Back In The Dark Ages
What Voltaire wrote in the 18th century about doctors could well be an aphorism from Philip Day's "Health Wars" published last year: "Doctors prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of which they know nothing." You could say the modern medics with a few magnificent exceptions like Helen Ford in Stourbridge, who allies technical mastery to huge psychic insight and rare perspicacity, are deeper in The Dark Ages, certainly about the human back, than the 18th century French doctor, because of the plethora of drugs and their wizardry with the knife. Even pre-Hippocratean, since at least their patron saint found it useful to massage people's backs when he couldn't diagnose their problem.
But it is not far from how I felt on qualifying, in spite of 4.5 years of wonderful tuition, split between Zen Shiatsu of Sonia Moriceau and the Devon School of Oliver Cowmeadow with Simon Fall and many marvellous moving treatments from them all. Why? I revelled in the magical properties of Shiatsu from the comments of those receiving, like the 28 year old half French-Swiss girl who'd been a heroin addict till 23: "I feel like I've died an gone to heaven...if I'd known about Shiatsu I would never have taken heroin", until I was swiftly brought to my senses when vainly attempting to treat a man whose back was so sensitive to pain I could barely touch him. Not only had I little insight about human backs but also an unawareness of what Oliver in his exceedingly clear "Art of Shiatsu" calls a "very common problem". Meir Schneider's masterly, wide-ranging "Handbook of Self Healing" states "people have suffered from backache throughout recorded history however the current epidemic proportions of the problem are a more recent phenomenon". This chapter on the Spine begins: "80% of the world's population suffer needlessly from back pain." A Fact brought tellingly home to me a month a go when l spoke to only four people in 48 hours, all of whom had bad backs.
Four years ago the miracle occurred. The Devon School ran a workshop on Pelvic Correction by Alexander Barrie, Shiatsu Practitioner, Cranio-Sacral Therapist and Teacher of Hatha-Yoga, who has made a profound study of what he terms "an appalling problem." We became aware of its magnitude from the fact that everyone on the workshop had a misaligned pelvis: he showed us two ways (since expanded to four) to re-align it and on our own to keep it in place. Though out a mere 1/16th, I felt afterward as if walking for the first time, whilst others 1/2th (of inch) or more out, found their body weight had shifted, their spirit much lighter, almost heady. The ruthless logic of it. Alexander says, is that if the pelvis is not in place, all the bodily organs are under stress, to cause, with all the other stress people plant in their lives, a constantly rising mass of complaints from which only remote mountain people like the Hunzas are blissfully free. Do the majority of ailments, as he offers, stem from this one crucial imbalance?
The practical outcome for my clients was breathtaking (their true names may be obtained) suddenly I could offer people health of a kind that the Rev. Sidney Smith envisaged in the early 19th century (see his daughters, Lady Holland's Memoirs) - an American Ambassador of his day said that if he had not been regarded as the wittiest man alive, he would surely have been deemed the wisest:-
Of The Body
"Happiness is not impossible without health but it is of very difficult attainment. I do not mean by health merely an absence of dangerous complaints but that the body should be in perfect time-full of vigour and alacrity."
Lucy in her early thirties was the first beneficiary. Her frozen shoulder, progressively seizing up for six months, now affecting the whole of her left arm (her pelvis 3/4" out of alignment) was 85% better within a day, totally free of pain within four. Next, 51 years old Annette, 1/2" out, arthritic (supposedly) twinges in her hips for 7 years, a muscle ache from left elbow through upper am, had five treatments saying after the first " I could have been a bird flying in the sky", by the fifth entirely pain free commenting "feel more relaxed than ever as if l wasn't there." Her son-in-law of 24 showed the crucial power of realignment. With a back problem since 16 when shovelling, he now suffered agony by the end of work as a printer and for eight months had given up rugby, squash, cycling. Both GP and chiropractor had not spotted the pelvis being 1 1/4" out. After realignment, Shiatsu and a week of the Alexander Barrie self-help techniques he returned 85% better (we were both equally astounded), a week later 95% fit and after session 3 no return.
Elizabeth, around 55, proved a solid test-case as she had so much awry. An eroded disc in the lumbar region for twenty years, though ameliorated by a osteopath at the time so that she could walk, now gave a constant grinding pain plus, of late, tingling and numbness from the buttock to knee, itching skin, painful neck and shoulders, a stiff right wrist, irritable bowel syndrome. All complicated by HRT for the last 7 years following a hysterectomy (she refused to allow the surgeon to remove her ovaries). After 1" realignment and 5 sessions, a startling 80-90% improvement everywhere apart from the IBS (only 30%), the neck, wrist and thigh almost totally freed. Much livelier and more confident, she stopped taking the HRT after I had subsequently sent her the relevant article from "What the doctors Don't Tell you "publication and the whole blistering chapter on it from Phil Day's "Health Wars".
Peter, the plasterer, too had a 1" misalignment, his plight a 9 week old cricked neck becoming a left shoulder and elbow pain extending to pins and needles in index and middle finger. A G. P. prescription on Voltarol caused stomach cramps, so given antacid tablets which didn't work ending up with equally ineffective tablets - he read on the label they were for bed wetting and depression!!! Within the first week after realignment/Shiatsu he noticed shoulder pain/pins and needles thrice and then briefly, by the end of week 2 entirely better. After two further treatments (Makka-ho and other exercises demonstrated to help prevent recurrence) he asked for books to read on Shiatsu and this new world of health and ease.
Aside from using the 100% effective Alexander Barrie self-help techniques, how can people overcome a long-term proneness to this imbalance? Having tested well over 100 people, including this autumn ten apple-picking Czech students in their early twenties, all of them well out of true. I see a pointer from the only two who did not need realignment: one a 28 year old German yoga teacher, riveting in the way she walked, exquisitely poised, balletic, dreamlike, the other a N.Z. Shiatsu practitioner who daily did exercises. Ohashi in his "Oriental diagnosis" has a fascinating chapter on the back-for people with hunched up backs, riddled with anger, he says plenty of exercise to let off steam. Schneider sees the principal cause as a life deficient in the movement, of the western world to the African Bushmen so vividly portrayed by the Lurens van der Post in his masterpiece " The Lost World of the Kalahari", three of whom ran alongside his land Rover for 30 miles sprinting away at the end. I can testify, after doing it for twenty five years, to the value of vigorous exercise, either walking swiftly, running 5 miles most days, swimming (30 lengths) or lately, since we sold our car, cycling (14 miles into town or 15 miles to play tennis , i.e. a 30 mile round trip).
What is the relative importance for general healing of the Alexander Barrie Alignment System to the ensuing Shiatsu? Alexander said 60-40% my intuition 80-20% but when I dowsed with a pendulum the answer was 75-25% going up to 82-18% for those with severe, long-standing back-pain. So taking into account all he has to offer (The AB workshops soon to be extended into five). I would interestingly suggest that those unfamiliar with the AB system of Pelvic Correction it is de rigueur. (Details below).
Phylis Duller sums it all up: "I am now of an age when my back goes out more than I do". With the Alexander Barrie Technique she could say, "I Never need to go out because my back always stays in." That is if you see entertainment, like modern drug, as a palliative for perpetual pain which you can now forever banish for yourself and others
Richard Wilson
01981 580453
References
Alexander Barrie
200, Vaughan Rd, Harrow, HA1 4EB
Tel/Fax 0208 423 5659
www.alexalign.com
abspc@btinternet.com
Book/manual, also book with DVD availableDr Helen Ford FRCP
The hollies, 9 Redhill, Stourbridge DY8 1NA
Tel 01384 379 740Meir Schneider " The handbook of self-healing"
Penguin "SBN 0-14-019331-6
£13.00 in 1994Ohashi " Reading the Body" Book of Oriental Diagnosis
Aquarian/Thorsons £13.00 in 1992 ISBN 1-85538-231-8Laurens van der Post " lost World of the Kalahari)
Art of Shiatsu by Oliver Commeadow
Philip Day "Health Wars".
TESTIMONIAL FROM LADY CHLOE KENWORTHY:
At the age of 50 I broke my right heel-bone and crushed the ankle. The doctor said I would never walk again without crutches and wanted to fix and peg my foot at an angle. I refused this operation and for the next 25 years I sought help wherever I could find it, with varying success -I learned to walk again, but with a limp and considerable pain. One leg became longer than the other -and my spine developed a curvature -my whole body felt crooked and I feared I might need a hip operation. Then last year I was attracted by something I saw about Pelvic Correction, and I went to a lecture on how important the pelvis is where alignment of the skeletal frame is concerned. I went to see Alexander Barrie privately who worked on me to help not only to stabilise the pelvis but to strengthen the abdomen and its organs and the legs gradually gained re-alignment. The healing took place continually with the damaged and deformed right foot. My walking is now painless and I have an increasingly normal gait. I would thoroughly recommend anyone to go see Alexander Barrie whatever their complaint.
Chloe Kenworthy.
I'd suffered from hip and back trouble for some ten years before having the good fortune to encounter Alexander Barrie's work. The usual round of chiropractors and osteopaths had, with varying degrees of success, managed to correct the problem but only temporarily.
The uniqueness of Alexander Barrie's approach was two-fold:
First- he not only correctly diagnosed the misalignment in the pelvic girdle and corrected it, but also found out that a discrepancy in leg length contributed to the problem (easily rectified with an insole).
Secondly, which was more important to me he supplied me with a simple device called a "BACKCHAMP". Exercising just a few minutes a day with this device keeps the pelvis aligned correctly, and will even correct it should some unexpected stress or exertion cause it to mis-align.
My deep gratitude therefore, for both treatments and follow-up work is in order for Alexander Barrie.
Alun Owen (Wales, UK) 15th Sept. 2004
I had to write and thank you for your wonderful system, and tell you of the difference it has made to my life. For sixteen years I have suffered with pain in my left hip, and down my left leg. For the last five years it has been so uncomfortable that my whole life has been affected. Various G.Ps have diagnosed Sciatica, and Osteopaths and Chiropractors have given me little relief. Interestingly, some of the Complementary Practitioners have told me that my pelvis was twisted but none offered any advice about what to do about it. I have also spent lots of time and money on self-help practices, to little avail. Finally, in January '04 my wife decided to risk some of our precious resources on your DVD and book. They arrived within the week, and the techniques gave great improvement within days. Now, three months later, I am almost pain free. On the two occasions that I have had a relapse, the techniques got me back on track in a couple of days. The biggest problem I now face is getting used to this pain free life, only since the pain has gone have I realized how depressed I had been, and how much of my life had been ruled by my problem. So, thank you Alexander for the priceless gift of your system, I wish you good health and good luck.
Stephen Barwood of Norfolk.
To: Alexander Barrie and wife Sheila:What a wonderful gift you have developed. It is a privilege for us all that you are sharing this gift to so many, and that I am also one of these. What a learning curve for me at your workshop, it must be a wonderful feeling to bring comfort to so many people who are in pain, and help them to help themselves! Already my wife who suffers from M.S. has felt the benefits, and shows great promise. Chrissie has had now several of my Pelvic Correction treatments - she walks better, feels better, and therefore her muscles do not have to work so hard to keep her in balance.
With Light and Love
Chrissie & James Bradshaw, Rochester, Kent, U.K.
Natalie Salt:20/8/03
Dear Alexander Barrie Thank you so much for the amazing techniques that you promote. I have only been practicing all of your suggestions for one week and already I can feel that there is a real positive difference. I am also visiting a cranio-sacral therapist and this seems to help as well. I have a right twist to my pelvis and now that I have identified this for myself and have adjustment and lots of other techniques to deal with it I feel so much more positive and in control. I had suffered terrible leg weakness for almost 2 years and nobody seemed to have any real answers. First of all I was told that it might be stenosis of the spine, then hypermobility (althought others have said that I am definately not hypermobile) and so the list goes on. There was very little accompanying pain which made it all seem more sinister. Sometimes I could not walk for more than 20 minutes. Anyway, already the techniques that you have suggested work so well even if sometimes I have to practice them 7 or 8 or more times per day. Less now infact. The cranio-sacral thereapist/osteopath has identified a lack of mobility in my sacrum, agrees that techniques that you have suggested will help (underestimation!) and that an unsettled/weakened pelvis might have caused all of this. Personally, I think all of this was precipitated by negative thinking etc., but that's another story! Anyway, enough rambling about all of this. Just to say a big thank you for the system that you have developed. It makes perfect sense and I feel sure that this is a real turning point in the strange condition that emerged for me. I was very fit, did lots of martial arts and am only 36 so it will be good to get back to being able to walk around more normally again. You are so right in that maintaining the adjustment of the pelvis is so necessary for recovery I am going away to Wales this afternoon and the first things that I thought of packing was a belt and my rolled up telephone book incase other people aren't around as often as I might need to practice those 2 techniques. I think that the most amazing aspects of your pelvic correction insights is the repeated approach to adjustment and the techniques that stimulate Chi in the lower back, sacrum and pelvic area.
Many thanks
Natalie Salt
Irene Stein:-6/6/97
Dear Alexander
I thought it's about time that I wrote to acknowledge you and the benefits I have derived from the regular treatments i have received from you.
I think it must be between 6 and 7 years that I have been receiving your treatments and I must say that they have become an insurance policy and undoubtedly a lifeline at times of considerable stress. There is no doubt in my mind that whether I receive your Shiatsu massage for severe physical stress of cranial Sacral work for mental relaxation and complete de-stressing, results have always been perfect in the way they 'reach the parts'. Your methods have been of enormous therapeutic value and have helped me over some of the most difficult periods in my life.
I always look forward to my time with you and the relief and release I experience- not to mention the therapeutic laughter we share. I would also like to think that my acknowledgement will encourage others to try your particular methods of treatment to enable them to benefit as I have.
Kindest Regards,
Yours sincerelyIrene Stein.
Jeremy Weston:-16/5/97Dear Alexander,
As I was driving home after seeing you today, I was trying to remember when I first saw you. It must have been at least five or six years ago. I was suffering from a very painful 'frozen shoulder', recurrent lower back problems and a number of lesser ills which I put down to increasing age; problems with my knees, and with my digestion; mysterious chest pains, usually at night, although the doctors said my heart was fine.
Doctors had failed to help me with these problems, as had a course in the Alexander technique, and homeopathic treatment. An Osteopath had helped with my back, to a limited extent, but not at all with my shoulder.
Within a month or two of starting treatment with you, my shoulder was on the mend. It has never given me any trouble since, even when I play tennis! My back problems have diminished to a minor grumble, kept well under control with the exercises you have recommended. All the other problems have disappeared, almost without a trace. My general health is excellent, and my quality of life has improved enormously. I have no doubt that your treatment is the principle reason for my well-being, and I felt it was about time I thanked you properly.
Best wishes.
Jeremy Weston
Orchard Grove
Natural Health care Practice:-7/98In my capacity as a therapeutic massage and sports therapist, I see many patients who present with low back pain as result of uneven pelvic alignment.
I attended Alexander Barrie's Basic and Advanced course on Pelvic Correction which I have found to be extremely useful in helping the majority of my patients. the adjustments combined with the various Sotai exercises and Muscle Energy Techniques have proved to be very effective in maintaining the correct position of the pelvis, and have resulted in a marked reduction in discomfort for the majority of my patients.
I would have no hesitation whatsoever, in recommending The Alexander Barrie System of Pelvic Correction™ to anyone who suffers with back problems or who may wish to instigate the Sotai exercises and MET's as a prophylactic measure.
On a personal note, I also have experienced recurrent back problems over many years, but they too have become significantly less following the attendance of Alexander Barrie's courses.
Jill M.C. Coyle B.Sc(Hons), P.G.C.E, A.I.P.T.I
19th June 1997As you know, I have been receiving treatment from your goodself for some months now, for which I thank you.
I can only say that is has given me a new lease of life, as at one time I had lost total faith in Western medicine.
Yours sincerely
Nina Vora.
30th April 2001I really enjoyed the course on Saturday-and have helped several family members since-and much to my surprise my 14 year old son's pelvis was nearly half an inch out.
I personally got out of bed for the first time in many years today with NO backpain at all. I feel I want to walk on my tip toes all day.
Many thanks for everything
Tim Naughton.
Thanks for the invitation to The Advanced Course this weekend.
Cannot make it as the tennis season restarts this weekend-and I have promised to play-but I would love to attend a future advanced course.
You should be very proud of your system Alexander. It is a real help to mankind.
Best Wishes-and look forward to meeting you again.
Tim
Have enclosed cheque for book. It seems like I can't thank you enough-your work is wonderful and it was a privilege to meet you and to become one of your students. I can't wait for the advanced course.Keep up your good work
P.S. I would love to eventually become a teacher of your technique. Please let me know when and if this should ever be possible.
A.E.
7th April 2001Would like you to know how successful your technique has been with my clients. It has been very rewarding relieving their pain for them. Some of them have been to orthopedics that have told them their only option was an operation! Others have already had surgery and have remained in pain for years! Of course I am very conservative with anyone who has any disk problems. However, 9 out of 10 patients have been helped with your technique. Thank you so much for traveling over here to teach us.
T.J.
15th Feb 2001Your recent course I attended in Harrow on Pelvic Correction was great. The treatment you gave me during the course was equally as good and had a profound effect. The only way I can describe it is to say that I was running around like a five year old for the next few weeks... a feeling I have not experienced for years. Having said that, I have been pushing myself lately and even with the regular exercises I learnt at your class, feel I need some expertise assistance as I'm rather twisted and sore!
Kindest regards
Marti
7th March 2001Already a week or more after, comes my heart full of gratitude and want to express a big thank you. I really absorbed a lot and with great joy on that very beautiful Sunday, in your place. I appreciate your day and knowledge as a great gift, and hope to deepen it one day. from that time I check people now in your mode, and find it extremely easy to correct it. Before I did it with the Zilgrei system and that seemed to me so elegant and useful, but people are not very much aware what they can do themselves...So it really adds to my work. Thank you very much. I enjoyed very much how you were teaching and how you both were very welcoming the people, including us. I hope you enjoyed your days after in Spain. I am back in Costa Rica and enjoying very much the climate and friendly atmosphere.
With Love
Mieke.
14th Dec 2000I tried various therapies, but none helped. In fact my condition became worse.
Then, after months of suffering, I spotted an article about your pelvic correction method in a health magazine, made an appointment and never looked back!
from the first visit I felt much better & for the first time in months could walk upright again. I continued to improve all the time as a result of your treatment.Yours
Ayala
2nd Dec 2000This is a very overdue thank you for another fascinating workshop you gave on the 11th November which everyone appeared to enjoy enormously.
I have no doubt that the techniques taught will be extremely useful to everyone's practice and be of great benefit to those who come for treatment.
Marion
Thank you for the brilliant day on the 6th feb The human body is indeed an amazing "thing" " & so too our greater understanding of it.L.B
Since 1950 I have been plagued with back trouble. Orthodox medical Treatment supported by state of the art investigations has failed to provide lasting relief. Happily Alexander Barrie has been very helpful and I look forward to continuing improvement. I am very grateful for the Alexander Barrie System and thoroughly recommend it.John Corry
Hello Alexander Just a line to say how interesting and useful your course was last December. I have found it very helpful personally and since trying it out have, as you say, found most people to be suffering from an unaligned pelvis. I am spreading the word and have recommended your course to several people who seemed interested. The more people who know about this, the better. I wish I had known about this years ago! Good work and many thanks.
Lynn Boness