cranial education has been very eclectic and experimental, resulting in avoidance of the osseous methods often used. The cranial component of Neural Touch is an entirely soft-tissue approach, an extension of the work done on the rest of the body.

Advantages: Affects all systems of the body, including mental, emotional, and autonomic function

Why it’s incorporated: chronic, sometimes half-forgotten conditions can surface and resolve; very soothing to the client.

Myofascial Technique

“I know of no part of the body that equals the fascia...In every view we take of the fascia a wonder appears. The part that fascia takes in life and death gives one of the greatest problems to solve. it surrounds each muscle, vein, nerve and all the organs of the body...By its action we live, by its failure we die.”
Andrew Taylor Still, Philosophy and Principles of Osteopathy, 1894

You can’t get much plainer than that. The muscles, organs and overall function of the body can never normalize if the tendons, ligaments, fascia and intervertebral disks are dehydrated, constricted, and adhered. There is no shortage these days of methods to deal with fascia. Gene's experience with myofascial awareness and methods is based on several trainings and his own explorations over the years.

Advantages: With the interconnectedness of fascia throughout the body, one has access to everything from the surface; deeper, more permanent changes are possible than by just addressing muscles; adds a new level of palpation sensitivity to the practitioner.

Why it’s incorporated: Completely coherent with Neural Touch’s philosophy and practice; can be performed at any level of delicacy or depth appropriate.

Neuro-Lymphatic Technique

Many therapists nowadays understand the importance of lymph. Some theorists, including Dr. Nathanial West, consider incomplete or impeded lymphatic drainage to be the precursor to virtually all disease processes.

Most lymphatic techniques operate on the common assumption that the lymphatic system is entirely passive — that lymph moves through the tissues only when squeezed by muscles or propelled by g-forces (rebounding, jogging, etc.). Therefore lymphatic massage must literally pump or stimulate the lymph vessels in their tissue beds in order for drainage to take place.

There is an alternative theory, though, that there is a gentle, peristaltic action to the lymph vessels, and that when this is interrupted, stagnation, edema, and inflammation arise. Frank Chapman, D.O., became a pioneer in this area when he discovered specific points on the body that control much larger areas of lymph activity. By working these points, one can benefit not only muscles, but also organ, endocrine, and nervous function.Gene has studied Chapman's Points through classes and self-study.

Advantages: Gentle, yet deep-acting; physically and emotionally soothing to client

Why it’s incorporated: Blends seamlessly into theory and practicality of Neural Touch stimulations.

NMT

There are many people who have contributed to the umbrella approach that is now known as Neuromuscular Technique (NMT). Significant developers include Stanley Lief, Boris Chaitow, Dr. Janet Travell, and more recently, Paul St. John. Gene has had formal training with Mr. St. John, beginning in 1990, and considerable experimentation on his own.

Benefits: Scientifically sound, demonstrably practical system; combines many approaches to releasing constricted muscles and other tissues

Why it’s incorporated: Sometimes the tightly-focused approach is exactly what’s needed; triggered muscles, tendons, and “deep” tissues are a fact of life and must be addressed (though with a modified approach it can be much kinder on both client and practitioner)

Polarity Therapy

Polarity is based on the life’s work of Randolph Stone, D.O., D.C., D.N. His writings include vast knowledge of body manipulation, electro-magnetic currents, and an inspired if perplexing cosmology. He accomplished the unimaginable task of integrating Western manipulation technique with Ayurveda, the classical healing tradition of India. Stone’s chosen successor, Pierre Panatier, continued his work, and after Pierre’s death the “lineage” became more diffuse. Gene studied Polarity with a student of Dr. Jim Said, and later apprenticed with Alisoun Ford, who studied with Dr. Stone and Mr. Panatier (as well as Ida Rolf, Dr. Milton Trager, Moshe Feldenkrais, and Fritz Perls, among many others), and continues to pore over Stone’s manuals for additional insights. He still considers his grasp of Polarity to be much less than exhaustive.

Nowadays, most of what is seen of Polarity falls under the category of “energy work.” By laying on hands in specific pairings the practitioner seeks to balance the magnetic “lay lines” on the body, thus balancing the elemental (aether, air, fire, water, and earth), chakra, and energetic systems. Rarer are those who practice the structural elements of the system.

Benefits: Brilliant theory and work; combines gentle and deep approaches; sensitizes the practitioner to subtle palpation skills.

**Note, in the original Polarity texts, it's sometimes difficult to separate the mystical theory from the procedures — Eastern cosmology can seem incomprehensible to more analytical Western minds. As an assurance, Neural Touch trainings contain no attempt to negate or replace anybody’s religious or spiritual beliefs. Nor do we encourage any intentional psychological or psychic meddling. This is a body-focused therapy, and the internal shifts it may facilitate are a result of the client’s own connectedness.

Why it's incorporated: The main element of Polarity in Neural Touch is the concept and practicality of identifying opposites. Since the body has such a complex topography this can be tricky. But with practice it adds a broader dimensionality to any bodywork system.

Positional Release Technique

Positional Release is based on discoveries by Lawrence Jones, D.O. He called his work “Strain Counterstrain.” By merely putting patients into precise positions of comfort for approximately 90 seconds, he was able to relieve them of painful, long-standing muscle strains. This flew into the face of therapies that insist on stretching, exercising or digging into trigger points or hypertonic muscles. Others have since used, modified and taught the principle, notably, Leon Chaitow, D.O. (Positional Release), Dale Anderson, M.D. (Fold and Hold method) and Arthur Lincoln Pauls, D.O. (Ortho-Bionomy). Gene has had hundeds of hours of training with Dr. Pauls and other instructors, beginning in 1986.

What is the involved muscle or contact point? Jones’s classic “Tender Point” is in a muscle that was relaxed and shortened at which point the subject moved quickly out of the position, thus putting a quick load on and stretching the muscle. Or, alternately, a muscle can be held in a stretched but relaxed state and then suddenly loaded (as when startled or just coming awake. However, strain and trigger points can also be created by overloading the muscle actively.

Rather than trying to lengthen a strained or shortened muscle, positional release takes the opposite, almost paradoxical approach. By passively shortening the muscle, shorter than it was during the strain, and often shorter than it can voluntarily achieve, it is able to deeply relax. After a short period of this relaxation, 10 - 90 seconds, the muscle can be safely and comfortably stretched.

An important physiological principle behind this success is Reciprocal Inhibition. When the injured muscle (A) is shortened, its antagonist (B) is correspondingly stretched. The nervous system has this reflexive mechanism to insure that we don’t work at cross purposes. With muscle B being challenged or worked in this way the body will reflexively inhibit or relax muscle A.This effect can be further intensified by purposely loading (isometrically) or otherwise irritating muscle B.

Benefits: Very gentle work; deeply acting; retrains muscle responses.

Why it's incorporated: An excellent adjunct to other therapies, especially in areas that are too tender to approach directly, or are too deep to access safely; can virtually double the number of effective Bowen’s moves, and inspire novel, two-handed techniques.

U.S. Bowen
Gene Dobkin, Director
999 S. Santa Fe Ave, #23
San Jacinto, CA 92583
seminars@usbowen.com
Phone - (951)-654-9907
Fax - (951) 602-6010