Presented July 19, 1975
In the past
few years, one word has taken on an inordinate emphasis in our culture - the
word "energy." We have heard
it so much that its meaning has been confused and perhaps it is worth some
consideration to segregate and differentiate the implications of the word. Is the energy that we are talking about
related to the energy which a few years ago we realized was lacking in our gas
tanks? What does the energy crisis
include? Where does it stop? Most of you who are rolfers, practitioners
of Structural Integration, are used to hearing your clients say "Oh, I
have so much more energy since I've been rolfed." What are they referring to? Is this the same energy? If so, where does it come from and how is it
released by integration of the structure.
In using the name, Structural Integration, we have found that the word
"integration" refers to the psyche as well as the body, the
soma. Obviously we are in the midst of
a vast confusion and some clarification and overview is long overdue.
William
Blake in the late eighteenth century said "Energy is Eternal
Delight." Well, that's one way of
saying it. It underscores the hum
assumption that there is something transcendent about
energy. At the same period in time, in
Newtonian Mechanics energy was seen as a property of moving masses. By the late nineteenth century, men had
extended this very limited consideration of the physical reality of energy and
organized their thinking into new sciences: thermodynamics, electromagnetism
and quantitative chemistry. All these
developed more sophisticated concepts of energy and began to see the world
around them as manifestations and concentrations of a Universal Basic divorced
from matter itself. Energy was no
longer defined as the property of moving masses, nor as a property of
anything. In men's minds, it began to
take on independent reality and in the sophistication of the twentieth century,
properties of its own, made manifest in "laws" concerning it. In this process the concept
"energy" expanded to cosmic size as we considered Einstein's
formulations E=mc2. No longer was
energy regarded as a "property" of "moving masses" - here
it became measurable by an examination of the mass from which it was generated
together with the speed of light. This
revolutionary concept that energy was also dependent stretched the minds and
imaginations of man incredibly. But so
did a consideration of Planck's equation, E = Hv (from which the area later
known as Quantum Mechanics was developed) postulated that energy carried by an
oscillation could be seen as a function of the frequencies of that
oscillation. This was the time when
energy grew up; it departed from the realm of Newton's apple and landed into a
sub-atomic universe.
Physicists spent
much time and thought during the Thermo-Dynamics Period exploring a concept
called Entropy. As a result of this
exploration they postulated that each quantity of energy has an associated
quality called entropy. This quality is
a measure of the disorder in the system and varies in different kinds of
energy. According to this concept, the
associated entropy determines the direction of flow of energies; energy always
flows they said in such a direction that entropy (disorder) increases.
To us, as human
beings living on the earth, the important consideration to date is that by
general scientific agreement the predominant energy in this universe is
gravitation, associated with the three-dimensional masses of our universe, our
suns, our stars, our cosmic bodies that form our universe. The energy we call gravity is associated
with each and all of these masses, and you remember from your high school
physics that the energy of gravity can be converted into other forms of
energy. As a huge mass contracts under
its own gravity other energies - light, heat, and motion, wave forms of energy
-- appear and may be dispersed or themselves transformed. But it is essentially the energy called
gravity which is characterized by no entropy, no disorder, random-ness.
What
nineteenth century physicists conceived as the "flow of energy" was
in fact the progression from order to disorder. Technically it was stated that the entropy of a system always
increased: the disorder, the randomness of the system always increased; the
energy system could always be degraded; the higher energy form transformed to a
lower form. But never did the reverse
happen, or so it was postulated. In the
late nineteenth century it was thought that the universe was running down to a
dense dark desert dust. Perhaps this is
so in the vast reaches of the inanimate universe. However there is increasing evidence of other forces of potential
emergent order at work...in isolated segments at least. We see this in segments of the universe
where there is life, where there is consciousness -- intelligence, as for
instance on the earth. It may well be
that in these parts of the universe, life -- consciousness -- is molding energy
to its own purpose.
This
material universe lacking consciousness, this Newtonian world, how does it
survive at all? Why has it not run-down
to a desert level long
since? Modern
physicists think a long succession of obstacles to the degradation of energy
intervened. These worlds, these masses,
are so large -- in any degradation energy is freed and therefore the unit
itself becomes smaller. But as the mass
contracts under gravity, the very massiveness of these worlds becomes their
salvation. So much time is involved in
dissipating this mass that it is no longer realistically significant to men.
There are
other energies in the Newtonian world.
The spin energy, for example, slows this gravitational condensation and
is a factor for security. This
specifically affects the earth as well as other more cosmic structures. Compression, the effect of gravitational
energy, apparently a basic constituent in our universe may be slowed through a
thermodynamic factor. Hydrogen burns to
form helium and in so doing releases energy which resists further
compression. This, of course, is a
cosmic rather than a terrestrial factor.
We see this phenomenon in the night sky and call it stars. The hydrogen in these cosmic masses that we
call suns and stars must be burned up before further compression can
occur. It is estimated, for example,
that it will take another five billion years to burn up the hydrogen in our sun
before compression can again begin.
This process has been in action for some four billion years already. Not a very eminent worry!
These are
the primary sources of energy in our universe.
From them and their interaction seemingly the various other sources of
what we call
"energy" in the terrestrial sense derive:
our coal, our oil, our uranium, our deuterium and above all our sunlight.
Late
twentieth century physicists and astrophysicists assure us that the underlying
and predominant energy of the universe is gravitational. Other forms of energy exist e.g., rotation
energy, energy of orbital motion, nuclear reactions, internal heat of stars,
sunlight, chemical reactions, terrestrial waste heat, cosmic microwave
radiation. But understandably by far
the predominant source of energy is gravitation. The gravitational energy which is characteristic of large masses
can be released as gravitation or converted into wave forms of energy. Light and heat as this mass falls together,
shrinks. Apparently all large masses
are shrinking all the time. Moreover,
as we have said, gravity is one of the few sources of energy uncontaminated by
entropy. This is, there is minimal tendency
for the energy of gravity to be diminished through entropy. In other words it is order uncontaminated by
randomness. This is the Newtonian world
seen through twentieth century eyes. What I have outlined above is the point of
view of the early twentieth century.
But as time has progressed we are recognizing that the
system in which we live is not the Newtonian world alone. We are not animals living on a material
mass, the earth, but living in a universe of at least two members: the
Newtonian world of matter interacting with a world loosely called life or
perhaps consciousness.
At this
point we must consider the factor, Life.
As human beings we feel that energy is somehow related to and equated
with "life." We sense that
the something we call "life" is somehow a key to existence, a key to
creating more animated beings in a less animated universe. That somehow the crisis and destiny of the
energy of the total universe cannot be understood except in relation to the
phenomena of life, of consciousness.
This seems to be our intuitive perception. This seems to have inspired Blake when he said "Energy is
Eternal Delight." Surely he was
not talking about an energy diminished by entropy (by disorder).
Later
twentieth century thinking has told us that all systems exist through at least
two factors and all systems to have significance to the
world of men must include the observer. Thus, for the "energy" to have
significance for us here, we must have two members of our system. One, the Newtonian or gravitational energy;
the other, Man-Consciousness for this is the system you are studying. This is the system whose energy value you
hope to enhance, to expand, to increase.
Look at it: energy/man -- gravitation/man. This is the system you need
to explore if you are hoping to increase the energy of the individual
person on the earth or to increase negative entropy and to decrease
deterioration, disorder.
How can you
increase the value of this system -- Gravitation/Man? Well, we've just looked at energy of the inanimate mass fairly
comprehensively. As far as humans are
concerned gravity is a constant: always present, always immense. We can visualize the energized earth as a
huge chestnut burr with "vertical" prickles in all directions -- all
direct towards the center of the burr, the center of the earth. This is one member of our dyad. The second member, however, offers us better
cheer. For seemingly it is through the
second member of the dyad, Gravity/Consciousness, that we may look to alter
this ratio, be able to modify the ratio by the increase of consciousness.
In looking
at this problem -- really a statement of the definition of vital rather than
inanimate energy -- the statement is not complete unless we look carefully for
all sources of energy, examine all sources of the entropic disorganization that
diminishes it. Such a search quickly
uncovers a very different kind of phenomenon which we again label
"energy." It is the
phenomenon of thought transference, extra sensory perception and allied
manifestations. All "energy"
deriving from gravitational energy conforms to a generalization that the amount
of energy available varies inversely with the square of the distance from its
source. But this latest contestant for
the word "energy" -- this "psychic" energy -- shows no
effect of diminution of intensity through distance. A man can convey a message (usually involuntarily) unwittingly
from America to Australia with less
loss of energy than occurs when projects his voice a hundred feet or so. What is this? And should it be labeled "energy"? If so, what distinguishing marks should we
afford it to distinguish it from Newtonian Energy? The teleportation or even levitation of material things -- does
this word "energy" properly apply here as well?
There are
many persons in this room who could speak to the reality of this kind of
"energy": of where, how, it occurs and to what extent it can be tamed
and harnessed. I only know that the
reports which Dr. Valerie Hunt has offered seems to say authoritatively that a
kind of energy seen by workers as light, as color and felt by some workers as
something akin to warmth. Something
that "turns on" as well as "turns off" is associated with
the increased energy of the human when physical, myofascial, fleshy order is
introduced into the random disorder of the average human body. In other words, it is when we lessen the
entropy of the average body, the disorder that exists in its mass, that
seemingly we increase the energy within the body. Here we seem to be uncovering the same sort of generalized
behavior, the same sort of evolving order in the psychic personality as we
found manifest in the inanimate universe.
To repeat, we find that physical myofascial order reflects in a more
vital, organized pattern of psychological and, if you like the word,
"spiritual" being.
We spoke
earlier of the fashion in which the energy of the universe was thought to be
running down. Applying this metaphor to
the random disorder of a physical myofascial body, especially as it increases
with age, its entropy can be seen to be increasing. We noted that this is not true everywhere in the cosmos -- that
in local areas where there is life there seems to be other forces at work. We need to be thoroughly aware of, familiar
with, the concept of its manifestation in the contours of the body if we hope
to reverse the disorganization of our world, -- of our bodies, in order to
increase the energy of our world. If
this increase of energy is our quarry we are in luck, for Eureka, we have found
it! Dr. Hunt has been observing and
measuring it, and the record of her sophisticated pioneering exploration in
this field is shortly to be published.
We know
that the body has developed embryologically from three systems: the digestive
(or endomorphic), the nervous (or ectomorphic), and the myofascial (mesomorphic
or muscular). Of these it is the
myofascial which is the organ of structure -- the myofascial which seemingly
offers the opportunity for these structural changes -- for changes in
three-dimensional world.
As rolfers
we have been observing for a long time the increased energy of the body when
order (the appropriate relation vertically) is added to it. Dr. Hunt has validated our claim by
measuring the increased energy of the body as changes in the material structure
have been introduced. She has done this
in several ways: she has measured the light energy indirectly through her
instruments -- and with the help of Dr. Roslyn Bruyere, directly through direct
psychic readings of the aura. And
amazingly this age old method of measurement by Dr. Bruyer confirmed Dr. Hunt's
brand new instrument. In terms of
measuring lighting Dr. Bruyere and Dr. Hunt have observed its intensity, its
vibratory rate, (i.e. its color) and Kirilian auras seemingly created in the
body. In that experimental project the
aura, the Kirilian photographs, the brain waves, as well as increased energy
over the various centers that the ancients called Chakras were all
observed. Dr. Hunt has found, for example,
that random incoming people tend to have auras one-half inch in width, but
after the kind of integration of structure called rolfing, their auras will
have increased often to five inches in width.
Obviously
we are dealing with a basic energy phenomenon of life here. Whether this really relates to or equates
with the energy referred to earlier (the energy whose principal distinguishing
characteristic is its failure to observe the law of inverse squares which
characterizes Newtonian transmission) this we do not know at this point. Nor do we see any way to determine it in the
near future.
But that
which we do know is exciting enough!
What do we
know? What have we found out? We know that order can be evoked in the
myofascial system of the body by substantially balancing the myofascial
structures about a vertical line. We
know that logically we can expect that the vertical line of that force
manifesting as the ravitational field of the earth can either support and
reinforce a body or it can disorganize it and destroy or minimize the energy
fields surrounding it -- and presumably passing through and being part of
it. We know that the energy fields of
the body must be substantially balanced around a vertical line for gravity to
act supportively, and in so doing, changing the energy apparently generated by
the body. This vertical line registers
the alignment of the ankles with the knees, with the hip joints, with the
bodies of the lumbar vertebrae, with the shoulder, with the ears. This vertical line is reminiscent of the
prickles on the chestnut burr all pointing straight toward the center of the earth, if all the lines are
substantially vertical. This is a static
verticality. This is the verticality
taught by every accepted school of body mechanics operating during this century
... the Harvard group heads the list.
All schools of body mechanics teach this is a measure of verticality,
but no other school of body mechanics teaches how to achieve it. But because the body has an unforeseen,
unexpected quality it can be done -- the body is a plastic medium!
We can now
define rolfing: it is a system of organizing the body so that the body is
substantially vertical and substantially
balanced around a
vertical, in order to allow the body to accept support
from the gravitational energy. Two
characteristic, qualities of the body make this unlikely situation
possible. The material body of man is a
plastic medium. By dictionary
definition a plastic substance is one which can be distorted by pressure and
then can by suitable means be brought back to shape. Now the question is, what does "back to shape" in this
context really mean? And the answer is
simple and expected. "Back in
shape" in this context means vertical --
vertical to the surface of the earth, like burrs of the chestnut,
vertical like the lines of force of gravity.
Because only when the gravity vertical of the body substantially
coincides with the vertical gravity line of the earth can that energy field of
the earth reinforce and augment the field of the human body. Then the energy of the earth
contributes to the energy of the body. The body becomes vitalized. The flesh becomes resilient; body functions
of all sorts improve. Gravity at
this point is the nourishing force; gravity it the
nourishing medium giving to the energy quotient Man/Gravity a higher
value. This expresses itself in many
changes. In behavior patterns, is a
different state of consciousness -- we usually refer to it as a higher state.
We have
describe the body as a plastic medium.
Two factors contribute to this.
The first is that the body, seemingly a unit, is in fact a
consolidation of large segments: head, thorax, pelvis,
legs. The relation of these segments
can be changed because the connection myofascial structure is a structure of
connective tissue, of collagen; and collagen is a unique protein. The collagen molecule is very large, and it
is a braiding of three strands of a spiral braiding. These three strands are connected by various inorganic atoms --
hydrogen, sodium, calcium, and undoubtedly other minerals. Such minerals are interchangeable within
limits. Thus, as the body grows older
and stiffer undoubtedly a larger percentage of calcium and a smaller percentage
of sodium are present in these bonds.
But by the addition of energy, in this case the pressure of the fingers
or the elbow of the rolfer, this ratio may be varied and the joint or the
connective tissue becomes more resilient, more flexible. Collagen is a colloid. All large-moleculed proteins from colloids
with water, not true solutions.
Colloids have certain qualities in common. An outstanding one is that by the addition of energy they become
more fluid. (Remember that half set pan
of gelatin and water. Put it in the
flame and it liquefied; put it in the "fridge" and it
solidifies.) With the connective tissue
of the body, add energy to it and it becomes more fluid, a soluble. Subtract energy and it becomes more dense,
more solid, a gel. What do we mean here
by energy? In the case of the jell-o,
we are talking about heat; in the case of the body we may be talking about heat
-- remember how different your flesh fells to your fingers in the very hot
weather? But in terms of rolfing we are
talking about pressure -- pressure at the right points in the right directions,
at the hands of the rolfer. Some of you
are saying, "Oh, yes, you mean reflex points!" No, I'm not talking about reflex
points. Reflex points, I think, are a
nervous phenomenon of the nervous system.
I'm talking about energy being added by pressure to the fascia (the
organ of the structure in the body) to change the relations of the fascial
sheaths of the body, to balance them around their vertical line which parallels
the gravity line.
Thus, we
are able to balance body masses, to verticalize them. The contour of the body changes.
The objective feeling of the body to searching hands changes. Movement behavior changes as the body is a
static stacking, but as the body incorporates more changes the balance ceases
to be a static balance and becomes a dynamic balance. These are among the physical manifestations of the increasing
balance. But there is an ongoing
psychological change as well toward balance, toward serenity, toward a more
whole person ... the whole human. The
whole person evidences a more apparent, a more potent psychic development. This means that the ration
Man-Earth/Gravity-Energy has changed; the numerator Man-Energy has increased.
The ratio has therefore increased. The
force available to reverse the
entropic deterioration is greater -- that world is no
longer running down. It seems capable
now of building up. Is this the work of
that other energy, that one that does not manifest obedience to the law of
inverse squares? At this point we do
not know.
The gospel
that I teach is that man is capable of a personal, evolutionary development.
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