Vital Somatic Integration
-A return to Ease through Tonal Release-

A deeper dive into the science behind the practice, and frequently asked questions

Vital Somatic Integration uses the vital touch of healing hands to open windows of adaptation in the nervous system where higher levels of function are allowed take place in the body. It does so by introducing stimulus into the nervous system through breath, precisely delivered light touch, and gentle motion. In these adaptive states, where the whole brain is firing in rhythm with its environment, your body is reminded of it’s essential and primal patterns by which it most efficiently operates. 

In recognition of and engagement in the essential, non-essential patterns are left unused, and free to be changed. These non-essential patterns are built by the gathering of unprocessed information as we move through life. This accumulation of raw information causes fixation in our musculoskeletal system and stagnation in our metabolism. Over time as the inessential is released, more and more of our vital life force energy is able to be used for expression of health, passion, and conscious thought. 

Changes in our bodily function is the only way the weight of extra information we hold onto has to express itself. The interference created by storage of inessential information contributes to dis-ease, biomechanical imbalances, and physiological illness which are all associated with one another through the central organizer of bodily expression - the central nervous system or CNS, which includes our brain, spinal cord, and spinal nerves. 

All patterns in the physical body have multifaceted origins. This ‘inessential information’ I am referring to is made of every experience in life we encounter that we are unprepared to fully understand, process, or discern the meaning of in the moment. When such a thing happens to us, and it’s stored for later instead of fully felt and it’s gifts transmuted (often meaning we grow as a result), it becomes interference. These occurrences can include stress, emotional trauma, physical injury, toxic exposure, apathy, frustration, giving too much, taking too much, sorrow, loss, inflammatory agents, simply acting against what you feel is right, and much more. 

Delivering stimulus to the physical patterns the nervous system expresses through our bodies therefore presents opportunities for us to release our records of such stressors and for the body to reorganize itself in closer alignment with essentially who and what we are. We end up with a deeper and more intimate connection with our bodies, along with an energy system made more free and clear to express higher potentials of it’s innate human capacity to thrive.

Wait, what do my muscles and bones have to do with my biochemical or emotional problems?

The central nervous system (CNS) controls the tone of all our tissues. When we have a knot in our muscle, the muscle itself does not have a physical alteration in it’s density. If the muscle were to be removed from the body, it would be the same density of tissue as another piece of muscle that didn’t ‘have a knot’ while in a living person. It is our nerves that send an electric signal to create tension which tells us something is wrong with our use of that muscle.

All tissue in the body is either directly innervated or highly conductive of the tone nerves deliver. But our CNS isn’t just expressing how it feels about physical function. It’s the central operating and relaying center for everything we experience. It has ways to both transfer data and store it for later when we are not able to process it the moment it is encountered. Where this stored data is expressed is in the tone of the body, until such a time comes where we have an opportunity to work through it.

We do not possess an organ that is purely for emotional baggage. With the depth and breadth of our emotional content being so strongly tied to how well we move through life, is it not strange that we have no special equipment strictly put aside to help us manage it? The health of our relationships, with our selves, with our loved ones, with Source and with Spirit, with our communities if we are lucky enough to be a part of one, is more strongly correlated with our health, happiness, and longevity than any other lifestyle factor. Our bodies know this. They were designed to reflect the importance of our love for ourselves and each other. As such, it is not a single organ, type of cell or tissue that is designed to collect and reflect the status of our relationship with our own human nature. While the message is delivered by the innate intelligence of the nervous system, the entire body holds it for us, and it tells our story in what ways it knows how, using every piece of itself. 

How do you find patterns in my body? 

Our patterns of interference, regardless of their origin, have correlate patterns found in the fascial and musculoskeletal systems. Areas of the cranium, the spinal column, the fascial system, and the viscera exhibit tonal changes that are tied directly to stored patterns of interference, often seen in tracts of restriction and fixation where multiple points on the fascial chain from head to toe are expressing the same tone together. I call these tracts of tonal change Interference Pattern Tracts or IPT’s. 

IPT’s can be felt through touch. Oftentimes they can be seen with the naked eye. They show as imbalances that can be detected either through introducing motion or through simple orthopedic tests. They can also be seen through restriction in the breath, and can often be recognized by the people carrying them when brought to their attention by healing hands. 

What do you do to help me release pattern? 

When an IPT presents itself, my job is then to determine just which point of rapport in the pattern holds the window through which the greatest potential for tonal release can occur. Backed with my knowledge of the CNS and how fixation in the neurospinal system presents itself, but ultimately through feeling and being open to what the body is saying, it speaks and my hands listen. From there, we have only to look for the right depth, the right vector(direction), the right pressure, duration, and ultimately the right moment to come.

When the key point of rapport is released in this way, a global release and re-integration of the energy it took to create the pattern occurs. We let go, and a piece of our vitality is freed to return to its rightful use.