B y R a y m o n d J . B i s h o p , J r .

26 M A S S A G E & B O DY WO R K • D E C E M B E R / J A N U A RY 2 0 0 7

Afew months ago, I was waiting for my nextSaturday client and hanging out with somefriends in the common reception area of the

office. Our topic of conversation was a wonderfullyhyperkinetic child who was moving incessantly and test-ing his limits as he tried to master walking. As I watchedhim, I found myself asking this question: what does hissystem need to function better? I soon noticed a certainrestriction between his upper cervicals and his occiput, alack of rotational ease that caught my attention. Asdiplomatically as possible, I asked his mother—a fellowpractitioner—if I could work on him a bit. She immedi-ately became alarmed as if my innocuous question was aharbinger of some complex explanation of deficits in hisdevelopmentally advanced system. Once I reassured herabout my intent—“Let’s see if we can free up that littlesticky place below the base of his skull”—she readilyacquiesced and off we went to my office for a littleexploration.

Once we settled in, I became aware that this seven-month-old live wire was just too active for any sort ofcradling of the occiput. Since this had been my preferredapproach, I was temporarily stymied. The answer slowlycrystallized: the key to entry was the transverse process-es (TPs) of C1. Sliding in slowly from the sides, I easedinto these large landmarks. Before our little friend,Noah, had time to contemplate an evasionary maneuver,I was in like Flynn. What happened next rather sur-prised us all. The atlas began to rotate to the left ratherquickly and audibly slipped into place. As this occurred,the frenetic little one froze and stared with wide-eyedwonder at this unexpectedly strong yet gentle move-ment. All I could say to his astonished mother whowanted to know what was going on was: “Well, I cer-tainly have his attention.” There was a brief period ofreorienting. Then his prestissimo gyroscope kicked intooverdrive. Our subsequent efforts to balance his systemwere aggressively thwarted so I begrudgingly acceptedthat this was all he would permit at this time.

I subsequently had an opportu-nity to observe him for anotherthirty minutes or so. Thisallowed me to see not only animprovement in cervical and cra-nial movement, but I also noticedan accelerated cycling of statechanges as the work integrated.He went from hyperactive, tofussy, to needy, to fast asleepwithin this relatively short timespan. Seeing the mood shifts andsensing the rapid adjustmentsthat precipitated them provedprovocative. As I work mostlywith adults, tracking these ephemeral transitions wasquite exciting to me. It seemed to suggest there wassomething significant about such rotational patterns andthat they might be part of some larger spiral patterns.

This notion was reinforced by a subsequent experiencewith another toddler. This robust, Hispanic fellow was abit older, about eighteen months at the time of our firstmeeting. His aunt, a regular client, had brought him inbecause of his rather difficult delivery. The details of the

problems with his birth wereunclear as his mom spoke littleEnglish. What the women weremostly concerned with was arather prominent bump belowthe left orbit, which seemed tohave been a by-product of manu-al intervention during his pas-sage through the birth canal. Butwhat attracted me was someunsteadiness on his part.

I decided to explore things abit more globally, testing theintegrity of his cranium andpelvis. A gentle palpating of

these regions indicated a strong clockwise spiraling pat-tern that literally pulled me in and nearly spun mearound in my chair. The metaphor this experienceevoked was that of being forcibly twisted as I passed

He went from hyperactive, to fussy,

to needy, to fast asleep within a relatively short

time span.

D E C E M B E R / J A N U A RY 2 0 0 7 • M A S S A G E & B O DY WO R K 27

through the birth canal. Yet, my empathic sensation wasmore than mere metaphor and seemed to have a lot to dowith some support problems this fussy little charmerdemonstrated as he explored the room and repeatedlyhid from me behind mom. Once we got to work, thestrength of the pattern and the speed with which it easedoff raised a series of questions. These questions in turnled to a rather meandering search for information notonly about spiral patterns in utero and during the“descent of the child,”1 but also their impact on earlychildhood development.

For anyone who has ever considered the frequency ofspirals in nature, the topic soon wends out of control.From patterns in the swirling galaxies to the doublehelix structure of DNA, from the golden ratio in art andmath to rotational swirls in the paintings of New Ageartist Alex Grey, spirals and related patterns occur prac-tically everywhere. Throughout the animal kingdom, wesee movement as much in terms of spirals as shifts inweight, whether watching a sidewinder on the desertslopes or the gravity defying leaps of Baryshnikov insome romantic ballet.2 One of the most relevant pas-sages I could find on this subject sets up our argumentvery nicely indeed: “That a spiral geometry is an histor-ically attractive resolution for a variety of structures isshown by its ubiquity in the ‘transitory spirals in a lockof hair, in a staple ofwool, in the coil of an ele-phant’s trunk, in the cir-cling spires of a snake, inthe coils of a cuttle-fish’sarm, or of a monkey’s orchameleon’s tail.”3

While such ideas areintriguing, we mustchoose a very narrow pathhere if we have any hopeof formulating a coherentnarrative. My solution tothis rather tricky dilemmawas to see where mymeandering efforts to col-lect relevant data on spi-rals in utero might leadand find a unifying ideathat would tie thingstogether. Unfortunately, Ifound the facts were wide-ly scattered and even themost ambitious embryolo-gy books I examined madeonly fleeting references tosuch patterns. Given theinterest in spirals in stud-ies on cosmology, art, andmathematics, the seeming-ly spotty references to

such structures and patterns in human developmentproved intriguingly puzzling. Since I had no clear answerfor why this observation seemed true, I decided to acceptthings as I found them and waltz through these scatteredreferences as best I could. Once my recapitulation of thatpotentially dizzying Acceleration Waltz is concluded, Iwill append a codetta to explain how these ideas might beof value to bodyworkers interested in working with thevery young.

Seeking Answers

The first logical place to look should be in standardembryology texts. Yet, for all their wealth of informa-

tion, there was little help in most of them. While there isa great deal of information on the mathematics of spiralsin the classic text on morphology, Thompson’s OnGrowth and Form, we find little specifically devoted toembryological patterns.4 A more promising resourceproved to be the recent book by German embryologistErich Blechschmidt. Blechschmidt’s work has been thesubject of some recent discussions in the structural inte-gration community, and in fact there are now classesavailable that have helped make his important body ofwork more accessible.5 What Blechschmidt describes inhis Ontogenetic Basis of Human Development is a dynam-ic relationship between adjacent layers of cells. He calls

28 M A S S A G E & B O DY WO R K • D E C E M B E R / J A N U A RY 2 0 0 7

s p i r a l i n g b a b i e s

some intriguing remarks about spirals and embryologicalrotational patterns. “In the beginning there’s this embry-onic disc, and as the mother moves and twists, one sidewill probably develop a little faster than the other. Therewill be a twist, I think, where the rotation starts. It’sgoing back to an explanation that we’re not symmetricalanyway.” While I found this intriguing, I could find noother such remarks in his entertaining speech.9

Remembering my discussions with him about the fascialanatomy book he wrote with Rosemary Feitis, Ireviewed this fine text and found some detailed informa-tion, this time on in utero rotational development pat-terns and how they shape adult movement and relationaladaptations. Here,Schultz revisits hisargument that thechild’s position in theuterus is extremelyimportant for its struc-tural development andalignment. “Whetherthe head is to the rightor to the left of theknees, where the armsare in relation to thespine, these factorsestablish the individualpattern of the vertebralcolumn. We assumethat the position of thehead on the neck isdetermined by thesespiral rotations. Suchprimary rotations areaugmented and com-pensated by intrauter-ine limitations duringlate pregnancy.”10

Now this was gettingus somewhere. Schultzidentifies two key ele-ments to the strain pat-tern. He argues that movement of the mother has astrong impact on the fetus’s rotational strain patterns.Also, he states that the position of the baby in uteroaffects these patterns and that they increase as thebaby approaches full term. Another fact that deter-mines asymmetrical patterns not addressed by Schultzis the effect of flexor and extensor development. Asmost students of embryology know, anterior surfaceflexors develop earlier than the dorsal surface exten-sors; the fetus’s forward folding pattern and the earlydevelopment of the heart, liver, and lungs (from thesecond month) all have a profound effect on asymmet-rical (ventrally dominant muscular and visceral) devel-opment. This, combined with the rotational patternsof the limbs, the dynamic tensional forces within the

embryo, and between the embryo and its container allsignificantly contribute to asymmetrical developmentin all planes and developmental layers.

I located another interesting notion in Elaine Morgan’saccount of the birth process found in The Descent of theChild, alluded to earlier. In her description of the harrow-ing journey of the baby as it passes through the birthcanal, she describes a strong rotational pattern of thehead once it reaches this final passageway. “The contrac-tions are liable to be accompanied by kicking and spas-modic movements of its arms. The increased pressure onits buttocks is transmitted up its spinal column to thebase of its skull, and this forces the head forward until

the chin is touching thebreastbone. In this posi-tion, it is propelledonwards until it encoun-ters the bony pelvis, andthe slope of the pelvic floortwists its head until it hasrotated ninety degrees andas if it were looking overits shoulder. A little lowerdown, it finds that thevagina has a kink in it, andit has to negotiate a ninetydegree turn.”11

This makes clear that animportant component ofthis spiraling strain issuemust have something to dowith certain aspects of thedelivery process itself. Anintriguing idea from JohnUpledger helps us here. Inhis book on embryologyand the development of thecentral nervous system(CNS), Upledger suggeststhat the birth process is ineffect our first spinal andcranial adjustment. “My

second concern that accompanies the Caesarean sectiondelivery is one of deprivation. By this, I mean that thenewborn is deprived of its trip through the birth canal.This passage through the birth canal, I believe, is tanta-mount to its first spinal adjustment and mobilizationtreatment, its first skin treatment and its first cran-iosacral treatment.”12 Although I had read this passagemonths before our session, it never occurred to me to askif the toddler had been delivered Caesarean. I did not findthis out until a few months later. This factoid made mewonder if perhaps the restriction between the base of theocciput and the upper cervicals that seemed to impingeon his ability to rotate and extend might have been relat-ed to his non-optimal mode of being removed from thewomb. It perhaps offered an interesting clue to what I

s p i r a l i n g b a b i e s

32 M A S S A G E & B O DY WO R K • D E C E M B E R / J A N U A RY 2 0 0 7

sensed and was able to mobilize, but was not something Icould corroborate with any degree of certainty.

And yet, I still felt that I was not very far along as towhat specifically might be going on with my other lit-tle tyke, that wonderfully playful Hispanic child withthe odd bump. So, I presented my observations to afew folks in the field with a higher level of embryologi-cal and anatomical understanding than yours truly.The two answers I got were really extraordinary andwhile I would like to present them in their entirety,some of their remarks go way beyond the scope ofwhat will be useful here. I have chosen to pare themdown so that their central ideas are easier to digest.

My first responder was Thomas Myers, known tomany in our community through his Anatomy Trainsmyofascial meridian training classes and his numerousfascial anatomy articles published in these pages (see“Kinese—The Language of Movement,” page 18).Where Myers started was with the foldings andunfoldings of the developing fetus and the frequency

of spirals in embryological development. “Now these(developmental) unfoldings (in the womb) combinelinear (hinge) movement with rotational movement toproduce spirals, found in so many places. And it’s truethat God seems to favor right-hand spirals all over, andespecially in the construction of organic proteins, butnevertheless our inner developmental spirals are prettymuch symmetrical.” From there, Myers went from spe-cific to general, offering some intriguing theories andmore relevant detail than I found in all my textbookscombined. “What you saw when you put your hand onthe child’s lumbars was a neuronal imprint, a neuro-logical response, an odd one, so likely imprinted by thebirth experience. All babies spiral out—it’s built intothe shape of the head and the birth canal. One ninety-degree turn is required. Most do two or even three ofthese in a birth. I can’t think of a baby that got stuckat the hip level; they’re so small. It’s always either thehead is stuck, or shoulder dystocia, where the shouldergirdle gets stuck behind the pubic bone arch.”13

My second respondent was a fine Rolfer and diag-nostician with more than twenty years in the field,

Clay Cox. Cox took a much more technical approach inhis answer and asked many penetrating questions. Hisfeeling was that what I was sensing was a scoliotic pat-tern and offered some provocative diagnostic inquiriesthat I was unable to answer since I did not see this fel-low for any evaluative follow-up after receiving Cox’sfascinating reply. “I suspect that these spiral patternsare the early signs of scoliosis. This is the time toimpact them to have the most beneficial effect. If X-rays are available, give the pelvis a good look. Are theiliae symmetrical? Are the lines of the sciatica jointsimilar? Are the necks of the femurs symmetrical?What do you palpate along these lines? The questionto answer: if there is a twist at the osseous level that ispalpable or visually apparent, is this twist a functionof delivery and caused by soft-tissue contractures orresponses to tissue strains, or is this a genetic issue?The answer changes the approach.”14

A Place to Start

All this may seem a bit complex and perhaps tootechnical to be of much use to the general body-

working audience and yet, underneath all the detaillies a core of basic facts with rich potential application.For those like me who are drawn to working with chil-dren, and who may lack a great deal of technical train-ing in this arena, there may be a sense of confusionwhen approaching an infant. So much information isavailable and so many layers of evaluative complexityemerge so quickly that it can intimidate. Combinethese issues with the requisite sensitivity required toperceive and address relatively subtle imbalances in ayoung system, and you have a recipe for instant fearand trembling. And yet, the temptation to explore thisfascinating territory may overpower your natural hesi-tancy. This was certainly the case for me.

It seems to me that one obvious place to start is withthese rotational strain patterns. If we know about theprevalence of asymmetrical developmental patterns inutero, if we know a bit about the rotational spiralingthrough the womb, and if we match this with what ourclients’ mothers tell us about any complications or devi-ations from a “normal birth process,” we can then beginan exploration of fascial pullings that may be a conse-quence of such asymmetrical strains. Furthermore, if wecan pay closer attention to movement patterns at themajor junctures, we will begin to see restrictions orimbalances in movement or weight distribution. Suchpatterns are prominent in the head, neck, and spine,particularly in the very young, as much of the early ori-enting movements and related muscular developmentsare initiated here, particularly in the posterior neck andsupporting spinal muscles. We might, for instance, beespecially interested in the muscles supporting the sec-ondary or lordotic curves of the cervical and lumbarspine, which are tested and strengthened greatly in nor-mal development, particularly during the first year.

So much information is available and so

many layers of evaluative complexity emerge so quickly that

it can intimidate.

D E C E M B E R / J A N U A RY 2 0 0 7 • M A S S A G E & B O DY WO R K 33

The danger exists in that if weare looking for a particular pat-tern, we will inevitably find iteven if it is a minor (or non)event. Of course, even should webe misled, if our interventions aregentle and of relatively short dura-tion, we will be highly unlikely toinduce strain rather than mitigateit. The overriding theme here isbeing attentive without fixating.

Look carefully at the specificpattern, gently palpate it, andonce you have engaged it, see ifyou feel a restriction in move-ment.15 Once you find a stickyplace, create a barrier and resistmovement, or, conversely, followthe body into the pattern (thesealternate strategies being the dif-ference between indirect and direct work, which areapproaches to soft-tissue and craniosacral releaserather than quantitative guides for amounts of relativepressure). If you are on something gummy, it willprobably change quite quickly and you should notice arapid shift in the system. If the lit-tle one allows, test the oppositeside or look for another logicalsticking point at say the oppositeend of the spine on either side.Since you have very limited time,be efficient, do not try to do much,and pay very close attention toany change in voluntary or invol-untary movements as these areimportant nonverbal cues that willtell you whether to wait, move on,or end the intervention. The timeto end is the most obvious point inthe interaction and if you gobeyond what the infant will toler-ate, he will let you know quiteemphatically, trust me.

The appeal of this work is thatchange occurs rapidly and the cuesfor any inadvertent misstep areimmediately clear if you are stilland mindful. The value of the spi-ral and rotational approach tolocating strain is that it is easy tosee and feel, much easier than saysome dural tube or visceral strain.Being able to follow and go intothe infant’s pattern is surprisinglyclear. The danger rather lies in falling into his systemtoo rapidly and taking on the pattern so strongly thatit interferes with your ability to engage and facilitate

positive change. You must remainvigilant and avoid the manyseductive portals, so you canfocus on deepening your ability toefficiently intervene, balance, andegress. Such work requires apatience and willingness toexplore that is not to everyone’staste, that is for sure. However,for those as drawn to such workas I am, the rewards are great andthe magic of such nonverbal andrapid interactions are well worththe patient practice required toeffectively reorganize and balancesuch wonderfully mutable ener-getic systems.

Raymond J. Bishop, Jr., has a doctorate inmusicology from the University of NorthCarolina at Chapel Hill and was certified as

a Rolfer and Rolf movement teacher in 1995. He has been a certifiedadvanced Rolfer since 2000 and has taught anatomy to massage thera-pists, and more recently Rolfers, since 2001. Bishop has published morethan forty articles on various aspects of bodywork, including: anatomy,embryology, intuitive bodywork, theories of structural integration, andsomatic metaphor. To learn more, visit www.idarolfsbrahms.com.

Notes1. An allusion to Elaine Morgan’s The Descent of the Child:

Human Evolution from a New Perspective (New York: Oxford,1995); a resource quoted later. Special thanks to Tom Myers whorecommended this book to me many years ago.

2. See in particular some rather extensive discussions of nat-urally occurring spirals: D.W. Thompson, On Growth and Form,originally published in 1917. (Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1966), 748-849ff.

3. R. Grossinger, Embryogenesis: Species, Gender, and Identity(Berkeley: North Atlantic, 2000): 205. The quote within this quotecomes from: D.W. Thompson, On Growth and Form, p. 748(although this differs from Grossinger’s citation which may befrom a different 1966 edition). See also Grossinger’s discussionof spirals and phylotaxis (the arrangement of leaves on a plantstem), pp. 245-46.

4. D.W. Thompson, On Growth and Form (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1966).

5. J. Maitland, “The Use and Abuse of Biodynamics,” StructuralIntegration, 33, no. 4, (December 2005), 16-19.

6. E. Blechschmidt, The Ontogenetic Basis of Human Anatomy: ABiodynamic Approach to Development from Conception to Birth.Edited and translated by Brian Freeman (Berkeley: North AtlanticBooks, 2004), 192-93.

7. R. Grossinger, Embryogenesis: 153-54. 8. H. Milne, The Heart of Listening: A Visionary Approach to

Craniosacral Work (Berkeley: North Atlantic, 1995): 214. Milne’sunique approach to complex rotational movements between thebones of the skull is extremely interesting and also relevant toour discussion.

9. L. Schultz, “Anatomy: Importance and Limitations,” present-ed as a part of the keynote addresses from the 2005 IASISymposium, October 2005, Seattle, Washington, IASI Yearbook2006: Yearbook of Structural Integration: 15.

10. L. Schultz, R. Feitis, The Endless Web: Fascial Anatomy andPhysical Reality (Berkeley: North Atlantic, 1996), 12,14. Much ofmy understanding of Schultz’ ideas comes from personal discus-sions between us that resulted in a 2003 interview I did withhim in Atlanta and published later that year: “Interview withLouis Schultz, Ph.D.,” Structural Integration: The Journal of the RolfInstitute, 31, no. 2 (June 2003): 5-7.

11. E. Morgan, The Descent of the Child, 69. For more detail,see her description of the birth process, pages 67-74.

12. J. Upledger, A Brain Is Born: Exploring Birth and theDevelopment of the Central Nervous System, illustrated by Alice

Quaid (Berkeley: North Atlantic, 1996), 259. 13. Quoted (with permission) from a 2006 e-mail from Tom Myers to the author. 14. Quoted (with permission) from a 2006 e-mail from Clay Cox to the author.15. It goes without saying that too much movement is as problematic as too little. For simplicity’s

sake, however, I focus here only on working with fascial restrictions.

M&B

For those as drawn

to such work as I

am, the rewards are

great and the magic

of such nonverbal

and rapid interac-

tions are well worth

the patient practice

required to effec-

tively reorganize

and balance such

wonderfully mutable

energetic systems.

s p i r a l i n g b a b i e s

34 M A S S A G E & B O DY WO R K • D E C E M B E R / J A N U A RY 2 0 0 7