My gut reaction is to say, "It's magic!" But, I know that really doesn't get it. So, here's my attempt at defining "What is TTouch?":
TTouch is founded on the Feldenkrais method. And now you're going to say, "What's that?" Now we're going for the long explanation, but we'll get there, I promise.
Okay, Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-1984) was an Israeli Physicist who founded the Feldendrais Method. This method improves body function by increasing awareness through movement. **Notice here that I don't confine the improvement in body function to humans alone. This is key. We'll get back to that.
Let's look at this awareness thing a bit because it sounds weird being outside the scope of typical everyday conversation. What is awareness through movement? Moshe Feldenkrais theorized that subconscious thought, feelings, perception and movement are closely interrelated and so they influence one other. For example, have you ever taken a Tai Chi class, ballet, or martial arts? These aren't Feldenkrais movements, but if you've done these sort of things then you know how it changes your brain activity, your balance, movement, feelings....all that stuff! But it's hard to describe, isn't it? You just know it puts you in a different sort of state, calmer, more relaxed, more aware, more in balance - physically and mentally. Now, twist that around a tad and Feldenkrais Method does that very thing through specific movements designed to improve different aspects of the body and mind.
Sorta sounds like magic, doesn't it? Now you're beginning to understand why I just want to say, "It's magic!"
Awareness through movement works at the cellular level, involving the nervous system, endocrine system, and improving the lymphatic system, just to name a few. It's just not as drastic as pills, has less side effects and though it takes time, is more effective. Naturally, the medical establishment says all this isn't supported by medical evidence, but don't let that scare you! These are the same folks who just recently figured out and announced that dogs "know what we're saying". Do you have a dog? If you do, than you know that you already knew this! So, when the medical establishment says that the Feldenkrais Method is not supported by medical evidence, it really doesn't mean much. They just haven't figured it out yet.
Way back in the 1960's or early 1970's, a young horsewoman by the name of Linda Tellington-Jones took Moshe's human potential training. She already had an established equestrian school going on and what she discovered through a long and silent meditation was that what she was learning might work for horses, too.
Okay, snap out of it. It did work on the horses. I'm not going to drag this out all technical-like because what it boils down to is that all living breathing creatures have a nervous system, endocrine and lymphatic system and all that cool stuff; it's why massage, acupressure and acupuncture work on all creatures, not just humans - we share a lot of the same shit that makes us tick! So, Linda discovered the astounding positive effect her work had on horses. She just followed her gut and did stuff while her sister Robyn observed and noted what Linda was doing. From that sprang the TTouches themselves, the specific patterns of hand movements on the body and what they influence.
"But wait a second! 'Awareness through movement' suggests moving around and TTouches aren't movement, it's more like massage."
Yup, you're right. It is movement of the skin which highly influences the nervous system and honestly it, "turns on the lights" of the cellular system, promoting healing, mental and physical balance and emotional calm. It does not manipulate deeper muscle tissue like massage.
Then there's the movement part. Of course there's a moment part! If you have shown dogs or horses then you are probably aware of say, show jumping and dog agility? Okay. If so, then you are probably aware of the equipment used to train (or school) for these type of events. Let's chunk it down to ground poles, elevated platforms, cavalettis (small jumps), weave cones, stuff like that. TTouch uses a huge variety of 'ground equipment' (we're not going to learn how to jump jumps in TTouch) that is used in a careful, methodical manner with the animal so that he has to think about where his body is and where he's putting his feet and so on. While doing this the mind is being activated and the potential for change begins. (See, there we go sounding like magic again!).
Lastly, TTouch uses a huge variety of equipment to create the potential for change. The single most amazing thing for me is describing how through TTouch and some simple applications with a leash and a harness, even the absolute worst leash puller can be brought into balance and leash pulling can end.....without any difficulty on the part of the owner/handler. No shit!
You know why? Let's look at this. Have you ever seen a 1500 pound horse pulling on its lead rope and dragging its handler? Rarely, I'm sure. It does happen, but not like in the dog world. Most of the time, most horses walk calmly beside their handler with a slack lead rope. Because no human wants a 1500 pound animal behaving like a wild 150 pound dog dragging on the lead with all their might. And you simply can not jerk the lead on a horse and expect the same result as you'd get from doing it to a dog! Oh my! Dial up the ER! There has to be a better way, right? Right! And there is.
Here's the real deal: I got into TTouch after a bad bicycle accident. I had badly torn up hands and a torn ligament requiring surgery in my left hand. I also had a 145 pound coonhound who did pet therapy and went out in public. He was a good dog on lead, but because of his size alone I was terribly afraid that if he lunged or pulled for any reason, I'd lose him because I didn't have any strength in my hands, at all. I didn't just sign up for one TTouch session to learn this one thing that I needed, either. There were no practitioners within 3 hours of where I live! So, I went for the whole ball of wax and became a certified companion animal practitioner. I learned how to go on walks with my "Uber Hound" without any worry about my ability to keep him in check. I had been given the tools and skills to deal with leash pulling safely and effectively - and I teach those tools and skills!
Here's a few more wonderful TTouch success stories:
After a bad storm, the house was getting a new metal roof put on it. My Uber Hound (he was just really huge, so I called him that a lot) was outside confined to a long porch along the house enjoying the day. At one point I realized the workers on the roof were on the end of the house where my hound was and I knew they were tossing off the old metal roofing. Fearing they'd throw metal roofing down to the porch where the dog was, I went out to retrieve him and bring him inside. In doing so, guess what? I was hit with a flying piece of metal roofing, the corner hitting my cheekbone just below my right eye. Sharp metal corner flying through the air....you know that left one deep gash! In hindsight, I probably should have put on my big girl pants and had it stitched up by a doctor. But no! I was horribly embarrassed that I had put myself in the way of the roofers and gotten hurt. No one saw me get hurt, so they were none the wiser to my plight, and I wanted to keep it that way. It was my own fault, after all. I had two hours before I had to leave the house and go pick up my kids from school, so I got an ice pack for my cheek and sat down and went to work. I did TTouch circles with the ice pack; I left the ice pack on till the area was chilled and would then do Raccoon TTouches all around the gash, very lightly; and then back to the ice, and so on. Two hours I did this. The gash was a half inch long and quite deep, but by the time I left the house 2 hours later, there was no swelling, no bruising, and honestly, it looked pretty dang good! Well, the roofers did eventually find out what happened and felt bad that they were throwing metal sheets off the roof without seeing what lay in the path. No hard feelings. They were as shocked as I was at how GOOD my gash looked! No one believed it was a fresh gash, except the cut itself looked it. It never bruised, not even the bone. In fact, the scar looks far better than it would have had I had it treated "traditionally."
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| This was taken 18 hours after the incident with the sheet metal roofing. I should have had a black eye, swollen and badly bruised cut. But I didn't. Two hours of ice and TTouch made all the difference. |
Me and my accidents....I was in a motorcycle wreck and broke my ankle very badly (multiple fractures and a compound fracture....it was very gross!). When the EMT's were attending to me at the scene, I was hyperventilating and well on my way into shock. Then, I remembered TTouch! Can you imagine such a thought at a time like that?! Well, I did. I remembered Linda's words, "Work the ears to prevent shock." I reached up with both hands and began doing small, crude TTouches on my ears. I think it's pretty impressive that when the EMT looked at his monitor he looked back at me and asked, "What are you doing?" I explained a bit what I was doing and why and then he asked me to show him. I showed him how to do the TTouches easily after which he took over for me so I could "relax" (yeah, right!). The ear work had made an immediate difference which is why the EMT had made such notice. My vision cleared, breathing slowed and I was visibly calmer. I did not go into shock. True story.
There once was an adult Pitbull who was rescued from a horrid life that had left him horribly frightened of life and people and everything in it. He was brought to a TTouch prac and on that first visit his huge accomplishment was simply to get out of the vehicle that he had arrived in; he was too terrified to move. By the end of his sessions with the practitioner, this dog was negotiating obstacles with confidence, no signs of the intense fear and complete lack of confidence. It changed the dogs life dramatically and for the better, yet sadly he died of a heart condition related to his earlier traumas. At least he died happy, content and at peace.
Speaking of such, I had a client who had several dogs of the same breed, one was rather elderly and was having issues with one of the younger dogs in the home. The owner really wanted the two dogs to make peace and get along better so that the elder dog could experience peace in his short time left. Long story short, when the elder dog began his transition to the rainbow bridge, the owner was right there with TTouches and I was told it was the most beautiful passing that could have been hoped for.
A prac-in-training had a case study with a friend who's dog loved to eat the furniture, specifically table legs. When the prac arrived at the owners home she was blown away by the amount of chewing this dog had done to the owners home. She questioned her skills in handling this effectively, but she settled in and just did the work as she had been taught. She did lots of mouth work. What is mouth work you ask? TTouches on the gums and lips. When she was finished and had left, she really wondered if she'd done any good at all. A few days later her friend called and asked her, "What did you do to my dog?! He hasn't chewed on anything since you left!"
TTouch - practical magic - not really, but a nice way to put it.
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