Author: Jocelyn Olivier

Sympathetic Dominance

Published: 23 February 2023
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
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Categories: Brain Function, Hacking Your Nervous System, NMR Efficacy, On The Path, Sympathetic vs Parasympathetic

How do you know that someone is Sympathetic Nervous System Dominant?

There are lots of signs that you are Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) dominant: Muscle tics in the eye lids, rapid blinking of the eyes while responding to movement instructions, labored or quick breathing, chronic tension in muscles, especially those in the back/extensor side of the body, and cognitive delays in response to instructions just to name a few. A person with SNS dominance will apologize and tell you they did not understand what you wanted them to do.

 

How do you measure ‘Sympathetic Tone’?

I look for common clues that indicate problems with the fundamental coordination system such as the inability to rotate the T/L junction with reciprocal ease in both directions, cognitive confusion, orientation confusion such as not knowing the difference between right and left, looking confused or misunderstanding simple directional instructions, with 2 out of 3 reciprocal rotator functions ‘off’ or inhibited.

 

Signs that your client’s ParaSympathetic Nervous System (PNS) is coming back online:

Gurgles and squirts in the viscera; yawning; spontaneously swallowing, dropping into a sleep state instantaneously, twitching in peripheral muscles, softening of formerly tight muscles.

Why work so hard to get muscles to relax when you can just get the ANS (autonomic nervous system) to slow down? Sympathetic Dominance may be contributing to your client’s muscle tension and inhibiting corrections in stored movement patterns. Clients with Sympathetic Dominance need Brain Function Facilitation in order to shift into the ParaSympathetic.

 

From the NeuroMuscular Reprogramming Instagram.

How Do We Know if Someone Needs Brain Function Facilitation?

Published: 14 February 2023
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
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Categories: Brain Function, NMR Classes, NMR Efficacy, Sympathetic vs Parasympathetic

In my intake forms I look for signs of Multi-System Breakdown.

When there is a history of trauma and visceral or cognitive effects ongoing Sympathetic Dominance may be a contributing factor. For some people the hindrance is cognitive and for others it’s structural/functional and for others it has evolved into metabolic disturbances disrupting digestion, absorption, elimination, and healing.

40 plus years ago I studied Educational Kinesiology and have incorporated what I learned into my work with clients’ structural problems…

The inclusion of approaches to shift clients toward the Parasympathetic side of the nervous system is part of Mod 1 Intro to NeuroMuscular Reprogramming.

 

How Do We Shift a Client Toward the Parasympathetic?

Actually, it’s the clients who must do the work. I introduce a few breathing practices, and the incorporation of a couple of simple techniques from Educational Kinesiology which have become very popular with Chiropractors in the last decade as they choose to expand their clientele to work with kids who have cognitive processing problems.

NeuroMuscular Reprogramming NMR® incorporates some of the basics of Brain Function Facilitation and teaches it at a level that can make a big difference to clients progress toward their goals of reduced structural pain and improved ROM.

 

Lesson 1: First Important Consideration in Corrective Bodywork

 

Adrenal Stress Points

Published: 6 January 2023
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
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Categories: General Interest, Handling Stress, Self Help Techniques, Stress, Techniques

 

At Healus Neuro Rehab Center and in NeuroMuscular Reprogramming® we use a variety of relaxation techniques to calm the nervous system down, in order to facilitates the body’s ability to heal.

 

Triple Warmer

One of those stress points we call the “Triple Warmer”.

Have a family member or friend hold your adrenal points. Two reflex points will release your adrenal stress before you go to sleep, enabling you to sleep more readily and more deeply. Once your partner finds the points, no pressure is needed. Just touching and holding those points will bring the system to equilibrium and put you to sleep.

 

The Adrenal Stress Points:

The location of the first point is on our shoulder blade 1″ from the medial border nearest the spine, and 1″ down from the top edge of the bone. If you touch the blade with 2 to 3 fingers, you can’t miss it, as it will be tender to the touch upon pressure. The second point is halfway down the back of the hand, between the 3rd and 4th hand bones (ring and little finger). Hold the points for 1-3 minutes on each side of the body or until you feel pulsation under your fingertips.
With a little attention and regularity, these simple steps will have you sleeping through the night and awakening fully restored and rejuvenated.

Over Energy: How Adrenal Override Makes it Hard to Muscle Test

Published: 4 January 2023
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
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Categories: Uncategorized

Over Energy

In the use of muscle testing as an assessment tool and a correction tool, it’s important to be able to work effectively with people who are running constantly in a state of what we call Over Energy. It describes how it manifests in the body and how it shows itself.

When your body has a weakness and if you are a strongly competitive character, you will overcome that weakness by the boot of adrenal energy. So much so that you will have that sort of teeth gritting determination. You can’t fail a test. These are the folks that get on your table who are athletic competitors, winners or people. It can also be those who are living in a condition where they have to overcome a weakness with determination and adrenalin.

There is a way to test for this and to release it so that it doesn’t effect muscle testing. Jocelyn Olivier demonstrates this in the video below:

If you would like to learn how to incorporate these techniques into your practice, you are welcome to sign up for one of our classes. They are available in-person and streaming via zoom.

The NeuroMuscular Reprogramming Facebook Page is a great place to see all the NMR latest updates. You can also learn more about our upcoming events there.

We have a series starting in 2023, classes are available until the end of 2022 for 2022 prices. It’s an opportunity to save big!

 

What Can Be Done About Frozen Shoulder?

Published: 4 December 2022
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
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Categories: Handling Stress, NMR Efficacy, Stress, Techniques

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.)