Stuck in a lift?

Trapped in a lift between floors and the alarm button doesn’t work – what would you do?  Well the lady in question got out her mobile phone and called her chiropractor whose office was next door.  An hour later she ecstatically stepped out of the lift and got on with the rest of her day.  Everything that happened in between unfolded as an allegory for effective problem solving – on the inside.

So now I’ll tell you what happens – on the inside of us – when we have a problem with our body that doesn’t seem to be getting better.  Let’s say we have a knee that is in pain and doesn’t bend fully.  If it hasn’t healed within the textbook8-12 weeks expected, that’s because our brain hasn’t recognised the knee is injured (of course we can feel pain, that’s a different process).  Because the brain doesn’t know about the injury, the brain doesn’t organise the sequence of constructive events to enable healing at the knee.  If, instead, the brain was prompted to recognise the injured, it can organise for healing to take place.  That is the role of NSA, to prompt the brain to recognise what is happening in the body, where there are injuries, where there is unnecessary tension and then the brain can take constructive action to heal and release excess tension.

Back to our heroine stuck in the lift: frustrated at feeling trapped - that is how some people describe their life with physical pain, or some part of their body that has stopped working properly.  Pressing the alarm button to get help, but getting no response is like the lack of refined communication between the brain and body.  Just as no one realised she was stuck in the lift, the brain doesn’t realise there’s a problem in the body.  And after a time she realised she needed to do something different to get help and she called me on the mobile.  That is like a person calling Vibrant World to make an appointment.

Because I went to the building and told them their lift was stuck, the company told their management who in turn took a series of actions to solve the problem.  That’s like my role as a NSA practitioner prompting the brain to recognise the injury.  The brain and nervous system subsequently co-ordinates the healing process.  Back at the stranded lift, the management team went on to the roof to look at the lift’s motor, they called the fire brigade and later requested a lift engineer to come.  All the time, they kept me informed about what they were doing, how long until the fire brigade would arrive and what the next plan was. 

That was brilliant because I knew what was happening and I was able to call and text the lady in the lift so she knew too.  This meant she felt confident that people were working to free her, she had expectations about how long it would take.  She and I knew progress was being made.  And it made sense of the noises she heard which she told me about and sensations of the lift moving slightly but still not opening at a floor.  The same happens as a person undergoes NSA care: as a practitioner I get information about how the body is responding, finding where and how the tension is being released, and measuring nervous system function.  I’m able to share that information with the patient who correlates it with their experience of symptoms and what their body is doing.  We assess progress and ascertain a timeframe for healing.

Finally, when the lift reached a floor and the doors opened there was much cause for celebration all round.  

 Our heroine was free and gladly left the building.  The firemen could leave, the engineer returned to his office and those responsible for the lift could relax.   When a patient has achieved their goal – to be pain free, or have a fully functioning knee, or resume playing tennis, it’s certainly cause for celebration.  The internal mechanisms for healing can stand down and ‘normal function’ resumes. 

Credit goes to our heroine of the story who recognised that she needed to do something other than keep pressing the non-functioning alarm button.  So, the next time you find yourself ‘trapped in a lift’ – don’t tough it out.  Ask for help!