Adaptable Polarity (AP) developed from the idea that we, as humans, need to adapt to all sorts of occasions in our lives. It, also, came about from noticing that the world we live in is continually moving and consistently inconsistent. This movement of life does however have a fundamental principle to flow from one pole to another: night to day, summer to winter etc. It is everywhere in the universe, and from this principle AP was born. The next step was developing a series of seminars to teach to health professionals, and Adaptable Polarity was born.
AP is a dynamic system of touch, awareness, assessing and testing that allows anyone to work with the structure and flow of the human body while simultaneously adding to and honoring each individuals tool box of modalities, skills, and current level of awareness. Additionally, APS helps to provide an organization to any therapist’s individual tool box recognizing there is a place and space for everything.
I honestly think, to the best of my knowledge, this will be the first system to welcome every tool that one has ever learned, and say, “Yes, you are welcome here.” And! Let’s share and discuss about our different approaches. You are welcome to add your twist, and highly encouraged to make it better. Go make the world better, please and thank you.
I can also honestly say that I do not care what one does in a treatment room if the client feels better at the end of the session, end of day, end of month, etc. As long as one is doing their best and offering their honest opinion and truth, I am okay with whatever methods of treatment are deemed necessary. I do not care if someone shakes a stick, wears a mask, uses essential oils, or simply listens intently. There are many things that happen outside my understanding, outside my senses, and I am open to all those possibilities.
“Miracles happen, not in opposition to nature, but in opposition to what we know of nature.” -St. Augustine
“Everything is Dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet…”–The Kybalion: A Study of The Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece by Three Initiates. The Law of Polarity is considered a law of the universe. As we are part of the universe, this law applies to humans, as well.
We are a representation of the duality, a microcosm of the macrocosm, and understanding this principle allows an individual to change one’s own Polarity. If one can recognize spending too much time in flexion, maybe extension is needed. If one is able to recognize an imbalanced emotional state, the other end of the spectrum may be found. If one can identify that they are spending too much time at one pole with whatever aspect of life, the pair or “opposite” can be identified to swing the pendulum back to center to create balance.
Once fully grasping and understanding this principle, anyone can begin to help others to change their Polarity. It is so very simple, yet complex, and requires someone who is willing to do the work. In Physics, Work is equal to Force times Distance. This is devotion of time, study, and energy invested into making change. The work, also defined by Byron Katie in an emotional self-help orientation, is ever evolving, changing, and seemingly endless like the universe.
“The manifest Universe is inherently polarized, that which we experience as a fundamental duality. This polarity is most fundamentally expressed as an energy dynamic that simultaneously moves both inwardly and outwardly from the center point of every manifest entity. This is the dynamic of gravitational attraction (and contraction) and electromagnetic radiation (and expansion). Every atom, molecule, cell, organ, organism, planet, star, galaxy has a center point towards which energy is attracted and from which energy radiates…a constant interplay of dynamic presence.” -www.cosmometry.net on “Dynamic Polarity”
This statement from Cosmometry helped to further concretize the need and importance for the manifestation of APS. Taoist have deemed it the Tao, symbolized by the Yin and Yang as the continual flow which manifests as “inherently polarized.” As human experiencers, we see this as a fundamental duality. Much of life can clearly be seen as dualistic in nature, again night and day is one of the clearest examples here. Although we see this, they cannot be separated, as the Taoist saw and taught, “There is only one.” As such, for one to know day, there is the needed juxtaposition of night to define the other. Would we know night if it were only ever daytime?
Lawrence Richardson writes, “In order for the physical universe to exist there must be polarity. There must be a positive and negative aspect to it. This creates vibration and the vibration allows the physical universe to exist. . . .” -quoted within Putting on the Mind of Christ by Jim Marion
If “Everything in life is vibration,” (attributed quote to Albert Einstein) this vibration comes from the dynamism of the whole in a constant polar push and pull from positive to negative and back and around again. “All of these natural polarities, including light and darkness and positive and negative, make unified wholes. You cannot have a wholeness without both positive and negative poles.” –Putting on the Mind of Christ
Therefore, these poles are in continual movement flowing seamlessly from one to another and back again in an energetic dynamic. This movement is a simultaneous ebb and flow from whatever perceived center point be it the sun, the eye of the storm, or the individual human being. There are only two main options (there is a third option to be discussed shortly hereafter) in any equation around any center point: attraction/contraction and repulsion/expansion. This is at the center of Polarity, and therefore further defining AP.
The human body has these two responses programmed so deeply in our DNA that most of the time it is without conscious awareness that we gravitate towards and away from life. From, “I want that cookie,” to “that plate is hot,” these drives can be elucidated into a plethora of attractions and repulsions that motivate the human being throughout a lifetime. Hunger drives some people to madness, and at the same time the avoidance of hunger can be a drive, or an unconscious urge, that leads to many significant choices. We are then what we choose to do, but if we are driven by these attractors and repulsions, who is really in charge? A discussion for another book, already written by Michael Gazzinaga the father of cognitive neuroscience, Who’s in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain.
The third option: “Attraction and repulsion are the two opposite poles of action. These must blend into a Neuter [neutral] pole as purpose and usefulness in the economy of function. The end of this circuit is balance, as the completion of the objective of motion and expression of life. This is polarity in its triune action.” -Dr. Stone, Book 1, p 7
Triune nature can be traced across many cultures from the Holy Trinity in Biblical Scriptures to the words of a western scientiest, Dr. Keown, “The body thus consists of a trinity: the outside, the inside, and middle; the ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm; the Angmion, Yolk, and Blood. This trinity is represented in Chinese medicine by the Taijitu symbol. While most people understand this as a duality, many don’t realise that there are three elements in this symbol: Yin, Yang and the space between the two.”
Dr. Keown quotes a classic Taoist scripture saying, “A cup is only useful because of its emptiness.” He continues, “So it is with the body. It is the space between cells, between organs and between fascia, where the Acupuncture channels lie.” This is not about the acupuncture channels, but following up on the neuter as the space between and the fulcrum around which polarities spin.
So, back to the third option of the human body, that is neutral, or neuter to honor Dr. Stone and the founder of Polarity Therapy (which this is not). The neutral is the “I could take it or leave it” option of the body. It is neither attractive nor repulsive enough for the body to care or flow either direction. Neutrality exists all throughout nature and magnetism, but on a side note, fascinates me that it registers at 250 on the Dr. David R Hawkins Scale of Consciousness in his book Power vs Force. Neutrality, the ability to look at something, and not judge and feel neither positive (+) nor negative (-) about it, actually registers as empowering to the human being (and not to be confused with apathy) on his scale.
Neutrality is the third leg of Polarity, giving the body the ability to access the most stable geometric figure found in nature, the triangle (which will be further discussed in its own segment). The negative and positive poles create the dynamic flow of duality where there must (or so it seems) be a neutral counterpart, or counterbalance, for “economy of function.” A two dimensional tug of war creating polarity is then balanced in three-dimensions by the neutral leg. Upon a later reflection, on an esoteric or spiritual level, if the Tao is the flowing polarities of the dark and light, then the neuter is the god source or unifying field to it all. Maybe, it is just a thought as we look at the connecting forces of the universe, and the fact the experiencer determines the good or bad and dark and light. But I digress…
The concept of the neutral/neuter can be viewed over and over again by watching a pendulum swing. The instant the pendulum reaches each vertex, it is momentarily still before reversing directions. It could be graphed in terms of acceleration and velocity as the pendulum swings from (+) to (0) to (-). To bring it back to the human body and being, this can be observed in gait analysis as we lemniscate through time and space. This is also the idea of the infinity symbol, and all credit to Gary Ward, author of What the Foot!? for this idea to be cemented in my brain.
As we watch someone walk, the most balanced gait is less noticeable, or does not stand out. Meaning, when we watch someone with a limp, even an untrained eye can see that something is not quite right. However, when we lemniscate moving our body and pelvis through the infinity symbol, it is a form of neutrality as polar forces balance. Fascinatingly enough, in electromagnetism, a Mobius coil, cancels its electric charge. It is neutral when a current is run through it.
Therefore, every center point, “atom, molecule, cell, organ, organism, planet, star, galaxy” attracts and repulses in this format. We are no different from the natural world despite our continual efforts to separate the human from nature, or view ourselves as better or more evolved. We are nature born of this planet. We are natural: protons (+), neutrons (0), and electrons (-). Then, we are quarks microscopically below that, by theory. Of which, fascinatingly enough, there are three types of quarks. As small as we can go, there are pairs and triangles.
So with all of life in a constant state of flow, why would I, or we as therapists, choose to limit our skills and abilities to one or two options, and not utilize all skills that we have at our disposal??? And not seek to build our skill sets indefinitely??? (*Legally, morally and ethically should be an understood understatement, but since Common Sense is a more like a super power these days and not so common, let it be noted.)
Some literature from Dr. Stone that has helped solidify APS, ”[Any] therapy is far more than simply a series of techniques or physical manipulations, as is sometimes assumed. The view of health and wholeness implicit in [any] therapy encompasses continual self development and growing self knowledge as absolutely crucial requirements both for the patient and for the practitioner. The science of . . . therapy is a healing art that is comprised of two parts:
a.) Life principles, energy principles and laws of nature with universal application, and
b.) Specific therapeutic techniques, methods and guidelines,”
…but “which techniques,” I ask.
As Abraham Maslow said in 1966, “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” Why would we ever forget that which we have learned, and not utilize all the tools that we have at our disposal? I used to get phenomenal results with deep tissue, trigger point, and craniosacral work. Why would I ever ditch these beautiful forms of touch entirely when working with the human system? How do I find their place in treatment and working with the human body? How do we know as therapists what to use and when? Will the body want what it had last week? Last month? Last year?
“That which serves best, is best.” -Dr. Stone
I have found that I need to adapt to the client that shows up in clinic. Arguably, I need to adapt to any human being that is before me, even when I am not in the clinic and simply perambulating through life. This is not to say that I bend myself into a pretzel to meet the needs of others, but that I know myself well enough where I can dynamically flow toward and away from my center point with enough knowledge of exactly who I am at center.
“Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo . . . survives by bending with the wind.” -Bruce Lee
I have a decent size tool box these days that will never stop growing, and perhaps it has become more of a tool shed (one student proclaimed, “Warehouse”). I like to honor all of that knowledge, when appropriate. There was a time period where I would come home from a seminar hopped up on the Kool-aid of the weekend thinking, “Everyone needs this!” I quickly found that not to be true.
So, I began to “spray and pray” (a derisive term for firing an automatic firearm towards an enemy in long bursts, without making an effort to line up each shot or burst of shots. This is especially prevalent amongst those without benefit of proper training). I would utilize modalities across the board because it all works (and nothing works). I would do all sorts of (uneccasary) work, and combo it all. This admittedly gave phenomenal results, but also felt like a waste of time and too much work. I prefer to be intelligent, efficient and conservative with my energy. Some people appreciated it, others did not. So, how to know what was needed and when? This question became the quest, and had simply to re-member a known assumption that the body knows. Beyond a conceptual consciousness, the body knows.
I absolutely love the idea of Power vs Force, and the work of Dr. David R. Hawkins. He would teach a seminar and give out unlabeled envelopes of organic vitamin C and an artificial sweetener to the audience. He would then have the attendees muscle test each other holding their allotted envelopes. One hundred percent of the time people would go weak to the artificial sweetener and strong to the vitamin C. This is polarity. The body, without the assistance of the ever so clever mind, knew, and held strong to the vitamin C (attraction) and went weak, or was repulsed, by the artificial sweetener. This is the essence of Polarity reiterated from another perspective and the vantage point of muscle testing, aka muscle monitoring or kinesiological assessing. The human body is a biofeedback tool.
As I delved into the studies of movement and kinesiology and muscle testing/monitoring, I found that there were many factors involving the connection and disconnection of muscles seeming to be strong or weak. “The subconscious control of muscle function interfaces with all levels of our being.” –Energetic Kinesiolgy pg 67 Also reiterated in Carpenter’s ideo-motor principle as “…any idea that dominates the mind finds its expression in the muscles…”
Truly, it was not that the muscles were either “strong” or “weak,” but were responding to different stimuli, different polarities. It became clear that it was of prime importance to understand from which vantage, and what I will call “paradigm,” I was testing muscles and movement. Was I testing at a functional / physiological level? Emotional level? Energetic level? What was the paradigm of my test upon the client? It is best to keep it simple, but really, we are complex. We are dynamic. So, I set out to create this adaptable system.
I seek:
-to create an adaptable system, there are always curve balls in life
-to utilize this adaptable system to help organize all the tools each individual has access to
-to also utilize this system to help organize paradigms of testing and assessing the body
-to add additional knowledge and tools that I find powerful and beneficial, and provide space for later additions
-to create an organization around the human body and being of structure and flow
-to ultimately be a glue, common theme, and binding agent and platform for all treatment for touch therapy
I feel as though we must identify “paradigm” here for clarities sake as, “a worldview underlying the theories and methodology of a particular scientific subject.” The basics of this is a model, or even more simply put, a “mode of operation.” As the questions were posed above, and will be discussed more within the Indicator Muscles section, it is of great importance to recognize from which paradigm tests are being operated from, in, or through, or even against. “With knowledge comes great power.” –
The system is adaptable because nature demands it of us. “Adapt or die,” said by P. W. Botha, South African prime minister and president. “Each treatment is a personal journey for both the practitioner and the client. Therefore, the practitioner operates more as a detective than as a diagnostician.” –Energetic Kinesiology
Each and every time that a person comes into clinic, they are different and may require different needs. If they are doing their self-care and receiving good guidance from a therapist, one would hope that they are seeing changes. Therefore, it seemed pertinent to develop something that folded and molded around this constant probability of change. On another note, if there is no change, and we are seeing the same things repeating over and over again in clinic, this is a good piece of evidence that what we are doing is not working.
In fact, I encourage others to take this adaptable system and make it their own. I have been blessed in this life to stand upon the shoulders of those that came before me or even at the same time as me. There were many brilliant shoulders that let me stand and see things in a new way, and quickly. I was able to take what may have taken them a lifetime to accumulate and jump on to new and amazing adventures for myself. I am an innovator as such, an artist, a synthesizer, and I hope and encourage expansion and evolution of this system. It is my intention to provide sturdy shoulders for others to stand upon, and make a greater, greater mind.
I invite all modalities to find their place. Be polymodal. Everything does have its place and space within healing, and there is enough room for everyone. There are many paths to the top of the mountain, and I really think the only one who is lost is the one running around the bottom telling others that they are on the wrong path (paraphrase of Hindu Proverb). We all find our way differently. We flux and flow differently, and nothing works for everyone. Everything works, and nothing works. Find the place within the dynamic flow that works for the person in front of you at that moment, on that day, in that place and space.
Lastly, we are all capable of helping ourselves and one another. There are no tools necessary other than awareness and hands, presence and guidance. We do not need any fancy toys, electronics, patches, or anything other than two humans capable of showing up for a common goal and reason. It is my hope that we can do this more and more for one another on many levels. So where to begin?
On to Structure…