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Polarity Therapy

Polarity therapy is a system of holistic healthcare based on an understanding of the flow of life energy. Life energy must flow correctly to maintain optimum health. The body reflects in its structure and function the sum total of our history. This is encoded in the energy fields that surround the body and interpenetrate it. So one can regard the physical body as being woven  from these energy fields.

Dr Randolph Stone (1890-1981) was the creator of Polarity Therapy. Born in Austria, he emigrated to the USA in 1903 and trained as an Osteopath, Chiropractor and Naturopath. He found that the gross physical approach to healing was insufficient; for example his Osteopathic and Chiropractic adjustments would often not hold  and would need to be repeated.

There is no avoiding that some concept of a primary energy field is necessary to understand life, although conventional biology and orthodox medicine seem to manage to deny this, dismissing it as Vitalism. They seem to ignore many basic questions such as how does life take on its many forms (Morphogenesis) and how do we go from a disordered state (i.e. illness) back to order (i.e. health).

Yet, the life energy concept has been around for thousands of years, under various names as has the idea of a universal energy field. The latter is also known in modern physics under different names: Quantum Vacuum, Zero-point energy, the Fifth force, the Higgs field.

Life is Pulsation
There seems to be a polarity principle at work in the very fabric of the universe which can be seen in everyday life: Hot/cold, black/white, up/down and so on. However there is also a third principle  warm, grey and middle in the examples above. The geometry of the Vesica contains Golden Mean proportions which underlie all life, from the spirals of seashells and the proportions of the human body, to the galaxies themselves. We are looking at the very fundamentals of creation of form here. These three energies are the Holy Trinity, the triple godhead of Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva, the Yin, Yang and Qi, and so on.

In Polarity therapy the Sanskrit terms Rajas, Sattva and Tamas are used. In this terminology, these are the Gunas, or the three life principles (in Sanskrit guna means attribute), but don't be confused, you could just as easily call them positive, negative or neutral.

The Rajas(+) energy (Sanskrit=action) is envisioned as centrifugal energy flowing outward from the neutral centre Sattva (Sanskrit=truth) to the periphery and then returning to the centre as a centripetal Tamas(-) energy (Sanskrit=inertia). All life contains this essential pulsation. If we consider another ancient symbol, the Caduceus consists of two snakes winding around a central staff.

The Ultrasonic Core
The ultrasonic core is the name given by Dr Stone to the central shaft of the Caduceus. He writes 'The central core is the ultrasonic energy current of the Soul. It is the primary energy which builds and sustains all others  (it is) located anatomically within the central canal of the spinal cord and resonates with the Eternal Sound Current; the Unitive Field of Cosmic Intelligence. This Unitive Field I believe to be the very same all-pervading field of modern physics.

The Chakras represent nodal points in the ultrasonic core, a step-down mechanism into the lower fields of the body. (It's rather like an electrical transformer reduces mains voltage to a lesser voltage to run many devices that would be burnt out by the high mains voltage.) These stepped-down voltages create the fields which are known as the Five Elements which maintain and inform the physical body.

These fields comprise energy, information and the Cosmic intelligence. Dr Stone again "The cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) seems to act as a storage field and a conveyor of the ultrasonic and life energies. We know that water, which is the major component of CSF and other body fluids, has a memory; it can store information. This seems to be the basis of homoeopathy, flower essences, gem elixirs and so on. We also know that hydration of tissues improves energy flow in them. So CSF and other bodily fluids may be vital in transmitting the stepped-down energies through the body. Water is truly magical. Keep drinking it!"

Five Elements
The concept of the 5 elements has been with us from ancient times. The particular nomenclature in Polarity Therapy is derived from the Ayurvedic tradition. The elements are Ether (Akasa), Air (Vayu), Fire (Tejas), Water (Apas), and Earth (Prithivi). Although traditionally called elements I feel it is easier to think of them as fields.

The 5 elements have many correspondences (I like to think of them as resonances) with body areas, organs, systems and processes; levels of consciousness, psychological states, the food we take in, as well as resonances in the world around us, e.g. colours, planets, minerals and so on. If one remembers that all of creation is vibration and the universe is a vast harmony of waves (both ancient knowledge and modern physics agree on this) then this idea hopefully becomes clearer.

To give an example, the Air element resonates with the chest, lungs, nervous system, kidneys diaphragm, and ankles. The sense of touch, sour tastes and the foods fruits, nuts and legumes and so on. Combinations of the elemental resonances also occur  leading to further harmonic correspondences e.g. combinations with Ether element relate to emotions Ether/Air = Desire, Ether/Fire = Anger and so on. So life is a great balancing act between the elements, the Cosmos, and the great Pulsation that drives it all. Sometimes it goes wrong.

What Polarity Therapists Do
All therapists will work differently, but many will begin by taking a case history. The therapist will not only be interested in the problem that brought the client to their office, but their general health, family history, diet, sleep patterns, emotional state in other words a holistic view of their life to date. This information may continue to be gathered over the first few sessions. Some therapists will want to make a structural assessment also, and for this outer clothing will need to be removed, but most Polarity bodywork will be done with the client fully clothed.

The bodywork aspect is usually a substantial part of most therapists work. Many techniques are used, mostly very gentle and with an energetic rather than a manipulative approach, facilitating the free movement of body energy. Some techniques are like a whole-body reflexology session, releasing areas which are functionally and energetically related. There may be gentle rocking and articulatory techniques, cranial holds, fascial releases. Some may look similar to osteopathic or chiropractic techniques, but without forceful manipulation. Some work may be even be performed off the body, working in the energy field. The experience of the bodywork is usually deeply relaxing and may release deeply held emotions and trauma.

It is difficult to effectively describe the practice of Polarity Therapy since the range of techniques are so many and so varied. Generally, Polarity Therapy can be used to help engender increased body awareness, to contact their own self-healing mechanism via contact with the Unitive Field of Cosmic Intelligence. Life flows more freely through the body and its field, and specific dysfunctions correct themselves.

This is an edited extract from an article written by Will Wilson and originally published in Positve Health magazine, Issue 53 June 2000. The full article can be found by typing polarity therapy into the search box at www.positivehealth.com

Wil Wilson combines Polarity Therapy with other bodywork modalities in his practice in Exeter and North London. He worked for many years as a scientist in medicine and the pharmaceutical industry before becoming a complementary health practitioner. He can be contacted on yigwill@aol.com