Tony Buzan, in The Speed Reading Book, claims the ancient Greeks utilised speed-reading and knew how quickly you need to read, in order for your brain to absorb information.  Apparently the eyes message the back of the brain; but if you read too slowly, your brain misses the information. The brain works physically at a certain speed, something the Greeks definitely understood. Transmitting and receiving via many monitoring signals per second, the brain is able to make constant assessments and fine-tuning adjustments throughout the body. Deepak Chopra in Perfect Health claims the body has innate intelligence; for instance, our livers are totally renewed every six weeks, our eyes every two days, our stomachs every four days.  We literally constantly renew.

Most ill health, according to the emerging field of neurological integration, is the result of broken circuits to the brain. Circuits are disconnected by emotional and environmental stress including viruses.  When broken circuits are re-connected, the brain is able to access the switched-off areas once more and provide correctional adjustments for optimal function.

The Neurological Integration System (NIS) sounded good, logical even, but technical, and I wasn’t sure what the treatment involved so made an appointment with Anne Hayden, an experienced Bowen Therapist who doubles as an NIS practitioner following the Neurolink model.

NIS is dependant on kinesiology (muscle testing) to diagnose which parts of my system are inaccessible to my brain, the organ, not my mind, mind. Every muscle, I’m told, is linked to an organ or a gland. For instance, a neck problem could be due to a digestive or kidney disorder.   It is my brain, not the practitioner, which is the most knowledgeable and qualified, to diagnose and correct a complaint.

Okay, so then what?  Treatment consists of my touching the tip of my tongue, or holding my finger to my cerebellum (didn’t know where that was before!) or my hand across my forehead and clenching my teeth or holding my tongue on the roof of my mouth.  As I breathe deeply in and then out, the therapist touches the disconnected area and taps the top of my head.  Well, it’s not quite tapping, it’s more a pattering; on the part of the head which engages the brain.

Connection is instant.  The brain performs corrections at phenomenal speed across all systems: physical, emotional, chemical, hormonal, neurological. I’m presenting with poor memory, an old hip injury which keeps being re-injured, and morning nausea.  No, I am not pregnant.

The treatment lasts an hour. I find it soothing but maybe that’s because the neurological links are being reconnected. It’s a kind of tinkering; being mechanically tuned while lying fully clothed on a table for the most part.  I think I feel much better but apparently the full effect of the treatment won’t be seen for two weeks and then I should go back and have another.  Followed by one more, two weeks after that.  I was only slightly nauseous yesterday morning and this morning not at all.  ‘Course I didn’t take my fish oil pills this morning either.  I feel more alert, lighter.  I’ve talked myself into it, I’m sure of it, but I will be interested to see how it is at two weeks. Almost 48 hours after treatment my system physically adjusted itself completely of its own volition, without any order from me. As though a switch had been thrown. A rippling and plucking effect right throughout my musculature.  Do I imagine this?

The first NIS, NeuroLink, came into existence 29 years ago through the curiosity of a Kiwi Dr of Osteopathy, Alan K Phillips whose research led him to the theory from which NIS was born.  Today he teaches this system around the world.  It’s becoming forefront in healing systems amongst osteopaths, vets, dentists, naturopaths, and not surprisingly, with owners of greyhounds and horses.

Touted as an effective option to drugging ill health, NIS practitioners see themselves as facilitating re-connection and optimising the body’s potential.  The rest is up to the body itself. NIS seems very like new age woolly thought; except that it’s crossed the borders into hard science; connecting the brain via a third person to a malfunctioning area for self repair. Is shift happening?