8/14/2019 Love of Movement
4/6
In general,people do not use their bodies to their fullrange of
motion. People feel compelled to remain fixed ata desk or sitting
either in a car or in front of the TV Mostignore their growing
stiffness and discomfort.Most of ususe products to make our life
"easier" - emote controlsfor the TV, stereo, and air conditioner;
recliners in the liv-ing room;beds that conform to the body in the
bedroom;gadgets that do all the chopping in the kitchen; and a
carwith controls on the steering wheel so we don't evenhaveto reach
to turn on the radio.
We "protect" the body by using braces to hold the bodysteady to
avoid injury, instead of using the body properlyand regularly in
the first place. Arthritis can be helped,and perhaps avoided
altogether,no t by bracing the jointsbut by massaging the muscles.
This increases circulation
j and gently moves the joints, lubricating them andt increasing
their range of motion. Our body is made to
move. If we do not use our muscles and move our jointsregularly,
they will start to stiffen and break down. Foodandwater are our
fuel, bu t movement makes us use thefuel efficiently and keeps our
bodies mobile.Rivka
e sometimesbraces can be useful for the averageperson for short
periods of time, like immediately
after an accident, in the case of paralysis braces canbetools
for movement and mean freedomfrom a wheelchair.Take, for
example,the story of Rivka that I share in mylatestbook,
Movementfor SevHealing. Rivka was 9 years
old and had been confined to awheelchair with polio since the
ageof 2. She had been frttedwith bracesthree times,but because she
wasunable to straightenher left knee,her walking placed so much
pressureon the braces that they alwaysbroke.Both of Rivka's legs
were thin andexpected to become paralyzed.Herback was stooped and
had a lateralairnature in the middle of the spine.One of her arms
was very weak; shecould lift it chest-highonly with agreat deal of
effort. The other armwas relatively normal. Her neckmuscles were
soweak she couldhardly hold up her head. I explainedto the family
that the first thing sheneeded was massage to improve
hercirculation and bring warmth to hercold limbs. After that some
gentlemovements couldbring flexibilityand strength. I showed them
she didhave some capacityfor movement,even in the semi-paralyzed
eg, andthat the movement in all the limbscouldbe improved.
At first her family offered littlesupport, and Rivka was not
very cooperative in doingher exercises.But after about four visits,
Rivka showedsome motivation and changes began to take place.
Hercold feet grew warm more rapidly with each treatment.She became
more capable of limited movement. Shecould move her feet sideways,
backwards, and forwards.Severalof her arm muscles grew stronger and
appearedto be more developed.She could even lie on her backand
raise her legs for several moments at a time.
After three months of therapy, we requested-thatRivkabe fitted
for braces to support the process of learning towalk. Rivka's
orthopedist refused to grant the family'srequest,believing that
nothing could help her toleratebracesbut surgery, and that even if
she could wear braceswithout breaking them, she would not be able
to takemore than a couple of painful steps. I was sure the way
tostraightenher leg was to relax the muscles and
graduallystrengthen them- nd the only way to achieve that wasto
keep the legmuscles working and moving, I felt themotions used in
walking would be especiallyeffective. Itwas absolutelynecessary she
getbraces and begin to walk,and we were determined to find another
way. We raisedthe money for the braces through the media, and
Rivkablossomed. Before long, she could go down a flight ofstairsby
herself and walk a whole block.
She alsobegan to awaken as a person. She had beenindifferent to
herselfbefore, feeling useless and unwanted.Now she began to feel
she really mattered. Shehad beenalmost completelyimmobilebefore.
Now she could get out -
IE O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 4 M A S S A G E &
BODYWORK 43
8/14/2019 Love of Movement
6/6
ktened to my descriptio~. herelmedable to roll over anto hex
side* t n a m g hebeau-her pain, N a d s piritwasrelaxed.As
shebreathed more andd. The skywas almost light
her pain baUy left her completel~.f~lly,ut without pain, Naomi
wt ap and slowlyom the bed. She took three stq&Iswithout
tensing
s t q , hex b a ~ kon-and shenearb fell, but I caught her, I
d if I idn't. Shefelt
ut using or teml'ngher bark msdes. All
to seeNaomi regula~lyor a year and at th e end af hattime she
was completely well.Possibilities
e,point of Rivba" and N a o d s stories is that fhebody is
capable of iPb.provingand moving farbeyond"our limitingbeliefs and
expectations.We learn thatthrough love, care h m he
practitioner,and Gare of f d -ly, people's self-este~mlan isq and
that they canfind thetime tawmkon themselves. And they can learn
how towork on themselvescorrectly Throughmassage andmovement, you
teaeh them to isolate musdle groups,towork with the specificmuscle
that is televaixt to the func-tion so that they can let go of the
musclea that are notMoviagNaomi's ankles fully helped her to relem
theback, The dogma of the imposs~le,n most cases, can bedispelled
throtdgh a great connectionbetween practitionerand client, and
though creativeinnovation that brings tathe client the
exactmovemen@needed far her circum-stance, ta help her move out
ofback paindarthritis,andother degenerative conditions, @5
Meir S~hneGkfiksLl.,LMz nte~mtzonal gthog kealtkcme edwca-t.06
and c k a p i ~ t ~sfiadw ofthe Sun Frant6sw-bm8d n~%profitcboolfir
Self-Heling where he t e a ~ k e c a ~ d g i wflti f ic~tto~i?%
theMeirSih~zeizler&If:-HealingMethiad, Formare
infwm~(:l;ion,isir:m . s e l f -healing.org or CULLtke 8ckool foy7
&$f -H e ~l in .t415/6@5-9578.
It CTCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2 0 0 4 MA S S A G E & BODYWORK 47
