LT asks: “Is Network Chiropractor, also known as Spinal Network Analysis, new age? Should one avoid going to such a chiropractor?”
Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) has two big strikes against it – it has a basis in New Age beliefs and it does not have the backing of science.
Just like chiropractics in general, NSA is based in belief in a vital force. It was developed by a chiropractor named Dr. Donal Epstein who believes the spine is a “channel of energy that connects individual consciousness to planetary consciousness.” Epstein discovered the method after noticing that if he adjusted certain segments of the spine before others, the body would often “self correct” and move in response to the adjustment of the first spinal segment.
This resulted in a method that uses gentle manipulation to adjust tension in the spinal column by focusing on the order adjustments are made.
It also helps patients to develop a “new relationship with their body by helping them learn the language of their nervous system, particularly their spine,” says this article appearing in CHA Magazine.
“For instance, almost everyone can relate to the experience of being uptight; the shoulders creep up towards the ears, the neck stiffens, the jaw clenches and the breath becomes shallow. By applying a very soft touch to specific points along the spine (the base of the head, the neck and the low spine), the Network chiropractor helps their patients learn how to transform the body language of uptight into the body language of fluidity, melting and ease.”
There are three levels to Network care, with the first level helping patients develop deeper and easier breathing, more flexibility in the spine and the beginnings of a deeper connection with the body, the article continues. The next level is where patients learn how to “use the energy of their symptomatic discomfort to transform their more chronic neurological patterns into new, more beneficial strategies for health.”
At level three, “patients begin to develop strategies for accessing ever deepening wells of wisdom and awareness within themselves. They ‘entrain’ more fully through their hearts.”
References are then made to New Age self-help guru Tony Robbins who calls NSA “one of the most powerful sources of personal transformation I have ever experienced or seen.”
It’s important to note that Epstein is a “straight” chiropractor which means he subscribes to the principles of Daniel Palmer, the founder of chiropractics who believed in an Innate Intelligence or life force. Almost since the day Palmer opened his first school of chiropractics in 1897, a large number of chiropractors refused to subscribe to the theory of Innate Intelligence. They dismissed it as “religious baggage.” Referred to as “mixers,” these chiropractors blend chiropractic care with conventional medicine.
This may also be the case with NSA. Chiropractors who do not believe the spine is an energy channel may employ gentle manipulation as part of their practice without incorporating these New Age beliefs.
It is always best to have a frank discussion with your chiropractor to determine the basis of his practice before engaging in NSA.
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