Another New Adventure

As if buying a new horse on a whim wasn't enough excitement, I've also been studying a new alternative therapy option.  Not only do I have it done on myself personally, I feel it will work fabulously when paired with the Kinesio Taping that I already do.  Like all remedial therapies there is a lot of skepticism and lack of confidence that goes hand in hand with it.  I'm writing this blog post to explain what it is, how it works, my personal notes and so on.

I'm going to start by explaining the basic concept of the Vibrational Therapy.  Believe me, there is much more that goes into this on the Energy side of things, but I won't dive into that today.  Today we'll just cover the tools used, the benefits it has and why I chose to pursue it.

Vibrational Therapy uses many different types of tools, but what I am studying uses Tuning Forks.  If you're a musician, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.  For those who don't, Tuning Forks are often made of metal (though you can also find them in Crystal, etc).  Along with the Tuning Fork, practitioners also use something of hard rubber - typically a Mallet or (as Canadian as this sounds) a Hockey Puck.  The Tuning Fork is then struck with the Rubber piece to cause it to Vibrate.  Realistcally, you can hit them on anything and it will still vibrate but the Rubber Mallet or Hockey Puck is hard enough to get a consistent reaction, but soft enough to reduce the chances of damage to your forks.  Even the slightest dent can cause an issue in the frequencies your Fork offers.

Tuning Forks come in a variety of sizes depending on the frequency you want them to vibrate on.  Different frequencies are good for different things, however they all penetrate deep within the body.  It's a fantastic opportunity for penetrating the tissue surrounding a joint capsule, and areas that you cannot physically touch with your hands.  There are many massage like tools such as Thumpers, etc that are fantastic but still do not penetrate as deep or with such honesty.  They can be difficult to use in the sense that they are very simple and you cannot customize the treatment as easily as you can with something such as tuning forks.  They're also very versatile in the sense that you can use them on their side to clear spaces but typically when working directly on the body, the end of the base is placed lightly on the surface of the area you're working on.  For a larger area, you can also hold the handle gently and transfer the vibration through your hands to the horse.

  Below is a random video I found on YouTube that demonstrates the strength of the vibration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1H_GaajDak

I suffer from lower back problems made worse by Scar Tissue from multiple injuries over the years.  I have had Accupuncture, Accupressure, Chiropractic, Massage Therapy (various types), wraps, lotions, etc.  I found no relief that lasted longer than week and decided to go out on a limb and try something else.  I booked an appointment with an acquaintance of mine (ironically she's a horse lady, that's how I know her) and honestly didn't even know what she did, I just had a friend who swore by her services.  Due to its expense ($100/session) I wasn't able to go as regularly as I would like, but I have been seeing this woman for about a year and see her every few months and I have seen massive results in my own personal body issues.  Not only has it helped break up the scar tissue in my back, I feel so clear when I leave.  Don't get me wrong, she does a little more than just working with the Forks but I have no doubt in my mind I would be just as satisfied if that's all she did. 

Along with the success I've found, here are some other benefits.

Improve overall physical health

• Encourages circulation
• Relieves pain
• Breaks up tissue compilations such as muscle knots, etc
• Reduces the risk of scarring as a result of injury 
• Balances the Nervous system
• Reduce Inflammation of specific areas both internally & externally
• Encourages relaxation
• Capable of penetrating deeper in the body than Massage, Acupressure or Acupuncture

When it comes to its affect on the horse, I have no doubt the results will be incredible.  Similar to the practice of Rolfing, it relaxes the myofascial tissue around joint capsules and allows the structural system to be easily manipulated to allow correct alignment.  Once these tissues are released and relaxed, the structural system can often be realigned without excessive force which is often required when chiropractors are trying to adjust body-sore horses.  Often the structural system can be rebalanced through simple stretches once the myofascial tissues are released and relaxed.

I believe in following with K-Tape it will prolong the relief found from the Vibrational Therapy due to the decompression effect the K-Tape has. 

I'm so excited to start getting some hands on practice once my Forks come in. Ironically, they're supposed to arrive on November 8th which is the same day Kai is supposed to arrive. It's going to be a good day!