Re: - MIKE

[Guest guest]

Do you think you could give me a little something that I can have my

mom do for me? She and my dad are coming over today to help out

with dinner and vacuum ... etc.

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Sorry for the delay getting back to you - we have been at the local

EDS support group meeting all afternoon.

A lot depends on how sensitive your shoulder is to touch, even light

touch, at the moment with your RSD flare. There is a big difference

between what I can do personally, what someone else might be able to

do just starting out, and trying to talk/walk someone through the

steps on something via emails. And one of the main reasons or

differences is that I have had enough practice and experience in

doing some of this now so that I can do some of it off-body

energetically, including lymphatic drainage.

Again, my big concern at the moment in your case is your present

level of sensitivity to touch.

But the two techniques I would personally recommend (and would in

fact use myself if I were there) are lymphatic drainage and

polarity. Of the two, polarity is by far the easier of the two to

describe and do except that it is pure energy work. LDT is more

complicated but can be done either manually or energetically.

If you can get either of your parents to momentarily suspend their

disbelief (I am assuming that neither of them is in to energy work),

I would suggest very light touch polarity as a starting point. For

most people, there is a sending hand and a receiving hand and the

dominant hand TENDS to be the sending hand. In other words, if they

are right handed, they tend to send with the right and receive with

the left.

You know where the most tender points are, on and around your

shoulder. Have one of them VERY LIGHTLY put the tips of the middle

two fingers of their dominant hand on the most tender point. Put

the tips of the middle two fingers of the other hand directly

opposite on the other side of the joint. Then, ground and center

(find that internal place of calm and peace in the mind) and focus

their intention on your shoulder between their hands. What is the

intention? Pretty easy to describe - they are your parents. Their

intention is love, it is soothing calm, it is kissing the boo boo

and making it go away. Assuming success (and we are of course going

to assume success), as the pain drops at the one set of points, move

on to the next - and keep doing that all the way around the shoulder.

While they are doing this, you assist with your own visualization.

What I tend to tell people is to visualize flushing the joint with

cool, running water, soothing the pain with the cold water and

flushing out all of the toxins and waste products. Yeah, I know it

sounds hokie - it also works. I have repeatednly had cases where I

no sooner had someone do the visualization than they got an

immediate drop in muscle tension.

If they look at you like they think you just did some kind of

overdose, simply ask them to humor you and try. Beyond that, it you

do want to try any LDT, either hit me with an off-list email or call

me on the phone. We are going to be home all evening. Number is

. You might also remind your mom that this is very

similar in some respects to Therapeutic Touch - which is currently

being taught in most if not all nursing school programs in the

country.