I must credit Tom Tam with developing this blockage theory. Everything is energy including our thoughts. Energy or chi runs along meridians or pathways in our bodies and is necessary for health and life. When this flow is interrupted an imbalance occurs. Once there is an imbalance in the yin yang relationship symptoms can be presented in the associated systems.
There must be a proper amount of chi in the energy systems for them to function optimally. Let me use an example of a truck driver that came in complaining of leg and lower back pain that has been bothering him for nearly four years. He was in obvious pain and moved slowly with a slight wince on his face. He said he has had massages for years and they no longer seemed to work. ( his wife is a massage therapist and she had referred him to me ) After listening to his story, several things stuck out. He drives six days a week and is in and out of the truck a half dozen times a day, and he didn't sound like he enjoyed the job. He was a very dedicated worker and always finished before everyone else, which left him available for any last minute deliveries. He was angry that no one else would get back so that they could take some of the load off him.
His symptoms were pain in the lower back and the left buttocks which presented like sciatica pain. Pain down the outside of his left leg which got worse as the day went on. His wife had worked his lower back and butt for years and was not getting results, although she had helped others with similar symptoms in the past.
He also had pain on the hamstrings of both legs.
It appeared to me that he had blockages in both the gall bladder and bladder meridians. The gall bladder runs downwards from the side of the eye, over the shoulders and down the side of the body over the side of the buttocks. The bladder, which is the longest meridian in the body runs from the inside of the eyebrows, over the top of the head, down the back, through the butt, down the hamstrings, calves, and like the gall bladder, right to the feet.
Using a combination of acupressure, tui na and chi gong, I was able to get rid of the pain in less than 10 minutes. It doesn't usually go that quickly with the physical techniques and not using EFT but I think he had had enough and offered no resistance.
To make sure that the pain didn't return I thought it was best to do EFT for the anger around his fellow employees not picking up the slack. We tapped on that plus his boss not being more assertive in getting them back sooner. He never returned for a follow up session and his wife kept me updated. The pain never returned and he was a " more pleasant person to be around ".
Anger tends to reside in the liver/gall bladder system and fear in the bladder/kidney. If we didn't deal with the anger and he found himself in the same working situation, he wold most likely have had the pain re-occur. Clients will come in and ask for some physical stuff mainly to reduce and eliminate pain, but unless you consider all options you may be doing them a disservice. I like the mind-body-spirit approach because it has a much stronger impact and either longer or permanent results.
Blockages can occur from a variety of causes such as chemical ingestion or contact, posture or positions, tension or stress or even accidents. Just about every injury creates a blockage. Most of the time we remove our own blockages through exercise or movement, sleep, meditation or yoga, tai chi or chi gong. However, if we are stressed out, worriers, nervous wrecks, poor me's, negative thinkers or sedate and don't move around very much, we aren't likely to remove the blockages and will end up with issues.
Blockages that don't get removed will eventually cause dis-ease. Especially blockages along the spinal column, or the bladder shu. Tom Tam's blockage removal theory is quite simple.......... a blockage will disrupt the flow of chi which will create symptoms which will eventually become disease. Period.
Remove the blockage and give the body a chance to heal itself. Depending on where the blockage is, and to what degree it is, will dictate what system, organ, or muscle will be affected. A blockage in the lower back can affect reproductive organs as well as bladder, legs, knees and feet. I find most men that come in with prostate cancer have a blockage in the lumbar area. Again, TomTam.com has many books for sale that explain this theory in greater detail than I can here.
The important thing to remember is that blockages lead to symptoms and symptoms lead to disease. Every illness and disease has blockages. Thyroid cancer has blockages in the C-6 and C-7 cervical spine. Carpal tunnel can be treated by removing the blockages in the neck, arm and wrist.
It usually requires multiple sessions to remove energy blockages and keep them away, especially if you're not doing EFT along with the energy and physical work. However, when you compare the number of treatments chiropractors and acupuncturists suggest, I will give clients tools and techniques to use so they have some control over their own issues.
