*Luminous Healing Featured in Voyage LA Magazine!
http://voyagela.com/interview/meet-tiffany-hume-luminous-healing-inc-venicemarina-del-rey/
https://shoutoutla.com/meet-tiffany-hume-luminous-healing-inc-therapeutic-bodywork-spiritual-counseling/
SCIATICA PELVIC IMBALANCES & STABILITY:
I often have clients come to me for help with Sciatica. I think this is because I have also dealt with it myself personally so I know the issue intimately. I have personally often found that most Bodywork or more specifically massage makes Sciatica worse and this is because you are dealing with an impinged and inflamed nerve and a structural issue that is causing the impingement. Without this knowledge it is all too easy to massage right over the inflamed nerve and cause more inflammation sending the surrounding tissue into spasm thereby compounding the issue.
When I work with Sciatica I start with Craniosacral Therapy (which is a subtle, unwinding process that is also very specific to aligning the structure, spine, cranium and how they interrelate) to balance the Pelvic bones and unwind the Lumbar vertebrae where the nerve exits the spine. Then it's important to address where the pelvic imbalance is coming from. Often times there is an old tailbone, pubic bone or pelvic injury. When the tailbone is curled under or jammed it will then throw off the entire pelvis and Sacroilac Joint (SI)- where the Sciatic nerve exits and this can often rotate the lumbar vertebra. This then causes the Iliopsoas (Hip Flexor) to go into considerable contraction and sometimes spasm.
The other key to working with Sciatica is to address the instability in the pelvis. Because of the origin of the imbalance the body has now learned a compensation pattern where the stabilizer muscles have stopped doing their job and the surrounding muscles are
overworking. The body holds itself together either through stability or tension and all too often it is the latter. For this element of the equation it is essential to be doing physical exercises that turn on the stabilizer muscles and help to retrain the alignment of the pelvis. Doing simple things like a suspended 90* chair at the wall squeezing a yoga block between the knees helps stabilize and balance the pelvis. I also teach my clients a more nuanced, specific pelvic balancing exercise series.
*To learn these exercises Click Here
Walking up stairs slowly, in parallel consistent alignment helps to activate, strengthen and balance both the psoas and gluts. Swimming is also very balancing for the pelvis. Sitting and lying around are the worst things you can do for Sciatica as they create more instability in the pelvis and the Sciatic nerve is screaming for stabilization! The frustrating thing with Sciatica is that after the body has been rebalanced it still takes a day or so for the inflammation to go down and it can be SO Painful! And this is where the importance of doing stabilizing exercises and lots of icing comes in.
I've also found that sometimes the Sciatica is originating from the Gut either from a food reaction or some intestinal imbalance such as parasites etc...This will cause the Psoas to seize up which will rotate the whole pelvis and set in motion the pattern that leads to impingement and inflammation of the nerves and surrounding tissues. I've also seen where extreme menstrual cycles will rotate the uterus which throws off the whole pelvis as well. This sometimes can show up in conjunction with migraine headaches (extreme menstrual cycles and migraines are an indication that the Endocrine system is out of balance). Anything that causes inflammation in the body can trigger it. I've experienced mold neurotoxicity triggering it, Epstein-Barr Virus, heavy metal toxicity...
Psychologically the Pelvis represents our feeling of being able to support ourselves both emotionally, financially etc... and do we feel "stable" in life. Addressing any underlying misbeliefs around not feeling supported (often by the masculine/ father) can be really helpful to clear what set the stage for this imbalance to show up. Also sexual trauma often shows up in the tissues of the pelvis and can cause the tailbone to tuck under connecting to feelings of shame, victimization, unworthiness...
MESSAGES FROM THE BODY
by Michael J. Lincoln Ph.D
says Sciatica can be deep inner pain the person doesn't' want to know which can come from "a denial dominated self-defeating programming dysfunctional family."
It can have to do with "Creativity-anxiety: concern, anxiety and dread regarding the release and expression of their creative capabilities."
Issues of being Hypocritical, super self-sufficient but under the "ferocious independence is an 'innocent infant' longing for care and commitment", concern about money, the future, security and safety issues...
It is deeply important to me to create a safe, sacred space where all these levels can be addressed and honored.
HEALING TRAUMA THROUGH CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY,
SPIRITUAL COUNSELING & SELF LOVE:
What do I do?:
I have been a student of consciousness, healing and health most of my life. At a young age I became interested in Spirituality and Psychology and throughout my life sought out numerous forms of healing both physcially, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually (PEMS). I came to these modalities of healing from my own physical challenges, injuries and life traumas. I have become my own study and after 16yrs. of doing healing work I've learned how we as human beings are all so similar at our core and deal with the same fundamental human challenges, just varying stories.
After receiving my Masters in Spiritual Science from the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness I enrolled in a program I had been on the periphery of for 14 yrs. and I am currently in my second year studying Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica. This program is truly life changing and I am deeply grateful for the masters who created this work and the gift I have of sharing it's blessings.
It's difficult to fully describe what I do as my work is multidimensional and really varies from client to client. I started out doing massage and deep tissue and quickly gravitated to Craniosacral therapy and then over the years just by virtue of doing the work I became much more intuitive and spirit started showing me things I had never studied. I was already studying spirituality and psychology personally and this inspired me to begin to study more how I could integrate this into my work. Although much of my work is focused on the body it is actually my intention to clear energetic, mental and emotional blocks as well that are in the way of optimal balance. For some clients who are wanting this type of work sessions can turn into releasing past traumas and coming into loving relationship with oneself. My work is really an integration of PEMS. Some clients choose to focus more on the physical, some come just for Spiritual Counseling and some for the full integration.
What brought me to Craniosacral Therapy:
I came to Craniosacral Therapy after years of being completely reliant on and addicted to chiropractic adjustments at least weekly and was otherwise in severe pain. The problem was my body never held the adjustments hence why I was reliant on them. The first time I experienced Craniosacral Therapy it was revelatory for me; a transcendent, euphoric experience and more relief then I had ever had from adjustments. I was hit in the face with a volleyball when I was 15 yrs. old and this impacted what is called the Maxilla bone (or upper jaw, which spans the whole middle of the face). This impaction transferred to my upper cervical vertebrae, the atlas and axis, which were chronically out of alignment. Part of the problem was I didn't receive any bodily assistance for several years after the accident when the pattern was already set in. When I first had my Maxilla bone released by a Craniosacral therapist I felt the whole border of the sutures of the bone throbbing and balled for an hour. This bone had been jammed for years and there was so much stuck energy that was released along with intense pain. When the pain subsided I felt a freedom and space that I had forgotten existed prior. Now I want to add a disclaimer here; most Cranial adjustments are not painful at all and quite gentle, my body's reaction speaks to how stuck it was and how much I needed that release; it was 100% worth it! Needless to say I was hooked on Craniosacral Therapy and for the first time since being addicted to Chiropractics experienced my body having lasting changes and not only being able to hold the adjustments but beginning to experience my body "unwinding" and adjusting itself, which by the way it is actually designed to do.
For years I moved completely away from Chiropractics and found my body becoming more stable. I have since found a few extremely unique chiropractors that are working more holistically, adjust differently and have helped me tremendously. There is a time and a place for chiropractic adjustments however when the body chronically misaligns and gets a "quick fix" of a "standard" chiropractic adjustment it begins to rely on this adjustment to rebalance and if done too often the ligament and tendon attachments of the spine can get overstretched and become hyper mobile thereby not being able to hold the adjustments. What the unique holistic Chiropractors I've worked with understand is you have to address the underlying root cause of the imbalance which may be structural, mental, emotional, hormonal, digestion related or there may be something else such as viral throwing the whole system off. We are multidimensional beings and our bodies reflect that.
Craniosacral Therapy grew out of a progression from Chriopractic which addresses the bones of the spine and pelvis and some newer forms of chiropractic are teaching to include the individual bones of the cranium. Then Osteopathy acknowledged that the bones of the cranium were semi-movable (not fused). Craniosacral Therapy went underneath the boney structure and brought to light that our pelvis, spine and cranium are all interconnected by an elastic lining called the Dura which pumps the cerebrospinal fluid up and down the spine and throughout the cranium. Craniosacral Therapy recognized the importance of working from the inside out and by unwinding this internal elastic system and how these bones work rhythmically together the body would naturally come back into it's own optimal balance. The bones are always meant to be moving in a specific rhythm; however if we have had a trauma to the body such as a whiplash, car accident, impact to the cranium etc. the bones can get jammed, out of alignment or out of sync etc. And when one bone misaligns since they are all connected by this internal elastic system it can pull out many of it's neighboring friends. For example when the temporal bones (on the side of the head that the ears sit on top of) are out of balance, the Ilia or pelvic bones usually mimic the same pattern and vice versa.
When the spine has experienced a trauma or whiplash it can set in motion a pattern of the spine reversing it's natural curvature which can turn into the tailbone tucking under, flattening of the lumbar spine, the head jutting forward and flattening of the neck curvature. You can imagine this can cause a lot of pain and discomfort in those areas as the surrounding muscles begin to seize up and over grip to account for the misalignment. The spine's curvature is meant to absorb shock like a spring and without it's natural curve it becomes much more rigid and even more prone to new injuries.
Creating a Loving Relationship with our Bodies and with ourselves:
I was talking with a new client who has experienced neck pain for years and that she is constantly trying to keep her neck in alignment. As I observed her talking about it and what she was doing I could see it was coming from good awareness but that the approach was forceful and an attempt to control her body. When our bodies have been misaligned for years it is it's natural job to compensate around the imbalance; so it's not always possible to just "push" the head and neck back to where they "should" be without addressing the whole equation and retraining the whole body. I suggested that when she is focusing on aligning her neck to send Love and Light to her neck (or you could just simply think of breathing into the muscles and bringing in relaxation if that sounds too weird). At first she gawked at this "woo-woo" suggestion saying that's not gonna make any difference; but as she went about her week she decided to give it a try and was surprised how it would soften her neck, she felt less pain, and at the very least was just more relaxed about her relationship to her neck. She also shared what I would interpret as a new found empowerment within her body; less of a feeling of hopelessness that this pain will always be there. What I reflected back to her is that we are not our bodies. These are just the vehicles we are traveling in as we experience being human. We actually are Energy or Light beings at our essence and choosing this focus helps to remind us that the pains, discomforts and imbalances are just experiences we have had that we can release and the body can truly remember it's optimal balance and divine blueprint, sometimes it just needs a little help and that's where I come in.
*CLICK HERE TO VIEW NECK EXERCISES:
When the spine goes into reverse curvature it can also turn into upper back rounding and eventually worst case scenario, severe hunch back. This pattern also illustrates that the person who is rounding forward and hunching over is pulling out of their own heart energy center or chakra. This can be an indication of deep unresolved unworthiness material which is a denial of self often accompanied by shame etc... This is actually a very common core issue for many people. It can be scary to stand in the full empowerment of our authentic selves. And also society actually rewards and encourages fear based thinking and victimhood. This is where the work is all interrelated.
As we release old limiting misidentifications with unworthiness etc. and come into Loving relationship within ourselves we naturally relate to our bodies differently and come into greater balance. And as we release physical blocks which always have a mental and emotional element and balance physically we naturally feel better mentally and emotionally and are more connected to the clear channel of our spirit speaking through us guiding our life's inspiration and purpose.
WHIPLASH, REVERSE CURVATURE & HERNIATED DISCS...
Many clients come to me with incidents of Whiplash from either a car accident or falling off a horse etc... An acute whiplash can usually be easily unwound however many people have very old traumas to the body that gone unaddressed become deep seated patterns now leading to a Reverse Curvature of the spine and sometimes eventually a Bulging/ Herniated Disc. A Herniated disc is when a tear in the outer, fibrous ring of an intervertebral disc allows the soft, central portion to bulge out beyond the damaged outer rings. If the disc is under pressure but there is not actually a tear this is called a Bulging disc.
Craniosacral Therapy is one extremely effective way of "unwinding" a trauma to the spine and body. When the body has been severely whipped back and forth in a jarring incident it tends to go into a protective, bracing pattern. When in trauma the body tenses up in the pelvic floor and Psoas (Hip Flexor Muscle) and then curls into the fetal position. Overtime the spine can reverse its curvature, shorten and loose space between the Vertebrae. When there is no more space between the vertebrae this puts pressure on the intervertebral discs which now have no choice but to push out of the spine resulting in a Bulge or Herniation.
The remedy is to go into where the system has been stuck and out of balance & align the cranial bones, vertebral column and pelvis. Once the system is in balance there is now space for the discs to return to their home. The spine is an elastic and fluid system inside of the boney exterior and meant to be moving rhythmically all the time to flow with and compensate to all of life's experiences. And sometimes it needs a little help getting back into flow.
Surgery can often be avoided with Craniosacral Therapy as this process helps remind the body of the natural Self Regulating design of the Craniosacral/Spinal System. When surgeries fuse the vertebrae in an attempt to remedy the disc problem and pressure on the spinal chord from disc degeneration the spine now has a fixed portion that is meant to be flexible and moving rhythmically which can create a new problem. It also doesn't address the underlying reason that the disc bulged or degenerated in the first place meaning it could now cause disc issues in a new part of the spine and the spine itself is likely still problematic.
Craniosacral Therapy can still be very effective after a fusion surgery as it is working to balance the internal, interconnected elastic and fluid system. Since one portion is now fused it is even more important to make sure the rest of the system is in balance and moving fluidly.
While physical accidents and traumas lead to structural imbalances there was usually an energetic, emotional or mental pattern/imprint that set the stage for the body to respond to the incident in a particular way while someone else's body would react slightly differently.
In the Book:
MESSAGES FROM THE BODY: Their Psychological Meanings
Author Michael J. Lincoln, Ph.D. talks about the Psychological meaning behind a "Slipped Disc."
" 'Cope-ability-anxiety." They feel a great deal of pressure, and that they are completely unsupported by life. They are lost in indecision, in the face of feeling overwhelmed and alone in the world. They feel they are being asked to be more than they are, or to do more than they can handle- that they have to live up to something beyond their capabilities. They are full of cope-ability-anxiety and self-disgust for being the way they are. The result is that they are rather intensely indecisive and "waffling" in their functioning.
They are the product of highly unsupportive and wrong-making family."
"Spinal Disc Problems:
'I can't handle it!" They are feeling outclassed and overrun by the demands of life, and they are seeking to put off, slide around, or ignore the requirements that are giving them the feeling they don't have what it takes to make it. It comes from having grown up in a household that either asked far too much or far too little of them."
Each spinal disc has a different additional meaning associated with problems around that disc."
He then goes in depth into what each individual disc represents...
Maybe this doesn't sound like you but it sounds a lot like someone in your family. Often times we share many of the same patterns with our immediate family and they tend to show up in our physical imbalances and tissues. As we re-pattern the body we can also shift mental and emotional patterns and likewise as we resolve and clear old mental and emotional material the body can miraculously let go of chronic tensions and correct structural imbalances.
The body is so wise and meant to be our ally. It's easy to get frustrated when we are experiencing pain but pain is actually the body's natural design to communicate to us when something is out of balance so we can go about healing it. In Spiritual Psychology we use a technique called "Gestalt" which can be used in a variety of ways, one of which is to dialogue with the part of the body that is hurting. Our tissues hold our thoughts, feelings and memories. Oftentimes when we just give voice to that area it will have a lot to say to us about what it's feeling, what it needs physically, where it originated, and how it would like to change. And by simply giving the disowned aspects a voice integration often occurs naturally.
I'm here to support you in having that conversation with your body and in coming into greater alignment, balance and loving within yourself.
As I described earlier when trauma occurs one of the primary muscles that contracts is the Psoas. I have affectionately been referred to by several clients as the "Psoas Lady" due to my focused work on releasing this important structural muscle for pelvic and overall alignment, a muscle that all too often goes unaddressed.
I also teach many of my clients the TRE: Trauma Releasing Exercises which can be greatly effective in releasing old tension and trauma to the body by reactivating the body's natural tremor mechanism to "shake it off."
The tremors start in the Psoas (Pelvis) and then travel up the spine to the brain stem where trauma is stored (also the same pathway of the Craniosacral System). Sometimes Craniosacral Therapy naturally reawakens this tremor mechanism and especially after continued treatment.
"Dr. David Berceli, Ph.D. is an international expert in the areas of trauma intervention and conflict resolution. He is the creator of Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE). This revolutionary technique is designed to help release the deep tension created in the body during a traumatic experience or through chronic stress."
https://www.youtube.com/user/davidberceli/featured
TRE: Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises
CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY FOR CONCUSSIONS AND POST-CONCUSSION SYNDROME & THE SPIRITUAL LEARNING:
I frequently get clients who've had 1 or multiple concussions either recently or in their colored, active pasts that have gone unaddressed. "Concussion, also known as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is typically defined as a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning."
("Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Condition Information". NICHD. Retrieved 18 December 2017.)
In the case of Post-Concussion Syndrome the symptoms may persist for weeks, months or even years. These may include headaches, dizziness, fatigue, anxiety, memory, attention problems, sleep problems, and irritability. I've also seen it sometimes shut down one side of the body leading to other structural imbalances effecting the spine and into the hips. One client, in addition to head symptoms, was actually having a hard time walking, her hip was in severe pain and her leg would just go out from underneath her. She didn't remember right away that she had been dropped on stairs on her head as an infant which revealed itself. Through correcting her TBI her whole body function improved.
If you ever saw the movie Concussion with Will Smith based on the true story of the doctor who figured out why Football players were going mad, self mutilating and killing themselves you understand why the human skull is not designed to withstand impact. He was looking at extreme cases of major repetitive cranial impact leading to his study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which is a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head injuries leading to extreme symptoms that don't begin till years after the injuries. He compares the human brain which lives in cerebrospinal fluid inside the skull to that of a wood pecker whose brain is held and cushioned by their tongue which raps around it. This allows the woodpecker to withstand repetitive head whacking motions. The human skull on the other hand translates cranial impact to about
100 times the speed of the actual blow
Depending on the type of cranial impact it may cause linear, rotational, or angular movement of the brain or a combination of them. "In rotational movement, the head turns around its center of gravity and in angular movement, it turns on an axis, not through its center of gravity. The amount of rotational force is thought to be the major component in concussion and its severity".
(Anderson T, Heitger M, Macleod AD (2006). "Concussion and mild head injury")
Craniosacral Therapy addresses the entire cranium, spinal column, sacrum, the meningeal (elastic) lining that surrounds the spinal chord and cerebrospinal fluid including the tentorium cerebelli that surrounds and bisects the brain. I have found that often times the brain will be sitting further forward in the cranium after a cranial impact or whiplash incident where the head was thrown forward. Through balancing the cranial bones and pumping the cerebrospinal fluid inside the cranium, the intracranial pressure and swelling lessens and the brain returns to a more central, balanced position often alleviating the client's headaches, blurred or crossed vision, balance issues, sleep or hormonal imbalance and a variety of symptoms. When the cranial bones and spine are balanced the head can more affectively "float" on top of the spine rather than being thrown forward; which straightens the cervical spine, strains the neck muscles and often cutting off free blood, oxygen and cerebrospinal fluid flow into the cranium. Now there is room for the spinal chord to enter the cranium at the foramen magnum which will also affect the balancing of the autonomic nervous system.
"Concussion may be under-diagnosed because of the lack of the highly noticeable signs and symptoms while athletes may minimize their injuries to remain in the competition. A retrospective survey in 2005 suggested that more than 88% of concussions are unrecognized."
(Delaney JS, Abuzeyad F, Correa JA, Foxford R (August 2005). "Recognition and characteristics of concussions in the emergency department population". The Journal of Emergency Medicine. 29 (2): 189-97).
"In terms of anecdotal evidence, the Concussion Alliance community has found Craniosacral Therapy to be one of the most effective treatments that we've found for persistent post-concussion symptoms."
(https://www.concussionalliance.org/craniosacral-therapy)
Watch Adrienne Larkin discuss:
How Cranial Osteopathy~ (Related to Craniosacral Therapy)
Can Heal Traumatic Brain Injury:
How Cranial Osteopathy Can Heal Traumatic Brain Injury
"Craniosacral Therapy for Concussion Symptoms:
Dr. Elizabeth Sandel, a nationally recognized brain injury specialist, writes that Craniosacral Therapy 'can be effective at treating headaches, as well as neck and back pain that are common with post-concussion syndrome.'"
"Cindy Parlow Cone (Soccer Champion and Coach) says that Craniosacral Therapy has been the most helpful treatment for her Concussions".
(Cindy Parlow Cone spoke on the PINK Concussions Panel: The Faces of Female Brain Injury was held at the National Institutes of Health's NIH Workshop "Understanding Brain Injury in Women" on Dec 18-19, 2017).
"An August 2017 study of Craniosacral Therapy with professional football players (NFL and Canadian Football League) showed positive results. The players all had medically diagnosed post-concussion syndrome and showed "statistically greater improvements in pain intensity, orthopedic range of motion, memory, cognition, and sleep" after ten sessions of Craniosacral therapy (CST) combined with Visceral Manipulation (VM) and Neural Manipulation (NM). Ricky Williams, a former NFL running back who also played a season in the Canadian Football League, partnered with the Upledger Institute International on the study.
In a study published in June 2018, participants who received osteopathic cranial manipulation showed "improvement in their overall concussion symptoms based on the Post Concussion Symptom scale scores."
(https://www.concussionalliance.org/craniosacral-therapy)
Evidence shows that Craniosacral Therapy is a beneficial treatment for relieving body imbalances resulting from head injuries and many of us have suffered head injuries that we vaguely remember for which we would benefit greatly from receiving Craniosacral sessions for.
In the Book:
The Key to Self Liberation
by Christiane Beerlandt
~she talks about the Psychological & Spiritual learning opportunity when one experiences a Concussion.
"Have you been shaken awake? Take a good look at yourself now and arrive at your Essence. Don't be afraid, no longer run away from yourself; make use of a beautiful, balanced structure within: feelings, inner life and powerful self-aware manifestation.
No longer neglect the Gold in yourself. Become conscious of your personal worth, talents and possibilities. Only when you acknowledge yourself as autonomous and Worthy, independent of others, can a beautiful, balanced relationship with others come to be, without your losing yourself or suffocating in it. Thus first arrive at this unification with yourself, no longer placing yourself below anyone. Discover this deep, beautiful reality of your personality: Brain Concussions ask for a transformation. Now draw out of yourself the most beautiful and deepest treasures.
Take pride in yourself and live with self-respect, trusting that everything which is good for you will come to you if you open up for it and if you no longer cling emotionally to people or things outside yourself. You are a sun; radiate and you will warm yourself and attract beautiful things toward you. Or would you rather let yourself be burned by the rays of someone else?
Free yourself, enjoy, create your life yourself."
Maybe this doesn't sound like you but it sounds a lot like someone in your family. Often times we share many of the same patterns with our immediate family and they tend to show up in our physical imbalances and tissues. As we re-pattern the body we can also shift mental and emotional patterns and likewise as we resolve and clear old mental and emotional material the body can miraculously let go of chronic tensions and correct structural imbalances.
The body is so wise and meant to be our ally. It's easy to get frustrated when we are experiencing physical challenges but the body is actually designed to communicate to us when something is out of balance so we can go about healing it. In Spiritual Psychology we use a technique called "Gestalt" which can be used in a variety of ways, one of which is to dialogue with the part of the body that is hurting. Our tissues hold our thoughts, feelings and memories. Oftentimes when we just give voice to that area it will have a lot to say to us about what it's feeling, what it needs physically, where it originated, and how it would like to change. And by simply giving the disowned aspects a voice integration often occurs naturally.
I'm here to support you in having that conversation with your body and in coming into greater alignment, balance and loving within yourself.