What you resist persists.
 

Healing the Tone of the Body
through Network Chiropractic
By Donald M. Epstein, D.C.

From the book: Music and Miracles
Chapter 6

To see the forms that sound produces is a miracle. Hans Jenny's cymatic forms remind us that every tone, frequency and instrument creates a wide variety of patterns. As every shape and substance has a unique sound correlation, so every resonant chamber has a corresponding tone.

Dr. Donald Epstein reminds us that the origins of Chiropractic are tone and vibratory waves in the body. Listening to the breath and voice as spinal adjustments are made give us insight into the emerging awareness that the body itself is tone.

Rogers friend called me the morning after Roger had three chiropractic spinal adjustments asking if I could see him right away, as he was "going through some real tough stuff." A few minutes later I walked into Rogers' room to see his body shaking and covered in a cold sweat and his hands trembling. He was crying, which he never did. This was not just any cry; it was a deep soul cry. He was on all fours, a wastebasket in front of him, retching violently with a deep grunt from his core. This wailing grunt was the type of sound that comes from a punched lower gut. He was rocking back and forth on both knees and sobbing between dry heaves.

At first observation you would say that Roger was ill and needed attention. But Roger was in an accelerated state of release and healing. His spinal system (the conduit of consciousness and tone expressed through the body) was free of interference. I knew this seeming illness was an expression of his resident intelligence, setting him free from undigested life events, which were lodged in his nervous system and his being.

Roger had repressed his emotions most of his life. He had eventually sought relief from the emotion stored in his being through drug use. About a dozen years ago he had gone through heroin addiction withdrawal. Now he was reexperiencing the withdrawal experience he thought was complete twelve years ago.

Later that day Roger said that when he released the deep low tones alternated with sobbing, an underlying tension that had always been present disappeared. The world was different. Roger may not have needed to empty his stomach contents through vomiting. He did need to "throw up" that which no longer served his evolving sense of self. The process occurred without his trying, autonomically, as Roger surrendered to a process, which appeared to have a rhythm of its own. The contracture of the retching created audible tones. Roger resonated with and released through sound the tensions that were trapped within his nervous system.

When that lower tone was completely released, Roger regained his calm. A few minutes later as he arched his back, a higher tone was released, demonstrating the relationship between another spinal region and a different sound. This continued until several tones and several spinal regions were freed. Finally he clenched his fists and punched the bed, letting out a roar resonating with rage. He collapsed on the bed, arms outstretched, neck in extension, arms open wide like a bird in flight. He reached a place of peace that he had never before experienced.

Helen had been trying to balance her life. Her perpetual motion and involvement in life left little or no room for her to feel her emotions or listen to her inner voice. Her neck was "such an annoyance." Within a few moments after a specific spinal chiropractic adjustment Helen started humming, and giggling. She hummed, giggled, and laughed most of the day for the next four days. "I just couldn't stop humming and laughing. Everything seems so silly. Oh God, I feel like such a child," she said.

Helen was able to listen to her inner voice once again, without even trying. She could no longer avoid the reality that she was now someone very different from the Helen she thought she had been.

At six days old, Joshua was brought to me by his mother. He had not nursed since birth and was now jaundiced. His breath was rapid and shallow, and he did not respond to outside noises. He did not even cry. His eyes were closed, and he would not open them even to look at his mother. With fists clenched, he opened his mouth and twisted his neck as if trying to cry, but no sound at all came out.

I applied gentle touch to various spinal segments in an attempt to adjust his spine. Joshua coughed a little, and a faint whine was heard. This cry got a little louder. He breathed slower and deeper as his arms opened and his hands relaxed. Later that day his father noticed that Joshua was looking at him and making various sounds, some of them gentle cooing tones. That night Joshua nursed. Within two days he was fully responding to the environment and no longer had a yellow tint to his skin.

Joshua had Down's syndrome. His facial features were profoundly mongoloid. Over the next year his parents were told by capable physicians that his potential was very low, his mental skills would be seriously impaired, and it was improbable that his motor skills would develop enough for him to run or ambulate well. His parents were advised that he would always be profoundly retarded, that he would need heart surgery and most likely eye muscle surgery as well.

Joshua's spine was adjusted at least once weekly for the first couple of years of his life. I have not seen or heard from the family for nearly three years, but I recently received the following letter:

"Dear Donny,
"We've been thinking a lot about you this month. Joshua will be five years old. We wanted to let you know how much he has accomplished.
"Without you, we don't think he would have lived. And even if he did, we know you are a major reason he has accomplished so much.
"Joshua is a very happy and lovable little boy. He can run, jump, and ride his trike. He talks quite a bit and he loves music. The thing we are most proud of is Joshua can read! He is reading from a first grade book and has a sight vocabulary of over 70 words. The professionals do not understand how we got a four-year-old with Down's syndrome to read at a first grade level. They say it is pretty amazing.
"He is still the most healthy child in his preschool. He has only been on antibiotics once, when he had scarletina two months ago and could not go back to school without antibiotics
"This is one case, Donny, that you not only affected someone's life with Chiropractic, but you changed it. We thank you again?"

What was done to these individuals as a chiropractor was no miracle. I worked according to the concepts of Network Chiropractic, which, like traditional chiropractic, holds that the shape, position, and tension of the spinal system determine the nature of consciousness expressed by the individual. When you are angry your neck comes forward, your spinal cord elongates, and a particular tone is established in the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. When you feel "fluish," or toxic, your shoulders move forward at the same time that your spine elongates, and you slump forward. The tone you resonate with is similar to the feeling of "I can't" or "Why me?" In military posture the spine is straight, without the usual contours or curves. This lengthens the spinal cord also, but the tension set up is one which allows and individual to follow orders without heartfelt conscience.

Daniel David Palmer, the originator of Chiropractic, stated that his discoveries on health, the spine, and the nervous system were founded upon tone. He was reluctant to teach this new practice because he was not able to define the meaning of tone. The first book on Chiropractic, The Chiropractor's Advisor, was published in 1910. He explained, as did his son, B.J. Palmer, the developer of Chiropractic, that the nervous system is especially suited as the vehicle for expression of the infinite or universal intelligence in the body. He called the portion of universal intelligence within each individual "innate intelligence". "Intelligence is expressed through the nervous system, which is the means of communication to and from individualized spirit; the condition known as TONE is the tension and the firmness, the resiliency and elasticity of tissue in a state of health, normal existence," explained Palmer. He continued: "The mental and physical condition known as dis-ease is a disordered state because of an unusual amount of tension above or below that of tone." He said further that "normal and abnormal amounts of strain or laxity are due to the position of the osseous (bone) framework, the neuroskeleton, which not only serves as a protector to the nervous system, but also, as a regulator of tension."

Palmer explained the method used in Chiropractic: "Instead of using the knife and drugs, chiropractors substitute hand adjustments of the displaced portion of the neuroskeleton which presses upon or against some portion of the nervous system, which injures (instead of protecting) the filamentous bands of nervous tissue that connect the parts of the nervous system with each other and transmit impulses to the various organs of the body" (D.D. Palmer, The Chiropractor, 1914; p.8; republished 1970 by Health Research, Inc.)

"Philosophy, special or general, is not the foundation upon which I built the science of Chiropractic. Its science is based upon TONE. Tone is the basic principle, the one from which all other principles, which compose the science have sprung," wrote Palmer in 1914 in his book The Chiropractor (p.8).

When B.J. Palmer further developed his father's discovery, the concept of tone was eliminated from the new philosophy, science, and art. B.J. still considered and taught that the purpose of the chiropractic adjustment was to unite the physical with the spiritual. The chiropractic adjustment was to be given with the sole intent of better enabling the resident intelligence to freely express and personify itself. The natural expression of this intelligence or unbound consciousness through our nervous system is our natural state. The spinal distortion which interferes with the flow of this universal consciousness or intelligence (which extends beyond time and space) is called a spinal (vertebral) subluxation.

It was the vision of the Palmers that as innate intelligence flowed in an uninterferred fashion, the prisons, mental institutions, and hospitals would be emptied. The genius allowing inspiration or enlightenment to flow through us would be attainable for each person. As this innate intelligence expressed itself more fully, the educated mind would have free access to its storehouse of wisdom.

The Palmers referred to a second form of consciousness or intelligence, which they called "educated intelligence." This is the sum total of what we have learned during our lifetime. According to Network Chiropractic and holographic models of consciousness, information and experience are expressed and stored throughout the body. Each cell has a perfect all-knowing consciousness (innate tone, innate mind) and a consciousness which has been educated during its lifetime (educated mind, or self). The cell's sense of identity is a combination of the innate intelligence (unlimited) and educated intelligence (limited).

Network Chiropractic was established to extend the traditional chiropractic practices into the reverence of the spiritual health of every individual. It serves to release the innate intelligence within the body and allows clarity that harmonizes mind, body and spirit. The practice called networking is an adjustment, not only of bones and nervous system, but also of the eternal and temporal systems of health and life.

In my experience the shape, position, tension, and tone of the spinal system appear to be mediators of the states of consciousness in every cell of the body. Experience has shown that each type of traumatic event carries a resonant tone, which is in phase with the experience. The "non-ascended," "immature," or unresolved consciousness which is expressed in the body-mind, cells, and tissues of the body has characteristic vibration or tone. It is associated repeatedly with characteristic spinal subluxation patterns. These patterns seek to draw consciousness from other regions in order to perpetuate themselves.

Terms like "uptight," "hanging loose," "high-strung" are used to relate the observed alteration of tension or tone in the spinal system to attitudes or behavior. Undigested emotional, chemical, psychic, or physical events perpetuate their own consciousness in the body-mind. These blockages to the flow of life energy remain as long as the spinal system resonates with the consciousness or tone of the event. A spinal system with single or multiple vertebral subluxations is less flexible and has a reduced ability to recover from events, which have passed or are feared in the future. This compromised spinal system may have difficulty in recovering from the effects of judgment, autosuggestion, and socialized limitations.

In this model all disease or "illness" is an expression of the innate intelligence attempting to reveal itself within the limits of the tones available, but it is limited by the range of spinal tones which the human instrument can sound.

As the spinal subluxation is adjusted in the appropriate phase with which it resonates, cohesive waves of life pass through the individual. These waves propagate more of the same. In the process, the dissonant tones are expressed through the body and the voice.

New perspective and new awareness are part of healing. It is associated with moving beyond the established sense of self. Rather than viewing the movement beyond self as pathology, we view this as necessary for healing to occur. As the innate consciousness contacts the educated consciousness, the self is transformed.

Two conflicting models of transcendence and healing may be considered: One model states that through releasing aspects of one's self that no longer are relevant, one's sense of self becomes so large that it is without boundaries. In this model, self-realization leads to the utmost realization, or as some would say, God.

This model is not fully consistent with the clinical experience of Network Chiropractic, which holds that it is only through an ultimate realization that one can realize the true self. The instant the innate body intelligence contacts the educated mind, self is transformed. Consciousness is changed, matter is altered. Healing occurs. Since the innate intelligence is the creative intelligence, which animates, motivates, heals, coordinates, and inspires us, a great personification of the intelligence instantly alters our reality. Thus diagnosis or prognosis of the condition is not as relevant.

Physical, emotional, mental, or social disturbances known as illness are a consequence of vital force (assembled by an all-knowing innate intelligence) which has been redirected, blocked, inhibited. As soon as the infinite consciousness is expressed through the body, that part receiving the consciousness is reborn.

With the awareness of a self greater than what was formerly expressed, there is a discharge. The stomach or intestines may eliminate that which did not honor the digestive system. This may be through vomiting or diarrhea. The lungs and bronchi may expand beyond their sense of self, and mucus or coughing may be produced. Fever, sweating, pain, cramping, inflammation, and altered urination are other means by which the innate mind creates a discharge of the trapped tones produced by a subluxated spinal system.

The adjustment of the spinal subluxation, applied in a particular sequence or phasing system, appears rather consistently to promote reorchestration of the symphony of educated and innate mind. It does this without suggestion, without advice, without the individual trying to do anything. When innate body intelligence resonates in the educated mind, there is a miracle of integrated healing.

I have seen cases of paralysis healed and the effects of altered or blocked life expression, labeled as almost any disease, resolved during or subsequent to chiropractic adjustments. But these are not miracles. When there is an appropriate change in tone in the spinal system, the music played by each cell of the body changes. Healing and balance occur.

A recipient of Network Chiropractic describes his recent journey on the path of healing. He reported that a small pea-size lump appeared under the skin on the inside of his right arm near the elbow joint. Immediately he became fearful and remembered his cousin's fatal ordeal with cancer, which began with a lump in his arm.

After the initial reaction of alarm, he meditated. He felt a reassurance from a deep part of himself that a detoxification was beginning and knew that it would be in his best interest to get cleared out as much as possible. He listened to this voice within telling him to trust the process and did not go to a doctor, to the dismay of his family.

The lump increased in size and tenderness and became the size of a marble. It was accompanied by a series of clear outs; a term unique to Network Chiropractic, meaning, "integrated healing adjustments." Small-infected sores broke out on most of his fingers and the lump grew in size and soreness until it was the size of a walnut and protruded considerably. His lymph glands became enlarged and he ran a low-grade fever. The lumps started to burn and throb with considerable intensity.

He increased adjustments to one or two a day. After each clearing adjustment, the burning and throbbing sensations would ease. He had no doubt that his body was going through a major release or discharge. After two months a scab formed. The lump decreased in size and there was seepage. During this period he lost ten pounds and had little appetite. A week later the scab broke off revealing fresh tissue developing. New tissue filled in the minor remnant of cavity behind the swelling, which continued to drain.

Throughout this process he did not interfere but simply allowed his innate intelligence to release this foreign matter. He wrote, "I do not know the source or the reason about this detoxification. However, I recognize that my body is finally releasing something filled with anger that never belonged to me. My frequent adjustments helped me to be present with the process in complete trust. This process has deepened my appreciation and respect for the Network Chiropractic Model, and has been a vivid demonstration of its innate power."

The miracle is not in the condition that healed but in this man's greater contact between his innate intelligence and his educated mind. The magic is in the natural awareness, trust, and respect for life that develops in an individual as a consequence of this form of healing. The change in a person's attitudes about self, about life, and his or her awe of life are the true miracles.

This new trust and awareness results naturally from a spinal system cleared of interference - a system that exceeds the most glorious instrument ever made by human hand - that is properly tuned to serve the Composer of all creation. It is available to all. To quote Don Campbell in The Roar of Silence, "Exploring the inner world . . . does not require study, travel, or devotion to a guru . . . it is simple. We need only to have the courage to see God within ourselves as a unique reflection of all time, knowledge, and every abundant love."

Reprinted from the book MUSIC AND MIRACLES