Takeaway: The power of thought is often overlooked in nervous system communication.

Every time we touch a client, we become a stimulus the nervous system responds to. All forms of bodywork have this in common. The more you are aware of this phenomenon with your role in this communication, the more intentional and effective you can be in your work.

While recognizing the signs that the brain is responding to your touch is paramount to supporting health, it doesn’t stop there. “Outside-in” stimulus only goes so far. To stimulate lasting change through new learning in any body, awareness must also come from the inside. 

Basic Brain-body Communication

Let’s begin with a basic physiology review since simplicity is all that is necessary to begin leading and educating the body toward a new way of being. 

As we learn in school, the brain operates via stimulus and response—a stimulus is communicated to the brain and the brain responds with an action. We learn that we are a stimulus, so it makes sense to observe the response. What we observe informs our choice of the next stimulus we apply. Often, because we are touch practitioners (be that through physical touch or energetic directive), we focus solely on our input. Do we consequently discount the client as a source of stimulus in this limited approach? 

Neuroscience research on how the brain learns indicates that the more pathways we create toward a learning goal, the more likely it is the brain will adopt the learning. What we do when we work with the body is teach it a new way of being. So why not increase those pathways to the end goal? Learning involves attention, thought, emotion, and repetition. If we look beyond ourselves as a stimulus and incorporate a client’s attention, thought, and emotion, then invite repetition through client self-care, positive results increase exponentially.

So, what does this look like on the treatment table?

Recognizing Nervous System Communication

How often have you noticed a muscle pushing back at you while you are pressing on it in a resting state? How often has the client said, “Go deeper,” while the body communicated, “That’s enough,” through tension or withdrawal? How often has a client resisted passive movement even though they appear completely relaxed on the table? These are common, unconscious physiological responses. But, when made conscious, the effects can be positively powerful.

At least once a week (and, some weeks, in every single session) I hear the client say, “You found sore spots I didn’t even know were there!” Additionally, as a practitioner becomes more experienced and can identify postural patterns that illuminate root causes rather than just pain responses, simple client education can assist them in identifying what daily habits contribute to their physical experiences. From there, attention can be more accurately directed and change can ensue. These are examples of the unconscious being made conscious.

Teaching the System a New Way

As previously mentioned, when we aim to create change, we are ultimately teaching and guiding the body to a new way of being. The most effective ways the brain learns (especially long-term memory that sticks) are through attention, thought, emotion, and repetition. Let’s look at how to employ each of these within the session.

Attention

When you notice any of the signs of communication described earlier (or other signs that were not covered; there are many), bring these to the client’s attention.

For example, I was recently working on a client who reported low-back pain. He was lying prone, and I was warming up his erector spinae muscles. With each pass of simple gliding strokes, the client arched his mid-thoracic region and the muscles felt like they were in full contraction. As the practitioner, I found myself instantly feeling fatigued because not only could I not sink into the tissue, I felt pushed out by it. 

I said to the client (while tracing the region with my fingertips), “Can you feel that each time I glide down these muscles, your back is arching in this area?” He said no, so I asked him to notice this. A few moments later he said, “Gosh, you’re right! I can feel my body doing that spontaneously on its own.” 

At first, we worked simply with awareness and attention. It helped some, but not completely. So, knowing the abdominal muscles are responsible for flexing the spine (which causes the arch in the mid-thoracic region), I cued him to direct his attention to his belly and anterior rib cage and imagine them surrendering (you can also use words like drop, melt, release, etc.) heavily into the table. Sure enough, with this directed thought, the erectors surrendered, and I was allowed to sink in.

Thought

After making the client aware by bringing his body’s automatic response to his attention, I gave him a direct, body-centered thought to internally communicate. The power of thought is often overlooked in nervous system communication; thought alone is a strong stimulus, and literally asking one’s body to do something can cause the response to occur immediately. 

Thoughts also create cues that can be used outside the session. Now that the client is aware of his rounded spine (which is also present in his standing posture), he can notice it at any given time and actively work with it in the self-care recommendations I’ve offered him.

Emotion

Research also suggests that, while thought alone can produce change and learning, accompanying thought with emotion significantly elevates the brain’s response to learning through building and strengthening the neural network. 

After cuing this client to surrender his belly and rib cage, I asked, “How does it feel when you do that? Is there a positive sensation?” He responded, “Yes. My abs have been sore and tight because of some challenging core exercises I did earlier this week. I had a feeling after I did them that maybe I had done too many reps. It feels really good to let those muscles go.” 

The emotion doesn’t have to be big. It can be as simple as “This feels good” or “What a relief.” A bonus from this session is that we have also likely linked to a root cause, or at least found a guidepost along the path.

Repetition

Not only does this approach make our therapeutic work smarter and more effective, but it can also uncover global patterns that inform self-care practices that, through repetition, reeducate the body. 

In this case, I guided the client to counter the effects of his abdominal work with spinal strengthening and abdominal lengthening so he could work toward a more balanced body (and, over time, improved daily posture). I also encouraged him to talk to his body in the process and tell it exactly what he’s aiming for. Even simply saying in conjunction with spinal extensions, “It’s OK to let go, abdominals,” or “You can lengthen, I know you can!” or “Spinal muscles, I’m going to lift you upright with this contraction, and when I let go, you can let go too,” will cause the brain to direct the muscles to respond. If you really want to go to the next level, add imagery.

I asked a few more questions about his daily routines, which involved sitting at a desk. I cued and we practiced a healthy sitting posture so he could feel what a more neutral and supportive position would feel like. During this client education, I used all the learning stages of attention, thought, and emotion. The daily repetition is up to him.

Offer a Dynamic Perspective 

I want to acknowledge that this is a basic overview and launching point for a variety of treatment approaches. What is most important is to tune in to the brain-body communication, then use learning processes that offer a dynamic perspective. 

Working with the body is a conversation. While that conversation occurs between the practitioner, brain, and body through external stimulus and response, engaging the client in their own internal conversation is extremely effective and incredibly empowering.