The New Vision Patter

It’s important to be able to explain what NVT is all about to people – it satisfies the left brains analytical mind before we practically work with the right intuitive side. I do not want any of you to ever get caught out by having someone on the couch from a medical background asking questions you cannot answer!!

For most people, using medical terminology is not needed as its over their heads and we lose them – keep it simple! 

This is my attempt to satisfy both in one go – I will explain it in simplistic terms, but with the medical aspects and terminology added

Enjoy!!!

There is a part of the brain called the VENTRICULAR SYSTEM that produces a fluid called CEREBROSPINAL FLUID (CSF). This is a fluid created by filtering blood in the VENTRICLES OF THE VENTRICULAR SYSTEM. 

It is this fluid that surrounds and bathes the Brain and Spinal cord. 

The Brain and Spinal Cord is often referred to as THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM.

When we are born, our skull plates fold in on one another to facilitate the easiest possible birth for mum and baby. Once the cord is cut, it kickstarts the production of CSF, which expands the membranes, or balloon, and pushes the plates apart. Ideally, they float individually, and begin to knit together at about 5 months of age, and go on to become the adult skull, or CRANIUM.

The cutting of the cord also creates something very special. The body’s energy centre drops to just below the belly button, and an “ignition” process takes place. Firstly, down in the new energy centre, or Hara, secondly to the Heart and thirdly up to the Ventricular system to kickstart the production of CSF.

Sometimes, especially in a c-sec delivery or birth trauma, this ignition process never takes place – the result is a lifetime of tiredness, fatigue, low immune system, and a host of complex medical conditions.

Good news is that this can be “re-ignited” at any point with our touch and intent!

As the balloon expands, the plates pull apart, and pressure receptors in the joints, or SUTURES, sense that there is the correct volume of fluid around the central nervous system.

Production of CSF slows down, and the fluid is reabsorbed back into the bloodstream. As the balloon contracts, plates come back together which kickstarts another production phase of CSF.

This production and reabsorption of CSF goes on throughout our lifetime. The cycles vary, but the average is about 3 to 5 seconds of fluid production, followed by 3 to 5 seconds of reabsorption.

If the head does not sit properly on top of the neck, then the small junction between the TEMPORAL BONE AND THE OCCIPUT, CALLED THE JUGULAR FORAMINA, becomes compromised. There is one on left and right side. This affords a pathway for the blood draining back to the Heart from the Brain, and also cranial nerves (IX tang movement & swallowing), (X Vagus), and (XI Accessory Nerve).

We are interested in X, the Vagus, and XI, the ACCESSORY NERVE. The accessory nerve controls the STERNOCLEIDOMASTOID MUSCLE (SCM) AND THE TRAPEZIUS. 

SCM connects to the MASTOID part of the Temporal bone, and the collar bone, or CLAVICLE, and the Trapezius connects to base of the skull, out to the corner of the shoulder then all the way down to T12 in the mid back.

If you have deviated Uvula, there will always be a permanent innervation of SCM and Traps on at least one side of the body.

So, we get a nerve dysfunction, followed by a Musculo skeletal imbalance.

If we do not release the nerves first, the muscles stay engaged and whole skeleton is distorted.

Body Mechanics

The skull plates fit together like cogs in a clock, and they all have a specific range of motion. 

The base of the skull, or OCCIPUT, if it is sitting properly on to the top of the neck (ATLAS) rocks backwards and forwards like a swing as the CSF is produced and reabsorbed. 

During the production of CSF, called FLEXION, the occiput rocks down towards the feet, and back up towards the head during the reabsorption phase, called EXTENSION.

The body of the tadpole, or Dura, is very strongly moulded to the base of the skull.

As the Occiput rocks backwards and forwards, the body of the tadpole is mechanically dragged up and down through the neck and back.

This is anchored, as we said earlier, to the tailbone which also starts to move. So, like 2 ends of a swing boat, the occiput and sacrum rock backwards and forwards in unison.

This is the body’s way of keeping all the DURAL SLEEVES and nerve endings free of restriction and lubricated, giving us a nice relaxed nervous system. The Dural sleeves are the part of the main body of the tadpole where the nerves break out into the body, like arms poking out of a jumper!

The nerves pass through gaps between the bones. The bones are kept apart by DISCS, which act like washers. 

So, we can use the mechanical movement of the sacrum and occiput as indicators of how the nervous system is functioning.

Now this is where the problems come in!!!

Our fluid filled balloon is a pressurised vessel, just like any other balloon. If you squeeze a balloon anywhere along its length, you don’t just create pressure where you apply the squeeze – you proportionately increase the pressure through the whole balloon. 

Imagine having a bone, or VERTEBRAE, out in the back, scar tissue from surgery, or some unresolved physical trauma. The effect is the same as squeezing the balloon. It artificially increases the pressure around the brain and spinal cord.

Remember that the CSF production expands the balloon, and pushes the skull plates apart, ready for the reabsorption phase. If there is a mechanical restriction applying pressure to the intracranial membranes, then that pressure is constantly keeping the balloon expanded, preventing reabsorption phase from happening.

The reverse can also happen, where the extension, or contraction phase gets jammed, and body cannot expand. This will often manifest at the feet when someone is lying down. Feet will point towards one another if jammed in contraction, or flat on the couch away from one another if compromised in flexion, or expansion phase. This leads to a whole host of issues! 

THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM is the part of the nervous system that controls the things you don’t need to think of. Things like digestion, immune system building, respiration etc. 

In an ideal situation, let’s say we are in level 1 – a natural, balanced self-healing state.

If the body perceives a threat, we revert from level 1 to a level 2, or fight or flight mode, and all the balanced functions in level 1 are pushed onto the back burner.

This is part of our ancient survival mechanism, because if we don’t survive the perceived threat then nothing else really matters!

If the threat is dealt with, and we feel back in a safe place, we would go back to a level 1 naturally. We should be constantly flitting in and out of levels 1 and 2, and this can be medically confirmed by monitoring what’s known as HIGH AND LOW HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV).

In a balanced state, we would present High HRV, which is presented as an increase in the heart rate on the in breathe, and a calming down on the out breathe. This confirms our body can flit in and out of levels 1 and 2 and be adaptive and responsive to our external environment. 

In Low HRV our body is stuck in a level 2, fight or flight state, and the breathe is constant on both in and out. In this state, we cannot adapt to our external environment – we are stuck!

This ultimately leads to depletion and fatigue as our body is not meant to maintain long periods of being “on alert”. We can do it, but the endocrine system struggles, and adrenal glands get fatigued along with the kidneys. Life becomes a struggle!!

If we are stuck in this level 2 fight or flight state for long periods of time, then there is a more severe level 3, which generally manifests with the more chronic medical cases or for example Post Traumatic Stress.

Level 3 is when the body systems really begin to struggle, and we start to manifest chronic symptoms. Usually this is associated with constant pain, anxiety, and depression. Sadly, if left unaddressed, some people lose hope and take their own life. 

The beauty with NVT techniques is even though the body will go from level 1 to 2, then 3 it can revert from a 3 right back to a 1, back into that self-healing state if we can release the pressure off the Vagus, Hiatus and central nervous system.

Vagus and Hiatus

The VENTRAL VAGUS branch of the Vagus nerve helps control Heart and Lung function, and also the top third of the ESOPHAGUS – the pipe that carry’s the food and liquid down into Stomach under the left ribs. 

When we do our diagnostic test for deviated UVULA, we are really checking for balanced function of the 2 LEVATOR VELLI PALATINI MUSCLES. 

These muscles are innervated, or lifted, by the Ventral branch of the Vagus nerve.

Our simple test confirms that the nerve is functional when both muscles lift symmetrically.

As we know, if one side lifts and the other does not it usually manifests as deviation of the Uvula.

This is CLINICAL confirmation that the central nervous system is compromised. 

We know that there will be erratic Heart function, and a partial shutting down of the Lungs. The Lungs may be fine, but the signal is to shut them down, and as mammals we would drop into something like a hibernation state. Why do we do this??

We evolved from reptiles – our ancient ancestors.

Stephen Porges POLYVAGAL THEORY states that all animals have a Vagus nerve. 

To survive in a world dominated by predators, we developed, as mammals, a much more sensitive and responsive fight or flight mechanism. 

As part of that, we evolved and developed another separate branch of the Vagus nerve – like a mammal upgrade!

We never replaced the reptilian nerve, and it still plays a vital role in our body.

The ancient reptilian nerve is the DORSAL VAGUS, and the mammalian upgrade the VENTRAL VAGUS.

If our mammal nerve is compromised, we go back down the evolutionary ladder, and the reptilian nerve becomes the dominant one – your body thinks it is a reptile again!

What do cold blooded reptiles do? Sit on a rock and conserve energy. 

As warm-blooded mammals we need to run around all day in fourth or fifth gear. So, if the reptilian nerve becomes the dominant one, we revert to being the reptile on the rock, and our body drops into that “hibernation” state. 

We still try to run around in top gear, but our body is not wired to get out of first!

The result is a strain on the body’s systems, tiredness, fatigue, and everything feels like an effort.

Back to the Vagus and Hiatus!

If the top third of the Esophagus shortens because of Ventral Vagus dysfunction, the stomach is elevated under the left ribs. 

There is a large band of muscle separating the Heart and Lungs from the digestive organs called the RESPIRATORY DIAPHRAGM. Just off centre to the left, and approximately two thirds in towards the back is a small opening in that muscle called the HIATUS.

The Esophagus passes through that opening on its way to the Stomach, and so do the left and right Vagus nerves.

A bit like a sandwich, you have left Vagus near the front of the body, Esophagus, then right Vagus at the back. If Stomach is elevated, there will ALWAYS be a compression of one or both Vagus nerves. 

This will often cause what is known as a HIATUS HERNIA, where part of the Stomach is pulled up through the Hiatus into the cavity above. The result often being reflux, heartburn, and indigestion.

I like to use the analogy of World’s strongest man – big guys pulling trucks.

If they grab the rope where it connects to the truck and pull, nothing happens. You go to the other end of the rope and lean in, and truck starts to move.

Using this same concept, a restriction on one or both Vagus nerves in the Hiatus will apply significantly more pressure to the brainstem than the same restriction if it was in the neck.

Hence the importance of Workshops 1 and 2 especially. 

Fascia

Fascia is like a spider’s web – a thin layer of connective tissue that permeates throughout the whole body. Tap the top of the head and you send a ripple down through the fingers and toes! This is an invaluable diagnostic tool for us.

As the tadpole shaped balloon expands with the CSF production, the fascia is meant to follow that expansion AWAY from the midline. On reabsorption phase, it contracts back towards the centreline. 

Therefore, when we feel a release in the body, there is a sense of softening, widening and expansion AWAY from the midline. This feeling is the key to sensing the fascia unwinding.

If you get asked what exactly it is you are feeling I usually ask someone to imagine they are holding a balloon so lightly that they do not disturb the air on the inside, then close their eyes.

They wouldn’t really feel anything. But if I came along and twisted the balloon in the middle, they would feel the distortion in their hands – that is what I feel.

Remember, 3 ways to confirm if a technique is complete:

1)             A sense that your 2 points of contact would not “spring back” towards each other if you were to move away

2)             A sense that there is no longer a twist or distortion between your 2 points of contact, just like you were holding a balloon

3)             If still in doubt – Body, are you done yet?

If the answer is yes, you will feel nothing, but if there is still work to do, you will have a magnetic sense preventing you from letting go!

Well I hope this has been of some help to you in trying to understand and explain what we do with NVT

Please, any questions or anything you’re unsure of, just ask!!

Take care, and thank you for joining me on this NVT journey of discovery!!