BEGINNING: My journey began when I complained of knee and foot pain to my friend who answered with, "I know this lady who can pick up muscles and put them back where they belong." My thinking was, "If you can pay for it, I can pay for it." After a few sessions with Autumn Mayberry who corrected my pelvis, feet, and upper body, I was independent with exercise and movement, freeing me to walk without pain, and I found that I did not need to return for treatment for a few years. During my second round of treatments, she seemed to zip all of the maladies I had asked medical specialists to resolve with a simple explanation of the nervous system and my ability to reinstate balance for my overall health and wellbeing.
That moment of hope struck a deep chord, and I finally voiced my desire to do what she did. Her answer was, "You can," and she shared the pathway of licensing as a Massage Therapist and beginning my journey in study of Osteopathic Manual Therapy. As a Middle School Teacher with a master's degree in educational studies, I saved my income for six months and enrolled at Myotherapy College of Utah, then recognized as 2nd in the United States for training with a strong background in Anatomy, Pathology, and Biomechanics, as well as traditional massage practices. My abilities as a teacher and student paid off as I plunged into the medical science world and worked for literacy and application to quickly represent the best that Osteopathic Manual Therapy has to offer. This year, I finish my 4th year of business and nearly 40 specialized courses.
PATHWAY: Concurrent to licensure, I enrolled in professional coursework with Neal O'Neal, Autumn's peer who was furthering their mentor's work for physical therapists, medical doctors, nurses, and manual therapists. All were welcome. Their Mentor, Loren "Bear" Rex did likewise and is featured in this article by Massage and Fitness Magazine. Neal describes himself as a translational research-based manual therapist--this capacity to read medical research and understand how to use manual therapy to elicit the desired results is also the way he describes and credits Bear. A second peer, Lino Cedros, also impacts my application of these principles through professional coursework. As described in the article, their mentor, Bear, earned his degree as a Doctor of Osteopathy and hoped to reintegrate manual therapy into medical practice with the establishment of the URSA Foundation and decades of training for my mentors.
ROOTS: A.T. Stills is credited as the father of Osteopathy. He was a second-generation country doctor, trained first by his father and then horrified by the effect of opium and rough surgery on the fields of the Civil War. This article from Osteopathic.org continues his narrative and impact in a few paragraphs. I liked the description of his belief in my classes: 1) Good health requires everything to move--something stuck will create a pain pattern somewhere else, and 2) Everything needs to be fed--circulation is vital; "The artery is supreme." Very Well Health.org highlights a few more.
THE GREATS: Our studies incorporate several pre-World War II research/practitioners who without the advent penicillin and pharmaceuticals worked to find ways to support the body's function to its improved health and function. Their advantage was that the sick allowed them to treat and understand stimulus response of the human body. Of course, there are more, but these three are driving influences of every session.
Pottenger's wife suffered and died of Tuberculosis. His efforts to relieve her discomfort and reverse or slow the disease gave birth to much of our initial abdominal work releasing adhesions, ensuring circulation, and re-integrating the viscera with the sympathetic nervous system.
Bennett is cited during the 1930s to have established neurovascular reflex points. His clients who suffered from post-Mumps and succeeding organ failure similar to long-Covid symptoms agreed to have radioactive fluid injected into the target organ. Then, Bennett entered the X-ray field with his clients and worked the body for complete drainage of the organ via step-by-step pathways of these points. Cell bed function--sustaining a 70-74 beat per minute pulse established in the embryonic stage previous to heart development--is positively affected with this work that ensures effective capillary bed flow.
Chapman is best known for his reflex points for lymphatic drainage. The fascia, recently cited in a scientific medical journal as the largest body organ, creates "shoddy plaques" or knots signaling distress of the related organs in specific locations along the spine. This modality directs attention throughout the body and specifically targets pelvic organs.
Upledger is an Osteopathic peer to Bear, bringing us full circle. He established the Upledger institute as URSA likewise was established. A valuable introductory training, this work is incorporated either as a main modality or final step in a session to calm the Autonomic Nervous System and ensure optimal function of the full body with this central hydraulic system that shunts the same fluid in which the brain floats to the coccyx tailbone.
BUT WHAT IS IT? Osteopathic Manual Therapy is a whole-body approach to help people Move, Feel, and Live better.
Each session reconnects and supports best function and interaction of all body systems for better health.
One of my favorite descriptions of Osteopathic Manual Therapy is the analogy of the map, but instead of being limited to the
street view of muscles and joints, we also have maps to
the electrical grid or nervous system,
the water system that is inclusive of digestion,
circulation of arteries, veins, lymph, capillary and cellular beds, as well as
maps of each organ with their interactive relationships.
I love celebrating this work and its impact with you. Thank you, again, for sharing this journey with me. Rachel
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