Ortho-Bionomy®: The Eight Phases
by Bill Parravano

In "Ortho-Bionomy®: An Introduction," which appeared in the May 2008 CoSozo Newsletter, I included a brief discussion of the phases that the body goes through to release tension. These phases were identified by Ortho-Bionomy’s founder, osteopath Arthur Lincoln Pauls, as he was developing this form of body work. In the current article, I will further describe these phases and discuss how they are used by the practitioner and the client in Ortho-Bionomy sessions.

To summarize last month’s article, Ortho-Bionomy is a system of body work that helps people listen to and understand their bodies in order to achieve physical ease and overall well-being. One of its main principles is to address the body only in a position of comfort, and thereby to honor each individual’s unique situation and needs. In Ortho-Bionomy sessions, a practitioner asks the client a number of questions about the presenting issue, whether it be pain, tension, or another kind of discomfort, and then helps the client find ways of being and moving in the body to relieve this discomfort. Ortho-Bionomy practitioners also strive to help clients achieve emotional and spiritual well-being, and to trust that they are in charge of their own healing.

To be certified by the Society of Ortho-Bionomy International (SOBI), individuals must complete 500 hours of training in the phases to be registered as practitioners, 520 hours to be registered as advanced practitioners, and 1,000 hours, as well as fulfill a number of other requirements, to be registered as Ortho-Bionomy instructors.

Phases 1 and 2

The first two bodily phases that Pauls identified are common to everyone, whether or not they practice Ortho-Bionomy. Phase one consists of the unconscious search for comfort, such as when we are sleeping, and phase two is the conscious search for comfort, such as when we sit up straight or shift our weight from one foot to the other. (It’s important to keep in mind that although the phases are numbered, they are not necessarily used chronologically, and the "achievement" of a later phase does not mean a practitioner and client no longer have use for the earlier phases.)

Phase 3

Phase three is a transitional phase—from the instinctive search for comfort in phases one and two to the application of Ortho-Bionomy in phase four. In identifying this phase, Pauls combined the basic principles of osteopathy (that musculoskeletal alignment is essential to overall health) and Judo (that using existing force is preferable to opposing it) as a bridge to Ortho-Bionomy as a practice separate from these influences.

In phase three, a practitioner helps a client find comfortable positions, which the client holds for 90 seconds or longer, enough time for the body’s self-corrective reflexes to take over. Before doing anything physical, however, the practitioner would ask the client a number of questions to learn as much as possible about the problem—its cause, nature, and precise location in the body. In this way, a practitioner might find out that the client’s shin pain, for instance, really stems from an injury to the knee.

If a client comes into a session with lower back pain, for example, a practitioner might help him or her lie down with a bolster pillow under the knees or the head to provide support or comfort. It’s important to remember that comfort is relative; sometimes a realistic immediate goal may be merely to lessen pain or discomfort—and a longer-term goal would be to get rid of it. Phase three is not always used in Ortho-Bionomy sessions; if it seems a client is ready to do the work of phases four and five, or is already aware of what positions are comfortable, phase three may be skipped.

Phase 4

In phase four, where Ortho-Bionomy as a distinct practice begins, the client starts from a place of comfort as identified in the initial phases, and the practitioner helps physically move the body into positions that are held for 30 seconds or fewer—rather than 90 seconds or more. The time needed for each position is now less than in phase three because in addition to helping the client move, the practitioner gently compresses or rotates joints or muscles with his or her hands in order to encourage the body to let go of pain or tension more quickly. Phase four can be likened to learning parts of a dance; each movement held for 30 seconds or fewer is like an individual step or spin or kick.

In the example of the presenting issue of lower back pain, the practitioner may help the client achieve standing, sitting, and lying-down positions, all designed to diminish or eliminate the pain. In the process, the practitioner may also manually press or rotate muscles and joints in the lower vertebrae or coccyx—as well as in other areas, as no one part of the body is really separate from the rest.

Phase 5

If in phase four you learn parts of a dance—like a step, spin, or kick—then in phase five you learn whole dances, though they are small ones. The parts of the body move in almost countless combinations, in innumerable ways. In phase five, the practitioner helps the client identify what some of these combinations and ways—these "dances"—are and how the client might learn to move in order not to produce discomfort.

When we think of movement, we usually think of large motions that are easy to see and feel, such as lifting an arm above the head or swinging the leg out in front of the body; our bodies also move in extremely subtle ways, however. In the example of lower back pain, the Ortho-Bionomy practitioner might have the client slowly bend over while helping him or her recognize the very small movements that occur in the spine during the act of bending. After recognizing these movements, the next step is for the client to become aware of the tension patterns in the body. It’s relatively easy to notice a large movement or posture that might be causing tension in the lower back, such as walking with the pelvis thrust forward or sitting on the tailbone, and there might also be a series of tiny movements—a mini "dance"—between vertebrae that contribute to this tension. Phase five is one of the hardest to describe, as the movements and their effects are so subtle, and so much of the work by both practitioner and client is done "by feel." In phase five, it is especially clear that each person is unique and that sessions must be tailored to the individual client; Ortho-Bionomy is not a one-size-fits-all practice.

Phase 6

In phase six, the practitioner and client move beyond the physical body to examine how tension and discomfort are manifesting themselves energetically, in the client’s bio-energetic field, or aura. Though this may sound mysterious or even esoteric, remember that we’ve all had the experience of being able to "read" others’ moods. If someone angry walks into the room, for example, we can easily feel the negative energy emanating from him or her, and we may even be able to physically feel this person’s tension.

In a similar way, the Ortho-Bionomy practitioner will "read" the energy coming from a client’s body during a session. In the case of the lower back pain, for example, if a client is lying on a table, the practitioner will walk around the table to detect the client’s energetic responses. The practitioner may feel tension in his or her own body—a result of both the natural human tendency to be able to intuit others’ moods, as well as of Ortho-Bionomy training—when nearing the client’s lower back, and this may tell the practitioner the client feels protective of that part of the body.

Perhaps an even more potent example is of a client who has a problem in the hip—and who is hesitant to work on that hip because of a history of sexual abuse. The practitioner may feel tension when he or she stands near the client’s pelvic region, and so would likely make the decision to work with that client only above the hips at first; it might be that in later sessions the client’s experience of comfort would expand to include work on the hip. An individual’s definition of comfort is always changing, and an Ortho-Bionomy practitioner will strive to be attuned to those changes.

The practitioner will honor a client’s need to favor or protect or compensate for any part of the body, and will endeavor to be ready to expand the work when the client is ready to expand his or her definition of comfort.

Phase 7

Phase seven involves a larger move toward energy work than phase six does. In phase seven, the practitioner can use universal love, support, and acceptance to assist the client even from a distance. The philosophy of this type of healing support is that love, support, and acceptance are not governed by time and space.

Phase seven work may take the form of prayer, or it can involve thinking about the client and holding in the mind what is best for him or her. Sometimes a client will ask that the practitioner pray for or keep him or her in mind, and sometimes the practitioner will get a feeling that the client could use some distance work—the practitioner may have what appears to be an out-of-the-blue thought about the client and interpret that to be an indication that the client is in need. Then the practitioner can visualize what’s going on in the client’s body, and can help shift tension remotely. Of course, this is something that hasn’t been proved or disproved, though many clients and practitioners find phase seven to be a very powerful aspect of Ortho-Bionomy practice.

Phase seven is the last phase identified by Arthur Lincoln Pauls, and my colleague Terri Lee and I have identified an eighth phase. Unlike the other phases, phase eight is not something you do; rather, it is an ideal.

Phase 8

In phase eight, a person strives to live out the principles of Ortho-Bionomy—including universal love, support, and acceptance—in all aspects of life. In a session, a practitioner might help a client strive toward phase eight by encouraging that client to be present to him- or herself, to be mindful, not to get discouraged, or not to do things out of obligation or fear. In short, phase eight involves walking your talk.

Ortho-Bionomy is a form of body work that actually goes beyond the body to address the whole person. The practitioner introduces and uses the eight phases—though the client is the one who learns to tap into his or her own wisdom to promote comfort and acceptance. In many important ways, Ortho-Bionomy is about empowerment—and about expanding the definition of healing.