#Neuromuscular Reprogramming Network

[bodyalive]

Deep to Superficial Relationships

Sometimes a tight muscle is the deeper layer, a smaller muscle that is tight because the bigger surface musculature is not competent and the deep muscles are compensating. Examples would be tension in the Supraspinatus or Levator Scap because the Upper Trap is failing to function, or tension in the Quadratus Femoris or Piriformis because the Glut Max is inhibited and you are propelling your gait using your external rotators. Releasing these tight muscles is a temporary relief only.This is not a problem of lack of conditioning, it's a problem with getting a message through to the muscle that fails to respond to even a small amount of pressure. This is a sequencing error in your biocomputer.

Distinguishing the capabilities of the deep and superficial muscle layers is one of the best assessment tools of Neuromuscular Reprogramming and indeed all manual muscle testing. By linking into the body's neural coordination system, NMR allows for sequencing corrective bodywork in the most effective order.

[Jocelyn Olivier]

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The Rules of NMR

Recently a new student asked me “What are the Rules of NMR?”

I was flustered for a moment then my innovator/rebel answered, “There are no rules.” Since I did not follow a path in my studies that adopted someone else’s way of viewing the body, I’ve been able to innovate based on what the body tells me and I am seeing a HUGE IMPORTANCE for PRIORITIES in how we approach a problem to get the fastest possible results.

So yes, there are rules: the body’s rules = NMR’s Rules.

Here they are:

Correct the Sympathetic/Parasympathetic balance first. (Even that has Priorities)

1. Integration between R/L hemispheres of the Cortex. The fastest track to this starts with Brain Buttons http://www.neuromuscular-reprogramming.com/.../brain.../.

2. Space Buttons or CranioSacral Rebalancing or Polarity or Restorative Breathing can help the NS to deeply relax. The body’s ability to restore itself is optimized when we deeply relax. Hence periods of rest/relax are also good intertwined with your structural bodywork. Structural work is challenging to the NS, as we are pushing for change in a system that is committed to homeostasis. When there has been an accident or injury, this is paramount.

Reduce Torsions/Rotations in the Torso next:

Organize the base of the spine for reciprocal rotation in the waist/core pivot at T12/L1

Follow that with the Low Back and Hips Protocols for safely reprogramming the coordination sequencing of the hips and low back/core. (Detail of this to be found in the NMR Mod 1 Intro manual.)

Organize the Hips to Shoulders relationships before working on the shoulders and neck. This includes reducing torsions and insufficiencies in the diaphragm. Other than some general fact finding and massage warm up for the neck, changes will not be possible until the coordination issues in the torso are reduced. (Details on this can be found in the NMR Mod 2 manual)

Moving out from this basic level of organization one can begin to follow the client’s priorities.

The Thoraco/Cervical junction needs to be functional in order to change pain and dysfunction in the shoulders and neck.

Shoulders should be functionally rebalanced before working on elbow and wrist problems.

Hips should be functionally rebalanced on the way to working on knees and ankles and feet.

The Neck has its own priorities….Because of the complexity of neck issues the intricacies of reprogramming the neck in details are not explored until Mod 3 of the basic 72 hr, training and again in the NMR Advanced 30 hr in great detail.

Once big muscle support is available and relationships are functional one can start undoing the deep layers of detail in the soft tissue matrix of the body and even in the skeleton itself. The Reprogramming of the Spine is explored in Adv NMR also.

Contraindications:

Spot work. Too much in depth work in one area without a larger integration plan can be dangerous and leave clients in pain.

Releasing deep tension without an understanding of what it’s bracing for and strategy for providing the stability that requires it to be tight.

Digging to release spinal fixations. The spine responds best to support and movement instruction in the direction of its normal curvature and function.

(Neuromuscular Reprogramming)

[bodyalive]

For all the NMR noodles on here, here's a client case study to read slowly and follow the logic of the body:

Presenting problem: Pain and dysfunction in right shoulder and arm. A client who’s been dealing with a problem with his right arm, his ‘picking’ arm for his mandolin, presented yesterday with ‘my right back went out; it does so about twice a year.’ It palpated VERY tight.

His left QL tested strong and his Right tested weak for side bending. Because it is tight however, his right QL is inhibiting his right Glut Min/Med. Any muscle that is tight will be inhibiting other muscles even though it is weak to start with.

Passive ROM assessment reveals that Rt Iliacus is tight and inhibiting Rt E.S, Left QL Rot’n (at T/L junction)

Because of the inhibition of the Left Erector Spinae (ES), the left Quadratus Femoris (QF) has gripped to narrow the hip to brace for stability in the upper body. This is a common compensation for weak back extensors. Left QF/Gemellis inhibits Lt Vastus Medialis, Piriformis, and Gl Max

The pain in shoulders and arms that we were dealing with in our first session was gone. The arm was still a little number/tingling in ring and little finger. His ‘plucking’ speed was still impaired.

Something to consider: His contralateral underlying coordination coherence was off. His right diaphragm was less vigorous on the inhale indicating a tendency to spiral right with every breath.

A passive leg traction assessment reveal the right side ‘Springy’ and left side ‘Listless’.

Left Pectineus --> Iliacus: external Rot’n. Left Iliacus --> Lt Gl Max; Ext Oblique; Lt Psoas Corrections gave left side ‘spring’.

Clean up: Left QL/SIJ --> Lt Add Magnus Left QF --> Vast. Med Left Erector Spinae --> Glut Max; Rt Ant serr, Lats, Neck ext’n.

Et Voilå! Any one who's been through Mod 1 has the chops to do this session.

The NeuroMuscular Reprogramming Network

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Hypermobile Sacro Iliac Joint

A hypermobile SIJ is an unsupported SIJ. This is usually a result of excessive tension/fixation of the opposite SIJ. The muscles that support the integrity of the SIJ are The Quadratus Lumborum and Glut Min Med and lateral branches of the Glut Max. They intersect by way of a fascial continuing and muscle kinetic chain sequence. There is a front and a back to the muscles that have shortened to cause this condition to persist. Today we’ll show just the back portion.

My client had been engaging some injections to stabilize her left SIJ. The muscle co-contractions across her hips as a result of years of living with this instability were a sufficient barrier to her ability to respond positively to this intervention. The PT thought that the issue was weakness in the right Glut Medius, but the greatest fixation was medial in the area of the origins of the external hip rotators.

Here in this video is a typical neuromuscular facilitation/inhibition pattern of the posterior muscles that are a major part of this persistent left SIJ instability.

The Glut Med was indeed inhibited but so was the left lateral stabilization.The primary ‘compensation’ muscle was the right Piriformis. But the intense fixation of the Rt Piriformis compensating for a weak Rt Erector Spinae muscle caused a persistence of the lateral instability of both SIJ’s.

From an NMR perspective one sees the reduction over a series of sessions of the volume of the imbalance. There are layers of muscles involved.

Both the Rt QL and Rt Piriformis were inhibiting the Rt SIJ

But once that issue was addressed, the Rt Piriformis was STILL inhibiting the Rt AND Lt lateral stabilization. The lack of lateral stability causes the medially anchored external rotators to respond first when using the hips. One cannot simply consciously eliminate the stored and saved motor strategies programming into the Cerebellum. This is where NeuroMuscular Reprogramming has a big part to play.

RT QL → Rt SIJ;--> Rt lateral stabilization (Gl Min/Med)                                    

Rt Pririf → Rt SIJ; Rt Gl Min/MedLT/RT Gl Med (abd) → 

L/R SIJ;-->L/R Gl Min/M

And after the low back and hip coordination there is the next necessary step: investigating the coordination dysfunctions between the right Hip Flexors and the left low back SIJ stability….

https://www.facebook.com/neuromuscularreprogramming/videos/1657209301314277

[NeuroMuscular Reprogramming]

[bodyalive]

How Does NeuroMuscular Reprogramming Work? NMR is a kinesthetic conversation with the Organizational Intelligence of a living system. It lights up the proprioceptive feedback from the body. Even a body with a coordination problem that has been around for years is just waiting for more information with which to self correct. NMR provides that more information. Neuromuscular Reprogramming, bringing a muscle fully on board with the motor response system, is the first step in correcting body biomechanics. Without neuromuscular connectivity or facilitation, the muscles will not benefit as much from exercise. They will not build muscle mass. They will strain, harden and eventually break down, feeling limited in response no matter how much you exercise. After a muscle is fully facilitated it needs to be trained. The client needs to take over the controls and make that correction stick. A therapist can put in the needed new information in the form of facilitating function. A fitness educator can provide instruction about how to condition the new movement. 

Using a muscle reinforces access to the motor pathway. What is awesome is the living intelligence of the body. A simple touch can show it how to redirect its energy. Our hands are guides. We can see what it should be doing and our seeing informs the body’s structure. If you can feel what a body needs to change in order for something to work the way it is supposed to you can influence that outcome. NeuroMuscular Reprogramming appears to be a perfect tool for the job. 

TRAINERS, Maximize Your Outcomes….Add NMR to your tools and correct the biomechanics of your clients prior to assigning exercises for conditioning. Help your clients get brilliant results with strength and endurance training. 

CHIROPRACTORS, Make Adjustments Stick….Reprogram the motor coordination supporting the alignments you correct for the quickest results and longest lasting treatment outcomes.  

MASSAGE THERAPISTS, Save Your Hands…Find out what is making those knots and hard muscles and address the problem at the source, in the motor coordination center of the brain

[Jocelyn Olivier :: NeuroMuscular Reprogramming]

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Jocelyn Olivier ::: Advanced workshop  Neuromuscular Reprogramming 

* * * *

"I'm interested in biomechanics but more interested in liberation.  If you can liberate the burden on the nervous system by lifting off the biomechanical burden there is resurgence of the body's own self-healing self-correcting mechanisms that allow for increased healing."

- Jocelyn Olivier

[bodyalive]

Rotated Lumbar Vertebrae Caused Intractable Problems An older client who was in for their third NMR® treatment came in with a complaint about her right low back and hip, initially massively disorganized due to being hit by a car as a pedestrian and knocked down. She fell on her right sacrum. She's been in pain for 1 1/2 years with no relief no matter what she had tried. The origins of the lower external rotators were very painfully tight and the hip was in a constant clench. The tight hip makes total sense from both the fall and the fact that the right lumbar erectors weren’t engaged. The hip grips to give some stability to the upper body since the erectors are not firing on that one side. This pattern is very common once the rotational reciprocal reciprocity of the Rotatores have been damaged. The remainder of the problem visible today was strong pain at L3. Something was pulling L3 into a left rotation. With L3 rotated left the right Psoas was facilitated and the left one inhibited. They could not alternate in walking without blowing a fuse on the left. The more she walked the tighter the right Psoas would get. The client was astonished to notice that when she thought about circling her spine to the left it was easy and circling to the right she could not do it. The circle was full of zigzags and blank spots. The QL at L3 was tight. Releasing the QL at L3 on the right enabled the lumbar spine to rotate in either direction. We reprogrammed the rotational movement of her L3 vertebrae also, after which we rebalanced her Psoas muscles with each other so they both worked reliably. All of this disorganization was affecting her neck, which was similarly locked and painful and confused about how to move. She forgot to mention this at the beginning of the session. This illustrates how NMR works to solve coordination issues at the source and gives you a greater picture of how different issues in the body can result in pain elsewhere in the body, which once addressed leads to greater mobility and reduced pain with less work.

[NeuroMuscular Reprogramming]

[bodyalive]

What is a Real Frozen Shoulder?

Many clients have come in over the years with a diagnosis of ‘frozen shoulder’. A REAL Frozen Shoulder occurs when the joint capsule develops ‘Adhesive Capsulitis’. 

Most shoulders are not really frozen but immobilized by co-contractions of external and internal rotators.What can be done when the shoulder is not really frozen; when palpation and passive ROM reveal that the capsule itself is not involved but movement without pain and restriction is not possible.

THE EMOTIONAL COMPONENT

I have heard that frozen shoulder can follow an emotional trauma. A former student came in to see me as a client. She had recently gone through two losses of people dear to her. She developed frozen shoulder. I’ve also heard that frozen shoulder will go away on its own after a couple of years. Can that process be speeded up? Yes, it can.

Any condition with an emotional component as history requires checking for Contralateral Coordination Dysfunction. Muscle testing reveals ALL shoulder muscles are weak. Brain Buttons turned on some of the muscles, but the shoulder is still dramatically dysfunctional. 

Many external rotation functions are inhibiting the internal rotator of the Subscapularis.**

Once internal rotators were working, we worked adhered and rigid shoulder tissues.

4 NEUROMUSCULAR REPROGRAMMING NMR® TREATMENTS

4 neuromuscular reprogramming treatments one month apart has almost completely removed the restriction and pain.

Now that the emotional factors have been addressed, in session 2 we were able to deal with some of the peripheral dysfunctions created by the main restrictions in the shoulder. We also began to work with the support and function of the neck muscles and how they contributed to the shoulder dysfunction.

In frozen shoulder, the muscles of shoulder depression dominate those of elevation. 

The client cannot lift their arm. Neither can they internally or externally rotate to a full potential ROM. 

External rotators are usually inhibiting internal rotators to begin with…RESOLVING SCAPULAR ADHESIONS IN THIS CASE OF FROZEN SHOULDER:

First, I addressed Scapular Adhesions, specifically… Lt Rhomboid AND Lt Coracobrachialis inhibited Lt Teres Maj, Subscapularis

PMC inhibits Post Delt; Traps; Supraspinatus

THE NEXT LAYER OF DYSFUNCTION:

Lt Subscap inhibits Lt Infraspinatus AND Supraspinatus (int rot’n inhibits ext rot’n) This was revealed after decompressing the shoulder with traction and tissue manipulation to reduce tissue rigidity.

More neck work resolved Lt Scalenes inhibit Rt Scalenes. Lt OCI inhibits Rt OCI Rt OCS inhibits Lt OCS Lt Rec Cap inhibits Rt Rec Cap

(Yet another seeming reversal in dysfunction is now apparent as the neck compression issues of rotation and counter rotation are resolved.)

(Next session we need to connect the low back to Lt neck and shoulder.)

THE FINAL SESSION: PAIN ON MOVEMENT IS GONE, BUT DETAILS REMAIN

Lt Sterno-Clavicular Joint is stuck (immobilized). Infraspinatus inhibits Subclavius; Serratus Posterior Superior (SPS); Subscapularis Ant Serratus inhibits Ant Deltoid. (Remember that Infraspinatus and long head of Tricep inhibited Lt Lat and Infraspinatus was the most fixated muscle in the superficial shoulder area.)

The synergist of Subclavius, PMC is likewise inhibiting Subclavius; also P. Delt and Bicep.

Now we begin to see the layer of dysfunction under the layer we’ve been able to work with.  Subscapularis inhibiting Teres Major; Teres Major inhibiting Subscapularis (how can this be? 

An increase in the ROM in the joint reveals YET ANOTHER layer of dysfunctional synergistic muscle relationships.)

Teres Minor inhibits PMC AND Subclavius (once again we are looking at reciprocal inhibitions).

Rt Obliquus Capitis Superior (OCS) inhibits OC inferior (OCI); Lt eye tracking. Rt Eye tracking inhibits Lt OCI. Needs more work.

Did extensive tissue mobilization throughout the structure of upper chest and all through the arm muscles.

Client is quite satisfied with her progress but still can’t ‘lift’ her hand behind her back to the range it was before. These details will continue to progress with more work, but 4 sessions is extraordinarily fast to accomplish freedom from pain on movement.

NOTES: *In the case of True Frozen Shoulder, the medical approach of forced manipulation under anesthesia is called for.**(PT approaches given for frozen shoulder begin with exercising the external rotator functions of the shoulder. Since external rotation is usually dominant in frozen shoulder this would seem counter indicated.)

https://neuromuscular-reprogramming.com/what-can-be-done.../

[bodyalive]

3 is the Key to Learning

THE BODY LEARNS THROUGH REPETITION.

The first level of learning is getting the message through to the muscles. This involves neurological learning. Neurological learning boosts the brain’s learning facility which is usually knocked out by stressful experience, accident or trauma. When you try something new for the first time, your coordination system doesn’t know how to do it. When you try it again immediately there may be a glimmer of ‘almost’ understanding. It is only on the 3rd try that your coordination system begins to really ‘get it’; and OWN the new movement possibility. Sometimes it takes even longer than 3 repetitions to get it, but 3 is the maximum number of ‘trys’ that should be engaged on the first time around.

REPETITION EXHAUSTS THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

Unlike the muscles, the nervous system becomes quickly exhausted when pushed too hard to do new activities. It is important to understand and expect that anything you just tried, your body intelligence will continue to integrate even as you sleep. (This has been validated in movement physiology research). When you perform the same activity the next day you may find it much easier.First you have to prepare the body for new learning. This is where NMR starts. Lesson 1: 1st Important Consideration in Corrective Bodywork.  https://vimeo.com/395854829

New NMR Trainings begin January 13 - 15th 2023 in person or Live Streaming via Zoom. Find them at NeuroMuscular-Reprogramming.com/events.

(The Neuromuscular Reprogramming Network)

[bodyalive]

THE MOST COMMON BACK AND HIP PAIN

This pattern of muscle co-contractions happens when there is a weakness in the Glut Max and Erector Spinae muscle group. The Quadratus Lumborum contracts as an auxiliary back extensor to brace the low back. This can result in a hip hike and narrowing of that side of the low back.

Commonly the lateral stabilization of the hip is compromised or inhibited also, and the external rotators jump in to brace stability for both the Erector Spinae and the lateral hip.

The lateral Hamstring dominates the back of the leg and its tendon is chronically short as part of the whole kinetic chain of dysfunction resulting from the recruitment of the QL to support the back.

The external rotators of the hip are overused to propel us forward (lacking the function of Glut Max). This makes the leg swivel out as you walk. Fixation of the external rotators of one hip will inhibit the rotators of the opposite hip. Clients often complain of the pain being in the weak hip and SIJ as it is unsupported by either that QL or external rotators.

Next in line is the excessively tight tendon of the lateral hamstring. This can be observed in a bare leg by the upward slant of the crease on the back of the knee compartment. This pattern results in a weak medial line of support for the leg. Vastus Medialis is commonly inhibited, as is the Medial Hamstring origin and sometimes the adductor.

Muscle testing allows you to verify what is going on with the preferred muscle patterns through the kinetic chain down the lateral hip and leg.

(The Neuromuscular Reprogramming Network)

[bodyalive]

The Value of Visualization in Correcting Motor Control Patterns

Restoring Movement Intelligence Pt 2:

How can we heal what we can't feel?

The ways we move, stand, sit, turn, are strategies learned and stored in the Cerebellum. If we stop moving due to a whiplash or broken bone, the body thinks we don't want that area to be moving. So it creates more dense tissue quality, that can feel dehydrated and rigid, more like fascia, less like muscle, more like scar.

The new default coordination/‘work-around’ in the area will bypass that muscle. Some other muscle will take over and become the default strategy for approximating the use of that muscle (like tucking your chin, leading with your jaw, or looking with your eyes while you turn your neck). These compensation patterns prove insufficient or result in secondary pathology, because they are doing a job they are not designed for. The neck goes rigid and loses the ability to move at all in certain directions.

When I ask my client to turn left at C2 using Obliquus Capitis Inferior, they tuck their chin to lock the upper neck in flexion, using Longus Colli to stabilize the neck so it able to turn left, but from lower down. They cannot tell where they are moving from.

NMR is the fast track to changing default coping strategies that have arrived at a point of unconsciousness or failure. It’s ability to do accurate assessment and open up proprioceptive awareness of specific dysfunctions helps the body to self correct. This should be done before conditioning muscles to rehabilitate any dysfunctional joint.

Muscle Testing is NOT a test of strength. When we use Manual Muscle Testing we are looking to establish connections, the ability to respond. We are looking to expand and restore Movement Intelligence to the proprioceptive nervous system.

Vernon Brooks in “The Hierarchy of Motor Control” states that passive ROM and imagined movement do not provide for learning in the motor control center. Since the writing of his book however, studies in Russia, done during the education of skilled movement in performance athletes, have shown that motor learning CAN be affected by visualization. Now these methods are in common practice among performance athletes.

The initiative to learning new movement comes first from movement intention, the desire to do something, such as learning to walk for a baby. Whether this is driven by the limbic or survival system or by desire, the end point is the same, although movements learned involving limbic activation are imprinted more quickly than rote learning and resist change even after the initial threat is gone.

Muscle testing reveals functional problems to the client's proprioceptive feedback system. For the first time, the body may become aware of missing muscles on the map. For instance, Longus Colli is facilitated and the neck locked straight. Bi-lateral SCMs for forward translation are inhibited. Passive ROM and tissue manipulation is not as educational as MMT to make the weakness conscious, followed by client assisted coached movement using new muscle coordination. Finally and ideally, the client would perform those movements themselves, anchoring in the certainty through felt sense that the muscle can function again.

-Jocelyn Olivier

Neuromuscular Reprogramming Network

[bodyalive]

Jocelyn Olivier

Use of Trance/Dropping Out

Do your clients ‘pass out’ on your table? There are a couple of valuable opportunities in those moments.

What is the best thing to do with them when they drop out? Do you think they just need to rest? OR Do you think clients need to be awake to benefit from bodywork? Do you wake them up with some more vigorous techniques or do you let them “sleep”. Are they really sleeping? Is there a purpose to those ‘drop outs’?

I find those moments VERY VALUABLE.

Here’s what’s happening. After stimulating the body with release techniques you may notice the client tending to slip into unconsciousness. Sometimes it means their body is ready to make the internal changes that your techniques have been asking for and Conscious Attention, the watchdog, is in the way.

The body makes most of its changes in the unconscious state. It will even continue to change in the nothing time of the night.

Cellular level changes are not a function of consciousness. Often consciousness is a hindrance to the body changing. Our fears and preconceptions can prevent change.

Sometimes dropping out can also indicate sensory overload, too much information for their processing system to take in all the new stimulus.

What to do?

Conscious Intention toward a desired outcome will influence the outcome. (Author and public speaker and researcher, Larry Dossey MD, gave that definition as the definition of prayer.)

Support the body, or the limb, in the desired or optimal position that you have reached with your work, always in a position of NO PAIN. Micro-Vibration or pulsation can provide further information to the body’s tissue without requiring ANYthing of consciousness. The client remains asleep.

When the body finishes the process of letting go, your client will wake up. The end of range fear and resistance will be gone and comfort restored. The body did it all. All you did was support it and give it space and time (and silent instruction).

Try it. You’ll be amazed! 

[Neuromuscular Reprogramming Network]