Rereading “Network Spinal Analysis: A Research Perspective,” I remember now that when I read the article before, as happens so often, the first reading brought little enlightenment. Hell read part of it to me the other day and I tried to make some sense out of it. To quote,
“…an NSA practitioner will seek to promote new properties…believed to assist in advancing spinal and neural integrity, wellness, quality of
life and self organization, allowing the expression of a greater degree of wellness.”
Then I decided to do my own little analysis and review the case of one practice member I know very well.
First, I looked at the physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional state of this practice member when she first arrived.
Physical condition (before)
Back (sitting bone): It had started benignly enough. Doing some yoga, I felt some sort of tearing of the tissues, but nothing to cry about, just a ‘what have I done here?’ It seemed to go away and I continued yoga, but then the pain started to bother me. I could not really sit properly anymore. I am a secretary, so I sit all day at a computer and type. But now, I found it difficult to sit even in my very state-of-the-art ergonomic chair. I changed chairs; I took one of my boss’s plush executive chairs and found it better for sitting, but not very good for typing. I went to see my family doctor. She sent me for x-rays but found nothing. Her diagnosis, “I cannot heal this. All I can do is give you muscle relaxants and painkillers.” Well that’s not what I wanted. I wanted to heal this backache, not take pills that would only make my stomach hurt more.
Stomach: My physician’s diagnosis was hiatus hernia. She gave me some pills and immediately my stomach got worse, so I threw them out and endured the pain.
Migraines: My family doctor prescribed Fiorinal but I stopped requesting it, I think I was getting addicted to it. The headaches would come suddenly, as if I’d been hit in the back of the head with a two-by-four, and this happened almost daily. At other times, the right side of my head would hurt to the point where I felt nauseous.
So I took painkillers, three to start and then a fourth one a half hour later, usually repeated after four or five hours.
Legs: I got frostbite on my legs when I was twenty-three, walking to work in a really bad snowstorm, and though they never hurt as much as the doctor said they would, still my legs often ache.
Sometimes the pain keeps me awake at night.
Insomnia: For the past ten years, I have slept no more than three or four hours a night. Sometimes, out of frustration, I will take a
sleeping pill for maybe one night, maybe a second night, but that is all. I simply do not like the way they make me feel during the day, so I usually end up not taking anything for weeks at a time.
The year before I started with Network was my worst year ever for insomnia.
Menopause: I endured vertigo, insomnia, weight gain, loss of bone mass and mental confusion. My doctor suggested HRT, but I declined. She agreed to monitor my symptoms and see how I did. I had a bone scan to check for osteoporosis and was told that there is a tremendous loss of calcium in my lower back, down to 72%.
Mental: I was suicidal, there’s no doubt about it. Not that I would have committed such an act, but still, not a day that went by that I didn’t wish I was on the other side. I often thought I would like to just lie in bed and never, ever move again, so they would have to put me away. I would fantasize that I’d never have to make another decision, worry about loss of sleep, what I would eat, what I would wear. I would not have to worry about rent, about being responsible.
I could simply be drugged all day and forget who I was. I think these thoughts were worse than those of wanting to be ‘over there.’ I felt powerless and despondent. I couldn’t face life on its terms.
Spiritual: Because of my beliefs in karma, I believed that this life was a punishment for something terrible I had done in another life. I thought life was a sentence, a term, to pay for past crimes. I believed that I was fundamentally flawed, that I was dirty, unclean, and unworthy of love. I also believed I was incapable of loving anyone, least of all myself.
Emotional: My husband passed away five years after we were separated. I was angry at him for having made me make the choice, for putting me in a situation where I had to choose between him and life, because living with him was not life. I hated him for that.
I felt completely responsible for his death. He never quit drinking, in spite of the fact that he lived in a dingy one-room apartment, was on welfare, and had lost what was dearest to him: his family and his job.
My son was angry at me. My mother and I were trying to make our relationship work, but with little success. I was miserable. I hated
myself, my husband, my mother, and the world. At the time, it seemed I was always yelling at my son.
That is the state I was in when I came into Hell’s office that October morning.
Have things changed?
Physical Condition (After)
Back (sitting bone): Reviewing a letter to my diary dated July 1999, I can say that I am better and that I can sit in my very expensive ergonomic chair. I also mentioned that there is much more to this healing than being able to sit again. I’m noticing that my entire being is being healed.
Stomach: Network clearings only intensified my stomach problems.
My NSA practitioner referred me to an iridologist, and I have been seeing her for a year now. I cannot say that my stomach is better.
It keeps me awake at night. The pain from the hernia can be quite severe at times. There are times when it seems my stomach and my esophagus close up more tightly than two pages stuck together.
There are other health problems, such as parasites. The Iridologist only confirmed what I already knew. The medicine for this does not help my stomach. What helps my stomach is not eating any kind of wheat — very difficult to adhere to, as I am a starch junkie. I can only hope that with time I will gradually be weaned from gluten and at the same time be rid of the parasites it feeds.
Migraines: I have fewer and fewer headaches. Though it is not uncommon for me to have a migraine during and after a clearing, I have found that this usually lasts for no more than an hour. It does happen that I have migraines that last for several days, but I find that I don’t take the painkillers anymore. I endure the headache, and it is bearable. Even when I was demoted at work, I managed to keep the painkillers as far away from me as possible.
Insomnia: Definitely not better. Network, I have found, has increased my insomnia. It is not difficult to find the cause of this: Micha. There have been times when I would not sleep for days and days. I mean totally awake the entire night, my mind in great turmoil. Micha! Micha! Dear God what is this all about?
Overwhelmed by the pain I felt on the table during an adjustment
(and still do), and the spasms when I went to bed at night, I would find relief from this nightmare by drawing the dark images. The only way to get the image out of my head was to draw it. After days and days of fighting what I saw in my mind’s eye, of calling myself names for having such a fertile imagination, I would finally do a drawing. Only then would there finally be some sleep — until the next image surfaced. I called myself all kinds of names at the time, I told myself I was using a gimmick to get attention, that I had an overactive imagination, or just simply called myself (with loathing)
‘pitiful little Michelle.’ Ugh! I never hated myself more than during that period of the healing journey.
To help me with the Micha issue, my NSA practitioner referred me to an MD who uses a therapy called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a method that helps to reprocess dysfunctionally stored experiences. I have found it quite effective, but less reliable than Network. To uncover repressed memories, an EMDR practitioner guides his patient in a way not unlike that of a hypnotist, but a Network practitioner says nothing, therefore he cannot implant any kind of memory that might later be deemed a false memory. At first, I found this attitude from the Network practitioner frustrating to the point of anger, but I am now extremely grateful for it. The fact that an NSA practitioner will not name anything, will not judge any response, will not comment, in a case such as mine becomes a solid platform to stand on when repressed memories of child abuse flood into the conscious.
Legs: My legs are better. Network adjustments have loosened up my hips and, with better blood circulation to my legs; they do not ache so much at night. Of course, exercise and walking is also a good remedy. One thing is certain, my legs do not feel as if there is lead running through the veins rather than blood. I take that as a definite improvement.
Menopause: I got quite a scare after having a mammogram last year, but they said it was okay. As for osteoporosis, I have to wait for the next bone scan to see where I am heading with this disease.
I doubt that Network can be of any help with that.
Pneumonia/Bronchitis: I was very ill last October. For eight weeks, I struggled with pneumonia and bronchitis. I took two kinds of anti-
biotics, used puffers and had two x-rays. I was not strong enough, with Network, to try and heal this without antibiotics. I am scared to death of pneumonia. The coughing I experienced was so bad that even my neighbours were concerned. I don’t think in this instance that Network was of any help, in spite of the fact that I did go for clearings.
Mental (after): I have experienced an ambivalent state of mind, a ‘yes/no’ kind of struggle. ‘Yes, I want to heal/No, I can’t take this anymore.’ To my surprise, I have endured and I am no longer stuck at this stage of healing. My mind is made up to continue the process. As for my thoughts, I find that even when I was demoted, and had to struggle with the process of changing jobs, of having people either feel sorry for me or cheer my misery, I was not the least bit suicidal. No dark thoughts crossed my mind. I was distressed but not depressed. Quite a change of attitude. Again, I do not doubt for one moment that Network was a solid platform for me to stand on, when everything else around me was falling apart.
Spiritual (after): I went on a very special spiritual journey. I understand this is not uncommon for Practice Members. I travelled to Machu Picchu. There, my soul soared. I found forgiveness and learned more about who I really am. I learned that I was loved by whatever God there is and that, even though I might have done terrible things in past lives, if I faced them and acknowledged my imperfections, then I would become stronger for the challenges I had set myself. I carry the Citadel in my heart, and every day I remember it, bathed in light and filled with a spirituality that sings to my soul.
The feeling of being basically flawed is slowly being eroded by the clear days and meditations provided by my Network chiropractor, and by my visits to the therapist he referred me to. I am learning to love myself. I find that I am changing for the better. Each time I notice a change in my behaviour, I like myself a little better. This part of Network is quite a bonus. I do not know if all Network chiropractors provide such healing work, but I am very grateful mine does.
Emotional (after): My relationship with my son is becoming that of loving mother and loving son, and I thank God daily for Eddy’s presence in my life. My relationship with my mother is still very
stormy. She is seventy-nine years old and I am not sure it would be a good idea to talk about memories of child abuse (that I am not a hundred per cent sure of) unless she were to mention the subject first. However, I am confident that we will work things out. There are times when I still get upset because my husband chose death rather than life, but I now have a much better understanding of why I feel that way. My new job at work might have been a demotion, but in the process I learned good things about myself.
Jan. 28, 2001 (Computer Journal)