You are complex. Spherical.

My mission is to see you in your complexity and support you as you more deeply embed in your body, your life . . . your being.

Pain and dysfunction often prevent us from living our best life.

Your problems are not only due to adhesions, a tight muscle, a bone out of place, a chemical imbalance, or blocked chi (although Chinese medicine knows everything, and they are probably right about that).

Whatever intervention you have tried in the past and has only worked partially or temporarily. The treatment has been a helpful guide, teaching us there is more. Something else is left undone.

We move forward with curiosity: What could it be?

Together we will build on your history to discover the next steps toward wholeness.

Model of Care

My model of care is built on the five transverse planes, and the seven bodies that surround them.

Within this model of care the fluid body is given primacy.

If the fluid body is not functioning properly, nothing else will function properly.

Taking care of the fluid body allows us to identify all the players in your story.

5 Transverse Planes

Transverse planes are horizontal planes.

They slice through our body and separate it into sections through which veins, arteries, nerves, and other tubes pass.

The five transverse planes that I work with predominantly are:

1. The tentorium & sphenoid in the skull about the level of your eyes separating the cerebellum from the cortex
2. The hard palate/tongue/oropharynx/jaw/base of skull separating the head from the neck
3. The thoracic inlet/outlet at the shoulder level separating the neck from the chest
4. The respiratory diaphragm separating the chest and abdomen
5. The pelvic diaphragm separating the bottom of the pelvis from the open air beneath

These planes need to be in proper alignment and function adequately in order for everything going through them to work correctly, and in order for everything in the compartments above and below them to function correctly.

Transverse planes are critical points of transition in the body. Because they are points of transition, they are more vulnerable to having problems.

Because they are critical to all other function, it is imperative to address them.

7 Bodies

In Western culture we have a bias toward thinking that pain is largely due to the musculoskeletal body and the chemical body.

We largely interpret our experiences through these bodies. But we have other bodies that influence and interact with these bodies.

If your pain has been managed by healthcare models that give primacy to the musculoskeletal body and the chemical body and you have not gotten complete relief, probably one or more of the other bodies is at play.

1. Musculoskeletal Body

This hard body includes your bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia. I see the musculoskeletal body as the voice of the body. It will sigh and complain if it is injured or irritated directly (like a sprain/strain) or indirectly (like inflammation from an organ touching it and creating pain in the adjoining muscle).

The pain of the musculoskeletal body comes from an overt injury like a hit or a fall or a break, or a repetitive stress injury like over-use of a body part. This pain will go away within six to eight weeks.

Functional musculoskeletal pain that is truly due to bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia does not come on out of the blue without doing anything. If you have musculoskeletal pain that comes on out of the blue, it is due to something else.

2. Chemical Body

The chemical body includes inflammatory agents, hormones, neurotransmitters, digestive enzymes, all the building blocks that make your body, all the co-factors that make processes run better, and all the genes (that are really enzymes).

In functional medicine rather than drugs, we use supportive herbs, nutrition, and practices to help guide the body back to health.

The pain of chemical origin does not have a timing element. It could be related to an exposure (like drinking alcohol or eating sugar can increase inflammation), but usually by the time I see a patient the inflammation is so pervasive that it is persistent and unrelated to direct immediate exposure.

3. Visceral (Organ) Body

Viscera is the fancy name for organs. (At least we aren’t calling them offals).

All the organs, in fact, all the bodies I speak of here, should be happy doing their jobs.

Just as we are designed to be happy in life.

Why might an organ not be happy doing its job?

An organ’s happiness quotient will decrease if there is inflammation, stagnation, or restriction (like adhesions) that prevent it from its intrinsic movement patterns. An organ also will be less happy if it is not optimally positioned in relationship to its neighbors.

4. Fluid Body

Your fluid body is made of arteries, veins, lymph, and cerebral spinal fluid.

In my experience, the musculoskeletal system can collapse if the fluid body (and the organ body) are not functioning properly.

If the fluid system is not functioning properly, there will be too much fluid pooling in one area, and the area that excess fluid is supposed to be will experience a deficit. Both the areas of excess and deficit can experience pain.

5. Air Body

The air body includes the actual air that we breathe, and the mechanisms and organs and structures involved in breathing.

With proper breathing mechanics and timing, the organs, fluid system, chemical system, and musculoskeletal system are all activated, and the autonomic nervous system is optimized.

6. Emotional Body

I am not trained as a talk therapist, so I address the emotional body using a mind-body therapy called neuroemotional technique (NET).

Neuroemotional technique (NET) is like EMDR or emotional freedom technique. It seeks to influence behavior and thought subcortically using reflexes.

Neuroemotional technique (NET) helps us thrive.

To thrive, we must be flexible because we cannot control what happens to us, we can only determine how we respond.

7. Energy Body

The energy body is a normal part of our anatomy and physiology.

Just like the physical body, the energy body has standard issue components that are organized in a predictable fashion to optimize function.

As with physical medicine, there are specific approaches to help the energy body heal and optimize function.