Ortho-Bionomy: A Practical Manual

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A PRACTICAL MANUAL

*L.

by Kathy

Kain

with Jim Berns

North Atlantic Books Berkeley, California

Acknowledgements We would like ro thank all of our teachers and students who ha\'c accompanied us on our exploration of Ortho-B'onomy. In panicular, we wam to dunk Arthur Lincoln Pauls, Founder of Ortha-Bionomy for sharing his vision with us. Many thanks to all of you who proofread, offered suggestions., corrt~rcd our errors and held our hands. Special thanks to Vicki Pearson-Rounds and Carolyn B!!ck Reynolds for Icuing the heart of Ortho-Bionomy express i!Se1f in rOUt photos and drawings. Moods; Leslie Baa, h'Y Kohler, Angela Ramos, Bill Rounds Figure I'hotography: Vicki Pearson-Rounds

information in this book is nOl a substitute for appropriate medical care. If the client has any injury, illness or other condition that may need medical attention, that care: should be sought prior to use of any of the techniques in tillS book. 'Jlte authors take no responsibility for the misuse of any of the rechniques presented here.

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If you think thi... work is valuable enough 10 pass on to a friend, please support it by asking thcm to purchase a book rather than making a copy of this one. Thank )'ou.

'1Oc Sand Dollar design, Society of Onho-Bionomy International- and Ortilo-BionomyTM are used by permission of the Society of Ortho-Bionomy international, loc. TIle Sand Dollar design is a registered trademark of the Society of Orlho-Bionomy International, Inc_ and cannot be used without wrirren permission from the Society of Orrho-Bionomy International, rnc. Socict), of Orrho-BlOnom}' Inremational- is a registered

collective membership trademark of the Society of OrthoBionomy Inremational, Inc. and is used by the Sociely (Q indicate that a person using the mark is a member of the Sociely of Ortha-BionolllY Intemational, Inc. and cannot be used \\ ithout written permiSSIon from the Society of Ortho-Bionomy International, Inc. Orrho-Bionomynl ts a rn.demark of the Society of OrrhaBionomy International, Inc. and cannot be used without written permission frolll the Society of Orrha-Bionomy Inlernational, inc.

Ortha-Bionomy, A Practical Mamwl Copyright C 1997 by )(athy Kain_ All rights rcscrved, No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any mcans--electrofllc. mechamcal, pilotocopying, recording, or otherwise-without written permiSsion of the publisher, Published by Nonh Atlantic Books P.O. Box 12327 Berkeley, California 94712 Co\'cr JlJustnuions by Carolyn Buck Reynolds Co\'cr and book design by Nancy Koerner Printed in the Umted Statt1; of America

Ortha-BiOllorny. A Practiwl MalUml is sponsored by the Society for the Srudy of Nati\'c Arts and Sciences. a nonprofit educational corporadon whose goals are to Jc\'e!op an educational and crossculturaI perspective linking various scientifIC, social, and amstic fields; [0 nonure a holIStic view of arts. SCIences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

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Table

of Contents

Preface

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Foreword

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Section 1: Introduction The Development of Ortho-Bionomy

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A Few Words from the Founder

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Generallntroduetion .................•...........•................ 7 Introduction to Practice

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Section 2: Vertebral Column & Thorax eck

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Thoracic .................................•............•........ 31 Ribs .........•....•...............•.....•..................... 37 Lumbar .................................•..................... 49

Section 3: The Pelvis IJiopsoas

61

Ilium ...................•..................................... 69 Sacrum

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Section 4: The Lower Limbs Femur

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Knee .....•....•.........•..........•...........•.............. 93

Ankle ................................................•....... 103 109

Foot

Section 5: The Upper Limbs Shoulder ................................................•..... 119 Scapula ..............•....................•................... 131 Clavicle .............................•....•.....•........•.... 135 Srernum ...•.........................•...................•.... 141 Elbow ...........................................•............ 145 Wrist ...........•....•.........•............................. 153 Hand ............................................•........... 159

Section 6: Post-techniques Post-techniques

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167

Course Descriptions and Training Information

179

Bibliography

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Glossary

183

Index

187

Preface The intent of this manual is to present the Basic (Phase 4) techniques in a way that captures the simplicity and the essence of Ortho-Bionomy!M As with the learning of any hands-on technique, learning to practice Ortho-Bionomy effectively requires not only study of written material but

direct pr-aetical experience with the techniques themselves. We encourage students co take ad\'anrage of the deeper exploration of Ortho-Bionomy that is available with the guidance of an experienced instructor and let this manual be a support for your learning.

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Foreword In the seventeen years that I've been practicing Ortho-Bionomy I've learned that life changes and body changes intertwine: if OUT lifc changes, our body will change; if our body changes our life will change. The Phase 4 techniques of OrthoBionomy provide a potent form of accessing physical change.

to notice our body's attempt to communicate itS needs. Ortha-Bionomy helps to remind us of the availability of comfort and of change. It isn't tcaching us something new, it's "'teaching" us what we already know. That's another form of education, probably most accurately called reeducation.

I believe much of the effectiveness of OrthoBionomy comes from its ability to inform us of relationship: of oneself co oneself; oneself to environment and oneself to others. If any of these relationships are not working well, the body will express this. As a metaphor for our lives, our bodies don't lie. Ortho--Bionomy mirrors the srory of our lives in physical or energetic fenns. It acts as a reflecrion for recognizing life patterns that don't work or that create pain. If we cannot move our arm, we may adjust to this restriction so effectively that we stop noticing it. Ortho-Bionomy helps bring the noticing back. We may have so much pain that we forget how to pay attention to comfort. Ortho-Bionomy is a way for us to notice comfort. It gives a way to access choice and create change that is natural, non-intrusive and selfgenerated.

The beauty is that the re-education often happens spontaneously. [t's not a laborious process of learning prescribed postures or positions, but rather a spontaneous rediscovery of the form of comfort. Through techniques like OrthaBionomy we can learn again to be ourselvesin comfort. Kathy L. Kain Berkeley, 1997

Ortha-Bionomy is also a form of education, but not in the usual sense of that word. Educacion implies that we are learning something we don't already know. The ability to find comfort and balance is an ability that is inherent in us from birth. If you watch small children you will sec that they have an immediate understanding of what is comfortable and what isn't. We slowly subvert this understanding of harmonious function through injury, through forcing ourselves to remain in stressfuJ or tension producing situations and positions. Evemually, we train ourselves not

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Section 1

INTRODUCTION

The Development of Ortho-Bionomy The hisrory of the development of Orrha-Bionomy gives some important clues to its current practice. Ortha-Bionomy, as it came to be called, started with the coming rogethcr of two apparently djs~ parate arts: osteopathy and Judo. The background of osteopathy gives Ortha-Bionomy a strong grounding in the understanding of the physical S(ruc[Ucc. Through Judo comes the understanding that the greatest strength and fluidity come from moving WITH our partner, not against him. Combined, these two elements provide a potent tool for bringing about change in our bodies. The founder of Grtha-Bionomy, Dr. Arthur Lincoln Pauls, was a Judo instructor in England when he was exposed to osteopathy from the patient's point of view. "It did me a lot of good. But then I realized there was no real lasting comfort to it because I just went back the next week and injured the same parts I'd worked on the week before." Eventually, Pauls went on to study osteopathy hi.mself, and brought with him this curiosity about how the structure could be "'repaired" while thc understanding of the change necessary to keep it in good repair could be missing. "'I came co understand that the real osteopathy is when the practitioner nurtures the parts of the body back to where they belong so they function bettcr and the client has an understanding of that improved function." But Pauls still hadn't figured out how to do that kind of nurturing in a way that was consistent with his understanding of movement from Judo. The missing piece was provided by the work of Lawrencc Joncs, D.O., an American Osteopath. A substitute instructor in one of Pauls' osteopathy courses provided the introduction: "He showed us, and demonstrated on some of us, this ncw thing called Spontaneous Release by Positioning

by Joncs (reprintcd in the Journal of Osteopathy from The D.O. of January 1964).1 was very impressed by this demonstration. I had a copy of Jones' article made and 1 started using these techniqucs with my cliems and realized that this was what 1 wamed to do." The article presented Dr. Jones' experience, over the course of 10 years, of correcting osteopathic lesions (usually described as "abnormal" placement of the bones within a joint) by placing patients in positions of comfort, rather than performing a manipulation. Strangely enough, Dr. Jones had discovered, the comfortable position almo.st invariably was an exaggeration of the "abnormal bony relationship found upon examination." In other words, an exaggeration of an cccentric posturc. Aha! Here was something that made sense to the Judo instructor: you move WITH the body, not against it. It also made sense in Pauls' patient experience; the patient necds to come to a physical understanding of how the imbalance occurrcd in order to avoid future return to old patterns of i.njury or misuse. By letting the body find its own balance without force, inherent re-education was possible. At this point, l)auls' own exploration took over. Combining his Judo experience, his osteopathic training. his knowledge of various systems such as homeopathy, and the simple approach outlined in Jones' article, Pauls began to evolve a system that eventually became Ortho-Bionomy. Through the twenty-two years of development since that initial introduction to Joncs' work, Pauls came to include much understanding about the cmotional and energetic implications of structural imbalance. The following is a brief introduction to his philosophy.

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A Few Words

from the Founder

The root words of Ortho-Bionomy can be broken down as follows: "Qrrho" means straight or correct; "bio" means life; "nomy" means pertaining to laws. So the term Ortho-Bionomy can be defined as the "correct application of the laws of life." It is just a word used to define the philosophy behind the work we do called Ortho-Bionomy. That work is really about understanding your whole life cycle. Naturally, we focus on the structure because that is the literal skeleton upon which our life is built. When youc structtJre works right, your circulation works better, yOll feel better, you think better. The body is very limited. It requires great discipline to stay alive in a human body without having it injured in one way or another. If you don't stay within its limitations you end up hurring it very badly. Staying within healthy bounds takes learning about space and time. We occupy space in the universe. If we don't respect that space, then we're going to get in our own way and in other people's way; this is called an accident. If we happen to be in a car when we get in someone else's way, this is called a car accident. We're in the wrong place at the right time, or the right place at the wrong time. I believe that accidents are an emotional expression of how we feel about life, how we feel about ourselves, how we love ourselves and those around us. An accident is also a physical expression of our misunderstanding of our place in time and space. 1 believe we are all born with great understanding. We are all born equal, with equal opportunity to understand ourselves and our place in the greater scheme of things. Misunderstanding, I believe, is literally missing the understanding that we were born with. The understanding is still there, we

just have to learn to recognize it by dropping the "miss" - it's not something you add, it's something you take away. If there's trouble in a particular part of the body, it's not the body part that's the problem. It's the person. being out of harmony, who is the problem. In Ortho-Bionomy, we help a person to recognize the state of their own limitations. We show the body, rhrough physical and energetic patterns, how to understand its own fWlCtioning. Then we help the person to re-discover how to keep their body functioning in a harmonious way. The person must come to the point where they realize that only THEY are responsible for keeping themselves healthy. As practitioners, our job is not to make perfect bodies. There are no perfect bodies. We're here to help people to find a better working arrangement with their structure. Most people aren't interested in great health, they are interested in functioning well enough to use their body, mind and heart for what they feel good about.

If we want to change, we can begin with our physical structure and move on from there. Our bodies are capable of correcting themselves, but we must be given the motive to discover how to make the change. Unless there is some level of recognition of the problem, and then a motive for correcting it, there will be no action. Like the vicious circle: headaches cause tension; tension causes headaches, we become repeatedly emotionally reinvolved in our involvements (stuck patterns) until they become evolvements. In other words, if we get stuck in a pattern (emotional or physical), we generally repeat it until something happens to break the pattern. It becomes a tight circle with no exit, no beginning, no end.

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Ortho-Bionomy

If we want to move onward, we must break the circle. We must evolve past the stuck pattern. Part of our job, then, in Ortho-Bionomy is to help the client recognize these stuck patterns (sometimes by repeatedly calling their attention to them

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through exaggeration), and then to recognize that they have the energy within themselves to change. Through the principles of Ortha-Bionomy, we can help the client to find their own motive, their own way out of the cycle of their seuck patterns.

General Introduction One of the simplest metaphors I've found to explain the principles of Ortho-Bionomy is the tem pole example: Imagine a pole being held straight by