My Practice

Body stress is the finite amount of stress that is locked into the physical structure of the body, most often around the spine. When the level of stress goes beyond our ability to deal with it, the stress stores up and this locked in tension causes pressure on nerves and thereby undermines the body’s communication system.

Body Stress Release is a health technique researched over many years by two chiropractors, Ewald and Gail Meggersee. The couple established BSR, a simple and logical modality, in 1981. BSR works by assisting the releasing of stored tension from the body, thereby activating a process that restores and enhances the body’s natural ability to heal itself. It does not diagnose or claim to treat conditions, does not use medication, machines, massage, manipulation, or energy meridians. It is a practical technique and not based on mystical concepts. It is gentle and works in cooperation with other forms of healthcare.

The most common reason is to seek relief from pain, mainly in the lower back, neck and shoulder area, and headaches. When tension becomes stored in a physical structure, the tissue is compressed, causing irritation of nerves and resulting in pain. Instead of suppressing pain with drugs, we deal with the cause. Pain may be masked by temporarily numbing areas in your body, stress can also cause muscle, weakness, stiffness, joint degeneration, tiredness, and also psychologically draining effects.

It is obvious that the body is designed to be self healing. The body is constantly regenerating itself. There’s an intelligence built into it, right from the start of conception with cell division.
If you came to me for lower back pain, why would I work on the entire spine? The spine is your body’s, communication and control system. The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord, extending down the bony canal formed by the vertebrae and the spine. It comprises of 31 pairs of spinal nerves that reach every cell of the body. There are also 12 pairs of cranial nerves that originate in the brain.
There is a constant flow of nerve impulses to the brain, and while this communication is normal and undisturbed, all functions will be carried out efficiently and state of health is maintained. However, the presence of Body Stress disrupts this transmission of nerve impulses, thereby undermining function. BSR sees health as the ability to adapt constructively to the stress to which one is subjected to.

I will take a case history, ask a few questions and do an assessment that will take about 10 minutes. Then, fully clothed, I’ll lower you down on the BSR table and activate your body’s bio- feedback mechanism by moving your feet in a very specific way. I do a series of stress tests, and apply light pressure to various points in specific directions. This neuromuscular response is similar to the knee-jerk reflex done by doctors. It’s the body’sintelligence that indicates the precise location and direction, not me making an educated guess. By consulting the body’s wisdom in this way, I receive information and guidance that may not be accessible in other ways. As the process is so precise, it will not require much force to provide the necessary stimulus. The session lasts around 30 minutes;
Afterwards, I may advise on posture and exercise to be halted for a while, and book the follow up sessions. To allow the body to go through the process of releasing stress, it undergoes changes and adaptations after each session. Everyone would like a quick fix to their health problems. However, each case is different, and the body has its own timing.

Commitment to an initial three sessions is imperative at specific intervals of day 1, day 4, day 11/12, as set out by the research done on the rhythm of the body’s own healing. It is a process, and you can feel the difference immediately, after three sessions, but sometimes it takes months. Each body reacts differently. The purpose of BSR is to locate the exact sites of tension and provide the correct stimulus to the area, in such a way that the brain registers the presence of Body Stress. It will then issue commands to the muscles to release the locked in pressure, so that the muscles return to normal tone, activating it’s inbuilt healing mechanism.

It could be said that healing is a process and not an event. There may be immediate relief due to the relaxing of tight muscles, which is usually the case if Body Stress occurred recently. If the stress has been present for a long time, a number of releases will be needed over a period of time, allowing the layers of tightened muscles to progressively relax back to their normal tone. You could also experience increased sensation or sensitivity, as communication is restored and healing is starting.

The effect of BSR is to improve communication between the brain and the cells of the body, by assisting the body to restore normal function. Over the years of BSR, it has been observed that this is an ongoing process with the person experiencing enhanced function in various areas.