Ortho-Bionomy: The Body Finding Its? Natural Balance
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Orthobionomist
ORTHO-WHAT? IS A QUESTION that many ARM (Association of Remedial Masseurs) members have been asking over the past few years as they have seen articles and flyers announcing workshops teaching this subtle and profound technique.
On 17th August, the Sydney workshop featured Bruce Stark, Intermediate Instructor of Ortho-Bionomy. What an excellent opportunity to get the? What? Question answered. Even better was the opportunity to experience the effects of Ortho-Bionomy in your own body. Bruce's generous willingness to convey the technique and his sense of humour captivated our attention to the end.
Bruce defined Ortho-Bionomy as The Corrective Application of the Natural Laws of Life. He told us how Arthur Lincoln Pauls, a canadian, developed the Ortho-Bionomy technique as a result of a paper he read during his training as an osteopath. Arthur's interest in osteopathy grew out of his experience as a martial arts instructor and his yearning to find a way to heal his own injuries and the injuries of his students sustained during their practice in the martial arts. The paper Arthur read, Spontaneous Release by Postitioning, was written by Lawrence Jones an American osteopath. In this paper Jones related an experience with a patient that explored the idea of the body being able to spontaneously self-correct given enough time and support. This concept appealed to Arthur and he began to combine his knowledge of the martial arts with osteopathy and the concepts Jones explored in his paper. Over time he developed a technique of using body position and compression to speed the neurological response of releasing unhelpful adapted functional body patterns. When Arthur felt that he had developed a technique that was consistent in results and simple enough to teach, he started to share his information with others. He called this Ortho-Bionomy.
Under the skilful demonstration and teaching of Bruce, and assisted by Norma, ARM members practiced the technique of finding the point of discomfort, exaggerating the position, using a hint of compression to stimulate the proprioceptive system. It is the compression that reminds the body of its natural ability to find balance (a phrase Bruce used several times throughout the day)! ..
by Norma Weaver
Published in "Events in Review"in the ARM News November 2003 p.7 |
