Tuning in pt2

[Guest guest]

'The book Man on His Nature, by British physician and

Nobel Prize winner Sir Charles Sherrington, instigated

Tellington-Jones’ next turning point.

“Sherrington’s belief that ‘every cell in the body

knows its function within the body and its function

within the universe’...'

 

A Touch of Love

Hands-on healing for the animal kingdom

by Catherine Gallegos

 

Our two new barn cats sat inside their oversize

traveling crate, surveying the view of this next

chapter in their lives. After a full day chasing mice

and exploring the great outdoors of the ranch, they’d

retreated back into the security of their ‘home’ to

rest.

 

Ashes already followed us around like a puppy and

repeatedly flopped onto his back asking for belly

rubs. His aptly-named twin sister, Majestic, remained

aloof. In the interest of equal treatment, I reached

into their crate and trailed my hand softly down her

stiffened back before picking up their empty cat food

bowl.

 

Just as I turned to walk away, Majestic attacked. She

bit me hard on the back of my leg and leapt onto my

back, sinking her claws and teeth deep into my skin

before racing away to hide.

 

I was stunned. I didn’t know anything about cats, but

I’d enjoyed training horses over the years, had cared

for many other creatures and certainly thought I had a

way with animals. Majestic had been vaccinated against

rabies, so I assumed her aggression resulted from

territory or distrust issues. But whatever the reason

for her behavior, it just wouldn’t do.

 

After cleaning and dressing my wounds, I web-surfed

various problem-animal sites.

Especially intriguing was the “Trust Touch” (TTouch)

therapy and training work of Linda Tellington-Jones,

practiced by more than 1,400 certified practitioners

in 26 countries. As the website TTouch.com explained,

TTouch treatments focus primarily on a series of

clockwise circular motions of varying pressures,

performed by pushing the skin with the fingers.

 

My interest piqued, I scheduled an appointment with

the certified practitioner nearest my California home,

Barbara Janelle in Santa Barbara. We would practice

the basics on her cat—I wasn’t prepared to catch and

transport Majestic.

Janelle explained that aggressive behavior is an

instinctual response to fear, and that the TTouch

technique rapidly eases fear, distress and pain.

She assured me the technique would allow me to

provide better care for all the animals I work with,

aiding in their training, increasing their

contentedness and confidence, and serving as a

potentially life-saving method of calming an animal in

an emergency.

 

A few days later, Janelle warmly greeted me at her

door and ushered me into her living room. We sank into

deep, soft chairs to discuss her long history working

with animals, including the past 22 years teaching

clinics and numerous seminars.

 

Janelle demonstrated several TTouch treatments on

Magic, her 17-year-old black cat, including an “Ear

TTouch” that would help me to relax Majestic. She

explained that a cat’s ear contains 397 acupressure

points that affect every major system in its little

body.

Janelle also demonstrated the “Clouded Leopard”

TTouch, named for a Clouded Leopard at the Los Angeles

Zoo whose aggressive behavior was successfully treated

with that particular therapy.

I learned how to rest one hand “as light as a cloud”

on Magic’s shoulder, curving my fingers slightly while

placing the flat pads of my fingers on his skin, then

pushing his skin in a circle rather than sliding or

rubbing my fingers against it.

Meanwhile, I supported the cat gently with my other

hand, to help hold him still. Janelle reminded me to

relax and keep breathing, pointing out that when I

held my breath, so did Magic.

 

When Janelle recounted how she has also applied the

technique to friends and associates with great

results, I rolled up my sleeves to show her my rather

severe case of poison oak. She walked to the kitchen

and returned with clean towels, which she wrapped

around my swollen and blistered arms.

Working through the protective cloth, she began a

series of barely perceptible “Raccoon TTouch” circles,

using the very tips of her fingers and fingernails to

push my skin gently, in clockwise circles, over and

over again, moving slowly in rows up and back down my

forearms.

Within minutes my taunt skin softened and the

swelling began to decrease considerably, easing my

pain and at least slightly soothing the intensity of

the itch. Perhaps another type of massage would

provide similar results. But whatever Janelle was

doing sure seemed to work, and I liked it.

 

“We’re talking to the body,” Janelle explained,

“saying, ‘Hey, let’s get your act together, start

healing this area.’” She said that although formal

studies on humans are still pending, decades ago—early

on in the development of the TTouch

technique—Tellington-Jones discovered that her method

helped people in the same way that it seemed to

benefit animals.

 

“We began to recognize we were working with the

intelligence of cells,” Janelle explained, “and that

this circular touch activates cellular memory, helping

bring back normal function to damaged areas.”

 

In the weeks after Janelle’s demonstration, I devoured

several of Tellington-Jones’ 13 books and began

experimenting with TTouch on our cats, baby horse and

my husband Victor (on a trip to the emergency room for

stitches). I wasn’t sure if the circles themselves

were responsible for the good feelings in our little

family, or if it was just the extra love and

attention. Perhaps all Majestic needed was to grow

accustomed to us, but after a few TTouch sessions she

quickly became as fun, trusting and playful as her

brother.

 

As Tellington-Jones tells it, her work is largely

informed by human-potential pioneer Moshe Feldenkrais.

While attending a four-year course at his institute in

San Francisco in the 1970s, “A statement made by Moshe

Feldenkrais electrified me,” she says. “[He said] that

by using non-habitual movements that would activate

unused neural pathways to the brain, it is possible to

improve learning potential.” Already an accomplished

horse trainer, Tellington-Jones began applying

Feldenkrais’ teachings to her trainees.

 

The book Man on His Nature, by British physician and

Nobel Prize winner Sir Charles Sherrington, instigated

Tellington-Jones’ next turning point. “Sherrington’s

belief that ‘every cell in the body knows its function

within the body and its function within the universe’

had a profound influence on me,” she says. “I began to

see the body as a collection of cells and was struck

with the idea that by touching the body gently I could

allow the cells in my fingers to convey the message at

the cellular level to ‘remember your perfection’ in

order to activate the healing potential of the body.”

 

By adapting and applying the various techniques she

learned, Tellington-Jones gained considerable

notoriety within the equestrian world in the ’70s and

early ’80s. Then, in 1983, while demonstrating on a

cranky mare at a veterinary clinic, Tellington-Jones

was struck with an intuitive impulse to begin pushing

the mare’s skin in small circles—a departure from her

more complex Feldenkrais-based approach. “When I saw

the effects on this mare, I realized that there was

something special in the circular movements that

anyone could learn. I began experimenting with a

variety of circular movements,” Tellington-Jones says.

What has emerged over the ensuing decades she calls

Trust Touch.

 

Dr. Stephanie Cote, a veterinarian in Ontario, Canada,

incorporates TTouch into her work daily. “Especially

in my job, where my patients are frequently scared and

concerned about having something painful examined,”

she explains, “I am constantly asking myself, ‘How can

I make this easier for them?’ TTouch is always a part

of the answer.”

 

Dr. Kerry Ridgway, a noted equine veterinarian based

in Aiken, South Carolina, often recommends TTouch as a

preventative or follow-up therapy to his clients. He

contends that, “Love and caring expressed by touch and

intent promotes a sense of wellbeing, stress

diminishment, confidence and a diminishment of fear

that set the stage for mind and body healing.” He adds

that, “The results of Linda’s work cannot be placed in

the mold of ‘evidence based medicine’ through double

blind studies. However, like acupuncture, TTouch

should be considered ‘proven to be effective’ based on

the thousands of case studies and the empirical

results that accompany them.”

 

Art Goodrich practiced TTouch at the world-famous San

Diego Zoo, where he served as master zookeeper from

1973 until his retirement in 2000. He remains an avid

proponent of TTouch today. “I have used TTouch on

everything from aardvarks to zebras,” he says.

“Giraffes especially enjoy the relaxing of the muscles

and the relief of painful areas.” He says that all the

animals he handled received a measure of TTouch, and,

“They all loved it and wanted more.”

 

Now in her late 60s, Tellington-Jones says she is

looking forward to the publication of her next book,

this time focused on TTouch for humans.

 

“We don’t understand why TTouch works so effectively

to reduce pain and fear,” Tellington-Jones says, “but

the results have been so positive in hospitals and for

individuals working on themselves.” She notes that

TTouch is now included in coursework for a minor

degree in Complementary Healing Modalities at the

University of Minnesota.

 

When asked what brings the most meaning to her

lifework, Tellington-Jones explains, “I feel like I’m

an animal ambassador here to speak for the animals and

remind their people of the many gifts our animals

bring to us. Animals are often thought of as a part of

our recreation, but for so many people, especially

living in cities and disconnected from nature, I

believe our animals play an important role as a means

of re-creation, in a special way bringing us closer to

nature and our Creator.”

 

-- --

Catherine Gallegos serves as editor-in-chief of

Novica.com(part of the National Geographic family), a

retail site featuring the handmade creations of

artisans worldwide.

 

© 2006 WHOLE LIFE TIMES