3 Steps to Health

”Stillness is not the absence of motion but rather the absence of resistance” ~ Adyashanti

The primary (soft touch) method of treatment used at Dunsborough Osteopathy aims to activate a patient's own self-healing capacity - and this involves 3 essential steps.  Our clinic also utilises an anti-gravity treatment method that is purely mechanical and aims at rapid pain relief - this is less of a wholistic method, and as such less of what is described immediately below is relevant.

The first step of ACCEPTANCE, involves clarifying exactly what is happening inside a patient's body (in a way that the patient themselves is unable to achieve); yet not trying to change or influence things in any way. It is well understood that mirror neurons of empathy within the brain, allow a patient's self-awareness to expand through the presence of an objective observer (therapist) - in Osteopathy this is achieved with hands upon the patient.

The second step involves FINDING THE HEALTH present within a person's body, which is the engine room for generating therapeutic change. The Health is found in the place one is least likely to look: within the depth of Stillness. Stillness is the doorway to the Health - yet one must also wait there until the Health arrives to direct the treatment. When it does, it is experienced in a deeply personal way that is difficult to express in words - unconditional love and gratitude is probably the closest. The ability to find the Health within a patient, requires a particular Osteopathic hands-on training - the ability to find that which the mind habitually passes over. A natural receptivity is also important: for if the mind is closed, the Health is unlikely to be found - and this applies to patients as well (they are just as important in this process). The Health can be hidden anywhere either inside the physical body, the bio-electric field surrounding the body, or even further afield.

The third and final step essentially looks after itself - the body's self-healing mechanism now has expanded self-awareness (from step 1) and increased vitality (from step 2), enough to generate the MOTION necessary to kick-start a therapeutic change - the Osteopath then supports this unfolding process. Depending upon a patient's sensitivity, the therapeutic process may or may not be felt as movements occurring inside the body, as the Osteopath rests their hand lightly upon the surface (whether a patient feels any change makes no difference to the final outcome). In the end, the proof is in the pudding: when an improvement in symptoms occurs as a consequence of seemingly no external intervention, the general response is 'I don't understand how it works, but it works for me and that's all that matters'.