The Body Adjustment

The Body Adjustment

by | Nov 18, 2016 | Bookshop

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The Body Adjustment

As an Introduction to our Body Adjustment Course commencing in January 2017, we draw your attention to the article written by
John Wernham in his Lectures on Osteopathy (Volume I) on the importance of The Body Adjustment……..

“With the exception of treatment given in the case of acute disease and other certain conditions, osteopathic techniques were always applied under the aegis of the General Treatment.  There has been a total rebuttal of this first great principle in osteopathy and operators are content to give only local treatment directed to the painful area indicated by the patient.  Such a limited viewpoint represents the absolute negation of the second great principle, namely, the integration of all parts of the body, anatomically, mechanically and physiologically.  This is a broad canvas, and if there is detail it must be made to bear a right relationship with the unit body if the condition is to be resolved and the patient stabilized.

The term ‘general treatment’ fell into disrepute and soon became a background for the so-called ‘specific’, or ‘replacement’, techniques, which are entirely anatomical in concept and have no concern with the body mechanics, or function.  To give a treatment called ‘general’ gave rise to boredom and led to scant attention to the finer point of our manipulative procedures.  It was for these reasons that the old title was abandoned and the new term ‘Body Adjustment’ substituted.

The truth is that the general treatment, body adjustment, full treatment; or whatever name is chosen is the very fabric of our manipulation and demands our closest attention every step of the way.  The technique employs the long lever and deals with ALL tissues conjointly with only special emphasis where it is necessary. The method is deliberately routine in order to ensure that nothing is missed in diagnosis and, further, to establish the lost rhythm so often lacking in the patient. The limb leverage is powerful and brings into play every muscular insertion into the spine and into the pelvis, yet the effect is gentle, smooth and relaxing.  The objective is the restoration of the internal environment and thus provides those conditions essential for the recovery of the lesion state.  Without such preparation the good effect of spinal correction is limited and short-lived; in fact in a great many cases the general body adjustment will be enough for nature to make the recovery without any local, or specific, work whatsoever.  But, perhaps the most important aspect, and the most important argument in support of this traditional technique is to be found in the long-term effects which are stable and stress resistant.  Finally, it must be said that although the technique is loosely and freely given, it must be precise and accurate in execution.”
JOHN WERNHAM

To read more about “Attending our Body Adjustment Course in January 2017” you can reserve your place and find further information here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/postgraduate-studies-on-classical-osteopathy/

 

Lectures on Osteopathy Volume 2

Lectures on Osteopathy Volume 2

by | Dec 10, 2015 | Bookshop

Lectures in Osteopathy Volume 2

Lectures on Osteopathy Volume 2

In his Introduction to “Lectures on Osteopathy” Volume 2, John Wernham writes: “For this second issue of the Osteopathic Lectures we are publishing material from the archives, especially from the lectures delivered by J. M. Littlejohn at the British School of Osteopathy during the nineteen thirties. During his lifetime, he refused to publish the lectures, but now, fifty years after his death, it is important to make his teaching known to the modern student. The early lectures from the period in question have already been printed and it is appropriate to select the best of the later lectures, which are much better recorded.

The research and practice carried out over five generations in osteopathy has been jettisoned by the sixth generation for reasons best known to itself and in spite of the well-known aphorism, that if we forget our past, then we have no future. Inevitably, perhaps, the collection of techniques now in vogue are not giving the clinical satisfaction that was once expected and questions are being asked for which there is no answer, except to look back to our forebears, where the solution might be found.

It is important to remember that this present volume is composed of a series of lectures rather than a textbook. Differing occasions and authors will mean that some repetition is likely to occur; in addition the old records which include all the ‘asides’ do not lend themselves to the printed page and there are problems of editorship.

The greater part of the archival subject matter is drawn from the old lectures with the exception of the contribution from Jonathan Scott on a most important and difficult subject which he has called ‘A Nexus of Rhythm’. The author chose this subject for his graduation thesis and it is well worthy of a place in this present collection.

It would appear that the promise of a doctorate or a degree is sufficient to convince the practitioner or student that the good standing of osteopathy is thus preserved, but the truth is neither of these educational elevations is capable of producing an osteopathic craftsman. Osteopathy is a subject in its own right, having its own educational standards and its own interpretation of scientific data and these must not be made subject to other disciplines.

We do not presume to offer any kind of criticism to other members of other therapies but we do request that the osteopathic profession should be allowed to teach and practice according to the great precepts laid down by Still and Littlejohn and which have given a service of undeniable excellence for more than a hundred years.”

John Wernham concludes Volume 2 with a brief history of Osteopathy in particular the early years in the U.K. when J. M. Littlejohn established his new school and where he taught unremittingly for over twenty years alongside a private practice in Buckingham Gate and Dover Street, Piccadilly.

To read more of “Lectures on Osteopathy Volume II” you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £25 here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/lectures-on-osteopathy-volume-2/