Help for Joint Pain and Stiffness Part 2

"Don't be bamboozled" said Carola Beresford-Cooke, as she started to teach us 'Cliff's Universal Joint Technique. 

"People will often give you labels for what is wrong with their joints. Don't be bamboozled by the labels."

For many people it is a huge relief to have their problem identified. Whether the diagnosis is a syndrome, a disease, or a Latin name for the symptoms (for example polymyalgia just means 'many pains.')

Certainty replaces the anxious query 'What's wrong with me?' Despondency turns to possibility that a cause can now be identified. Hope of an appropriate treatment to follow.

Yet, as 20th century sage Jiddu Krishnamurti said, "The description is not the described; I can describe the mountain, but the description is not the mountain, and if you are caught up in the description, as most people are, then you will never see the mountain”

Principle 2: 'Open wide and Focus' is about the way to give attention to a problematic joint.

Open wide means all of the sense and intuition 'antennae' are up. Attention is honed in solely on the joint, not the wider connection with the rest of the body.

How does this joint feel? What does it need in order to feel better? Where is the right place to press or to hold? What is the right direction to move it or open it?

A diagnosis such as arthritis (arthro = joint, itis = inflammation) has it's uses. We can now look for what irritant is causing the inflammation. But the associated belief that it's inevitable wear and tear due to age can stifle the open-ended question of what could help.

Technique 2: What on earth is Cliff's Universal Joint Technique? Simply a procedure to find the blockage points above and below, then across the joint. "Feel for changes to the plumbing" said Carola.

Working with this technique there have certainly been some 'unblocking' releases and more flow and freedom of movement.

My first practice of this was on a pair of elbows, one damaged the other not.

To me, it felt like the forearm was detaching just enough from the upper arm to make space for the inside of the joint to be cleaned out!

The owner-operator of the elbows, Gary Jones, said "it felt like there was a lot of activity in the bone and surrounding area - churning - like it was straightening and loosening."

Don't ask me how! All I can say is that our bodies are repairing themselves all the time, and that given the right circumstances we have remarkable abilities to be well.

Look out for Part 3: Help for joint pain and stiffness - new techniques and essential principles coming soon!

Wishing you well,
Jane
07518 587434