When people are speaking passionately and are in a creative "zone" or a state of well being, they may appear more beautiful and vibrant, perhaps even glowing. It makes sense that those individuals who are the most productive, creative, adaptable, and vibrant should be the most attractive to others of the species.
When the "shoulds" of our culture - the stories that others have for who we need to be and how we must act - become the main determinants of our life, we have already compromised our inner connection and beauty. I suggest that as a result of this loss of connection, our physical, psychological, emotional, and energetic attractiveness suffers.
People may have "less than perfect" noses, figures, or hair. Their faces may show a lifetime of wear and tear, yet they may remain attractive and enticing to be with. People whose inner connection to their body and its emotions, to their purpose, to the life energy that animates them, and to the web of existence are not only attractive to others but are healthier too.
People who are connected feel more deeply and experience more profoundly. They find it easier to release the tension and patterns that keep them from knowing what is right for them, and are also able to make healthier life choices.
A research study, conducted within the Medical College at the University of California - Irvine , demonstrated that patients receiving a healing method called Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) care reported significant improvements in their physical, emotional, and mental health, stress response, and life enjoyment. A unique wellness index was developed to assess these categories of health, with a whopping 76 percent of patients reporting improvements in ALL categories of wellness and quality of life. Although physical symptoms are most often reduced within the first couple of months, patients reported their overall life enjoyment and quality of life continued to improve year after year, with no apparent ceiling.
In NSA care, people notice the entrainment (or harmonization) of their spinal movements with their respiration. The experience is relaxing and renewing. Areas that were armored (protected), due to past tensions and traumas, often release as the brain and spine coordinate functions more effectively. As care progresses, the body naturally moves and stretches in ways that self-regulate tension and body alignment. As the constricting muscle, connective tissue, and postural armor melts away, the patient feels more vibrant, peaceful, and energized. The body's newly awakened ability to connect and release is accomplished by greater ease, flexibility, and often attractiveness.
Later in care, a second wave, unique to NSA care, emerges. This wave is called the "somatopsychic" (body-mind) wave. Because your thoughts, feelings, and experiences are related to the tension in your body-mind, this tension is transmitted through your spinal cord to the cells of your body. (Dr. Candace Pert, former chair of brain biochemistry at the National Institute of Mental Health, suggests that the subconscious mind resides in the spinal cord, and that it can be accessed for healing through Network Spinal Analysis.) This healing wave carries information and helps improve spinal and neural integrity. It is commonly reported to be accompanied by "non-ordinary states of consciousness" and has been documented to enhance wellness and life enjoyment. This wave seems to be associated with the body-mind's release of the tension and information from past stress and trauma. The body then harnesses this liberated energy for healing
Network Spinal Analysis care has very well documented stress dismantling effects. People with traumatic histories and stressful lives report the greatest changes in both short-term and long-term wellness. Seniors, who ordinarily expect to be getting "older" and losing their quality of life, report remarkable improvement in their wellness and quality of life, year after year. Visualize how the face, mouth, eyes, and posture become more attractive when the weight of the world drops out of a person's tissues and structure. Imagine how personally exciting it is to be in the presence of someone who is totally empowered and authentic. Imagine how people would be attracted to such a person, without even knowing why.
Our loss of inner connection, and therefore outer grace and beauty, seems associated with the way we experience our world. When an event occurs that our brain determines is not safe for us to fully experience, the energy and information of the event is translated into vibration and tension, which is then stored in the body. It is not unlike the after-image of a flashbulb. Our body then walls off the offending energy and tension over time with muscular spasm, spinal distortion, reduced breathing into the area, and reduced movement. We tense more easily, and our physiology remains set on "defense". In defense, we tighten. Our blood pressure tends to rise, we feel less emotion, and we live in reaction to the stress of the moment. Nerves that attach through the spinal cord into the brain connect every cell of the body, and tension in this main cable network creates tension in the body tissues. The brain continues to perceive life defensively, and produces stress chemicals that inhibit the ability to pay attention to the incomplete "energy" or "unfinished business". We react to environmental challenges as threats. Novel or new ideas are stressful, we have difficulty making change, and we fear things that are different. We are in survival mode in many areas of our life. This is not only unhealthy, but is far from attractive to others around us. We have lost our connection to ourselves, our higher power, our inner resources, love, and sense of true beauty. Much of what many disciplines seek to correct through manipulation, massage, and therapy is often a symptom of this process. Until it is safe to experience that energy again, and our bodies develop the strategy to do this and digest the information from the trauma, we cannot really feel whole or well. The state of safety is one which promotes internal awareness and internal "growth".
Through gentle contacts along the neck and lower spine (where the spinal cord attaches inside the vertebral column), called network adjustments or entrainments, greater body awareness is achieved. The body moves away from defense and towards growth, we are attentive to our inner cues, energy, and respiration, and we are no longer focused on the outer circumstance of the moment to dictate our health. Our spinal tension patterns, alignment, and posture reflect our movement between defense and growth. We experience a greater sense of grace, gratitude, connection, inner power, and love, all previously inaccessible to a brain that is functioning in defense. In time, this energetic, physical, emotional, and spiritual state becomes more familiar and sustainable. When a person can express her authenticity and self-confidence, she radiates beauty, strength, power, love, and hope. Most of us remain in defense mode throughout our lives, and the higher, more evolved brain does not have the opportunity to develop its unique properties and learn new strategies for experiencing and responding to life.
When at peace, the internal growth programs can be switched "on," because the body does not need to protect itself from injury. It can then assess if our reactions, adaptations, and symptoms are appropriate or not. We can feel more profoundly and use subtle information within to make healthier choices. We can be more compassionate towards others and ourselves. We can activate internal software for experiencing life, changing our course, and for healing. Our brain can pay attention to the body's tension patterns, its spinal alignment, its posture, and its current state.
In order to fix something, we must first be able to find it. As our brain is better able to inventory the body, it can better orchestrate healing. This naturally occurs as NSA care progresses. The individual not only becomes aware of spinal tension patterns, vertebral motion, and respiration, but also the energetic motion through the body.
Outer beauty begins with inner connection. The body you wear today was fashioned from the internal memories of your interactions with the world. Network Spinal Analysis care has the potential to give you new strategies for experiencing life, heightened inner connection, and new levels of wellness. Now that is beautiful!
Dr. Donald Epstein is today one of the world’s leading thinkers and developers of wellness for individuals, communities and organizations. He is the founder and developer of Network Spinal Analysis and Somato Respiratory Integration and the author of Healing Myths, Healing Magic, 12 Stages of Healing, and the Boomerang Principle. For more information about Dr. Donald Epstein and his work visit www.associationfornetworkcare.com.