by Kate Greenaway BAppSc(PT), Physiotherapist, Australia
In the early days of my work in Physiotherapy, I had a sense that the human body had its own natural intelligence. It was sensitive and responded clearly to any internal or external strain. I experimented a lot with my own body: I tested all the physio modes of treatment on myself first before I ever touched a client. I learned that if any technique was done in a pushing, forceful way, my body tightened in protection. It seemed like my body had its own sensor system to any sensation that was not gentle.
Through my practice, it became apparent to me that the accepted forms of protocol driven treatments were not always gentle and supportive to a body that was in need of healing. Even with my work on tour with rugby and hockey teams, I was using techniques that helped in the short term but just did not feel right to do on someone’s body. I knew that there was a large missing component for the person with chronic physical and emotional pain. Treating a body part in isolation to the whole body and person was only giving temporary relief.
In 1994, during the course of a working holiday in the United States, I was introduced to Craniosacral Therapy and Myofascial Release work through the Upledger Institute, a teaching organisation established in 1985 and based in Florida. Craniosacral Therapy has received international recognition for its approach to releasing tensions deep in the body to allow the body’s systems to self correct. This presented to me a far softer way of releasing any tension in the connective tissue in the body and particularly the nervous system. Through studying this work, I became more aware of the connective tissue in my own body and how it was a vital tissue system not often treated fully by many physiotherapists, osteopaths and body workers. However, although Craniosacral Therapy was a softer approach to the body, it still came from a basis of telling the body what to do and how the bones, connective tissue and muscles should be in relation to each other.
I still felt there had to be a gentler way to help the body restore itself to its natural balance without imposing on it. My approach to the body became more holistic and softer. As I continued my work I realised, more and more, that if I completely supported the joints, muscles and connective tissue, the body had its own sense of how to restore itself to that natural balance. I knew that the connective tissue was vitally important as a continuous river system of tissue that protected and supported the body. The greater my insights into the body, the more I realised that there was so much more about the body to feel and know.
In 1999 I met Serge Benhayon, the founder of Universal Medicine. I was intrigued by his approach to healing from his sports and biomechanics background. I constantly asked him questions from my own scientific and factual background aimed at trying to understand more about the energetics of the body. Serge’s answers consistently made sense, and I could feel that he had a far deeper understanding of the body’s energetics than anyone I had met in my learning up until then. I experienced hands on healing sessions with him and gradually, through these, I began to feel and learn from my own body. This affected my work profoundly as my understanding and feeling for the human body’s connective tissue increased. Arising out of this, I developed my work in Connective Tissue Therapy, a gentle non-imposing modality inspired by Serge and Universal Medicine.
Essentially, the connective tissue is like a bridge between the body’s physical nature and its energetic nature. In its ideal fluid state, the connective tissue allows the body to move in a rhythmical and pain free, balanced way. I found in many clients’ bodies (as well as my own) that the connective tissue hardens with sudden harsh or forceful movements. When we are stressed emotionally or physically it hardens, which tends to compress or contract the area that is affected. It also has a major role in allowing the organs to work in harmony with each other to enhance the body’s vitality.
As I continued working and learning with Universal Medicine, I looked at what I was bringing to my clients if my body was hard from physical or emotional strain. I started living more of what Universal Medicine was presenting – that being gentle and more self-loving in the way we move and in everything that we do enhances our bodies’ natural vitality, and it is that which we bring to our family, friends, colleagues and clients. As my own body itself became more gentle, and my own awareness of how it felt to be gentle increased, there was a significant change in the sessions with my clients. I could feel my clients’ bodies more deeply, where their holding and tension patterns were, and whether they were able to let go or not. I realised more and more, the responsibility that we hold as practitioners. Through being more harmonious in my body, I was able to support my clients to a much greater degree, and observe the gentle connection of our bodies with Connective Tissue Therapy.
Connective Tissue Therapy is unlike any other therapy I have experienced. It supports the body to deeply relax and let go of any tension and holding with a gentle rhythmical motion. You can feel this from your feet up through your body, or from your head down through your body, depending on where it is on the body that the practitioner is working. It works deeply to assist and support the body’s own true intelligence to restore the body’s natural balance and harmony. The false intelligence is what the head pushes the body to do – ignoring how the body is feeling. It is also when the practitioner’s head directs the client’s treatment to “fix the problem”, rather than feeling from the client’s body what is needed.
Our body is always truthful if we listen to it, and it is our own unit of science. Over a two year case study project, I conducted a six week program of Connective Tissue Therapy on 50 subjects with chronic pain and collated the responses. This was in collaboration with a colleague of exercise physiology and a PhD graduate in research. The research sample included 60% of subjects who were people having general treatment for their problems, but were not students of Universal Medicine (as has been incorrectly reported in the press recently). The results clearly demonstrated a 50% reduction in pain levels from the Connective Tissue Therapy that was maintained over a six month period.
There is a lot of truth to the old saying, ‘the body speaks louder than words’.
If you are interested in more, please go to the home page of universalmedicine.com.au and click on articles.
Medicine and Serge Benhayon 
Recently I was given a back massage voucher so went along to receive this treatment. I could feel a lot of hardness in my upper shoulders and put this down to tense shoulder muscles. The lady finished the treatment which wasn’t very long and said that my connective tissue had hardened and it was not my muscles as I had thought. Now reading this blog I can understand how I just expect my body to work for me without any consideration that I am being harsh or forceful. My understanding from what Kate is presenting is how hard we treat our bodies and so therefore ourselves. I feel this has something to do with how if we are living life from our minds, how easy it is to discount our bodies.
It’s really interesting what you are saying Kate, that by being and moving more harmoniously in your body how that had an effect on others, that you could feel if your patients were able to relax and deepen into their bodies or not. Our bodies speak volumes there is far more communication in our movements than in what we say.
Kate, I whole heartedly agree, Connective Tissue Therapy does more for the body than fix people. It is a therapy like no other that I personally have experienced.
It releases tension from deep within our bodies, without stretching, pulling or becoming a pretzel.
I feel more research needs to be conducted to say there is more to this modality than meets the eye.
The body has a wisdom and intelligence and a propensity towards harmony that our minds cannot fathom or match. So healing for me is really more about listening and responding to the body rather than dictating or imposing on it from the intellectual mindset.
Totally agree Andrew, the body has more wisdom and harmony than we realise and also scientists haven’t quite got to the bottom of it, yet.
I have also found as a practitioner that the more gentle and delicate the approach and touch/technique the more detail I can feel as to what is going on in a clients body.
“Connective Tissue Therapy is unlike any other therapy I have experienced. It supports the body to deeply relax and let go of any tension and holding with a gentle rhythmical motion.” I can feel my body saying ‘Yeeeesss’ during an Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy session, whether I am offering the session or receiving a session.
‘the connective tissue hardens with sudden harsh or forceful movements’, a lovely reminder to be gentle with my body, and how when I make any harsh movements how I am affecting the fluid flow of connective tissue in my body.
Yes I have really noticed this too – that the quality of my movements effects the tension in my connective tissue and in my body.
I love to receive connective tissue therapy. I was on the course last week-end, so had many sessions treating most of my limbs. When I left to return home, I felt a different quality of energy or vibration in my body which felt gorgeous, super open and harmonic.
“Through being more harmonious in my body, I was able to support my clients to a much greater degree, and observe the gentle connection of our bodies” – this makes so much sense. We might like to think that we can be in parts and pick & choose which part we want to front, but we do know that is not true. It is all one.
The quality in the energetic field of a practitioner is a huge support in the clients recovery. The way the practitioner speaks, moves and the way he or she holds and handles the body of the client is foundational in the healing process and when we allow ourselves to be inspired, humbled and empowered either as practitioner or client we are well on the way to deeper healing.
This is beautiful because most modalities do not take into account that the body is already intelligent and it just needs assistance in healing itself, most modalities place the practitoner as the one who is responsible for fixing someone, whereas what I love about Universal Medicine therapies (well just one thing I love!) is that the practitioner is not there to mend or fix the person but as a facilitator to their own healing.
There is also the idea that the mind is the only way to access God and renouncing, neglecting and in some cases abusing (flagellation) the body is part of the way to get to God. The body is not just considered unintelligent but that it gets in the way of union with the divine – nothing could be further from the truth on both counts.
Thank you Kate, there is such a great amount of information here about our bodies and how to care for them by understanding how the Connective Tissue responds to rough or jarring movement by hardening to protect itself, and how it’s natural vitality is enhanced with gentleness.
The body has an amazing ability to heal itself and does not need to be imposed on by another but instead supported to release any contraction and open up and connect with itself and others.
I am slowly coming to understand that “connective tissue is like a bridge between the body’s physical nature and its energetic nature.” From the very gentle Connective Tissue Therapy exercises I have been doing over the last few years this understanding has been growing as when I do them not only can I feel the subtle physical changes in my body but also changes in the way I am feeling; the energy within me and around definitely begins to change as well.
Our body is a great teacher and a practitioner who works in partnership with the body and not in dominance of the body is an incredible gift because it brings to the table a deeper awareness of the body they are working with. You shared that as you deepened the awareness of your level of tension and brought more ease and flow in to your body and life, you were able to feel the clients tension more acutely. Just hearing that inspires me to deepen my relationship with my body and bring that into a livingness because that, to me, is bringing responsibility to life and offers greater respect to those I live and work with.
“Through being more harmonious in my body, I was able to support my clients to a much greater degree, and observe the gentle connection of our bodies with Connective Tissue Therapy.” This is such an important point that needs to be understood by anyone who works as a bodywork practitioner. We cannot help someone else to heal if we are not committed to doing this for ourselves and living and moving in a way that is gentle and harmonious.
A great reminder of how amazing the body is when it is capable of healing itself, and how Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy allows the body to work in its own rhythm and harmony together, and the more aware we become of each other through our greater awareness.
Restoring harmony to replace disharmony without dictating a corrective maneuvering – it is just amazing how this impossible-sounding task is made a possibility through energetic symbiosis between the practitioner and the receiver.
“Our body is always truthful if we listen to it, and it is our own unit of science.” So true Kate. It has always seemed strange to me that my own experience – and that of countless others – can be discounted when a ‘controlled trial’ – which has to be funded (usually by big pharma or big food corps which have no interest in cheap affordable therapies) is recognised as being the gold standard. Recently however it is being found that many research studies are not all they are cracked up to be, with fraud and corruption occurring in many cases.
While reading your blog I could feel how I compromised my body in the way I was sitting, so I gently streched my spine, felt my shoulder blades and my ribs open up while breathing, such small gentle movements done in connection with my body but a real ease and fluidness came back in my whole body.
Thank you I too realise how often I still compromise my body when I am sitting and how little it takes for the connective tissue to be activated to bring about true change.
Sometimes bringing our loving attention to the area we feel we have compromised in our posture can be enough to bring this true change.
Having had many connective tissue therapy sessions with Kate, I can attest to how powerful and deeply healing this modality is for the body.
The connective tissue is superbly sensitive and I have noticed that, when moving in a certain direction, just changing my mind, stopping abruptly and turning the other way creates a palpable stress in my whole body; it loves rhythm and flow rather than knocks, bumps and sharp 180 degree turns.
“It supports the body to deeply relax and let go of any tension and holding with a gentle rhythmical motion.” What I love about receiving a Connective Tissue Therapy treatment is exactly that, it allows me to truly relax and let go. It is as if the body is allowed to settle back in into its natural place.
‘There is a lot of truth to the old saying, ‘the body speaks louder than words’.’ Absolutely we know what it’s like to pull a muscle and we automatically rest, there is so much more the body is telling us on a daily basis too, that when we build a closer connection with our body we hear much more of what the body is telling us.
After reading this article I have a greater understanding of my body, not in a theoretical but lived sense. It has allowed me to connect deeper with my body and realise how important the connective tissue is. By stopping myself and feeling it I have a greater sense of delicacy and unity that goes beyond the body although it comes from it; when connecting to it I’m nore aware and careful with my movements, so it helps me to make more loving choices and something expands in everything I do. Thanks Kate for your sharing
Your commitment to integrity and finding the truth again is inspiring Kate. To not rest until we have come to what is true.
It is amazing the communication with the body possible, I have found in stretching that telling my body it can relax sees it relax, that tension that I didn’t even know was there suddenly releases. I like the description of the connective tissue being like a merger between the physical and the energetic, that makes a lot of sense, as it does to consider the body is more than just physical matter but connected to an energetic quality that pulsates through our every movement, and that our quality of movement in respect of this energetic factor determines the ease we are able to feel within our body.
I find your deepening process extremely humbling and inspiring. Thank you, Kate. Reading your sharing, I get a sense of how a practitioner could get in a way of a modality if they are not living from the same principles upon which the modality is based on.
Being gentle with ourselves brings our focus back to our body and can put us in touch with how we feel from inside, and lets us appreciate our fragility and preciousness and the quality that we bring to our movements. Connective tissue does all this and can also bring up realisations of past behaviours or incidents that are waiting to be healed, the reconfiguring of energy in the body allows for a new start, a new life, a new way of living.
Going to see someone to support you with your body and well being is so awesome but it is really felt when that Practitioner truly cares for themselves because this naturally shapes the way their room is configured. It shows in the way they treat you, the way the room is set up, the way they move and if it is a physical treatment like Physiotherapy, the way they touch you. The connective tissue modality respects all detail in-between our body, it honours the fact that what holds us together is fluid. It is a known fact that the human body is made up of 80 to 90 percent water and it is also being discovered in experiments all around the world that how we talk, and feel and move has a profound and physical effect on water. Having a modality and practitioner that understands this and treats your body with the tenderness and sensitivity it deserves is a gift in itself.
I love that Connective Tissue Therapy works ‘to assist and support the body’s own intelligence to restore a natural balance and harmony’… this is a deeply beautiful and powerful modality that should be global in light of what it can offer a client in letting go of not holding the physical and emotional strain that can lead to the contortions and contractions they do. It is a truly stunning support in removing tension and enhancing connection and well being.
Our body definitely speaks louder than words and the more we listen to it and understand it, the more we will learn and appreciate the wisdom of it.
The Universal Medicine Connective Tissue Therapies bring a flow to the body that enlivens all aspects of life.
This really supports the fact that the body has an intelligence of its own, and an amazing capacity to heal itself, our greatest support is to be gentle with it, as it gets to work on what needs to be done.
Yes, the respect we offer our body when we stop imposing on it is worth deepening because it encourages a conversation that makes us accountable and responsible for our health and wellbeing.
I remember you once sharing Kate that Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy lets you feel God in your body – and that I can fully state that it does. It is an amazing modality that lets you feel the fullness of our divine light, this light that flows through our lymphatics, through our connective tissue.
An absolutely amazing gift to humanity.
My body responds instantly to Esoteric Connective Tissue sessions by completely letting go of tension and bringing me back to a sense of flow and rhythm throughout my body. It is such a subtle modality but extremely powerful.
It makes complete sense Kate. Your research combined with your own living experience feels like a very real way of informing yourself, which then of course enables you to inform others. Being open to such a gentle modality when we’re brought up to believe in ‘no pain, no gain’, can be challenging, but once we connect to the truth of it, it that saying feels outrageous.
This was fascinating to read and I appreciate your dedication Kate to understanding the body and how best to support it. I also understand your point about how the whole body needs to be addressed and not as isolated parts, this has always made sense to me. Working with the body and letting it communicate and direct in the treatment and healing process rather than imposing a treatment or attempt to “fix it” feels correct also. We all have so much to continually learn and you have inspired me Kate to keep working with my body and being open to learning more, thank you.
I highly recommend Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy! Having had many sessions with Kate over the past few years I can vouch for the gentle healing qualities of this Modality.
I love how the body responses to gentleness and loving movements and how this is reflected in the connective tissue. It makes so much sense what you describe and when it comes to babies and little children we do not question our fragility and tenderness but the older we get the more we think we have to toughen up and face the world with hardness. Yet, besides that our bodies grow they do not become less fragile and have less right to be treated gently.
I love the gentleness and tenderness that Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy brings to the body and in that energy I feel my body is able to surrender to it natural state of being, free from the imposed on postures and holds that not only are disabling my body in its movements, but also limits me in the freedom of choosing my thoughts.
I have had Connective Tissue Therapy and it feels unbelievable. In a world of push and shove to have a treatment that brings in a real gentleness to the body and actually works super well is very supportive and refreshing. It would make sense also that the practitioners performing this Therapy are walking their talk which gives you the whole package. The ongoing support this quality of therapy gives you is undeniable and you can feel it sometimes for weeks and months after. This is a quality of care that brings to you another way to live, that way you aren’t going to get fixed or made better each time but more supported to hold how you feel in how you live, that way you are treating yourself ongoing.
Sure Ray, Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy is not a therapy that fixes anything but instead gives you the opportunity and the choice to become your own healer just by allowing your body to move to its natural order and rhythms.
That is what the modality introduces back to your body, “its natural order and rhythms” and so while it may seem foreign at first your muscles quickly remember how to move in this way. Just like birds when they fly there is an ‘natural order and rhythm’ they are aligned to, that we too can feel and live by.
Exactly Ray, our bodies do know how to move in a natural way, in true movement. But it is the disconnected mind that introduces movements to the body that are not true and natural to it and with that we lose our natural flexibility to life and get ingrained in the fixed patterns that makes it hard to move from. Therefore the Esoteric connective tissue Therapy is like a gift from heave as it reintroduces that true movement our bodies do know so well and with that releases us from the imprisonment of the movements of the mind.
Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy brings back the true connection to our natural rhythm and flow. It allows us and our body to settle into a connection that supports everything. From there our body is naturally impulsed to move in complete regard and care to what that feeling is. As has been said, no different to birds in flight, there is nothing there doing it for them as it comes from an alignment and complete trust of what they feel. It’s to the point where it’s like breathing and you can do it when you are asleep.
When there’s a stress or emotional disturbance I find my shoulders roll in and my posture collapses, I get tired easily and more overwhelmed. However, lately I have been standing up taller and able to take in more air. It feels like the extra space fills up where the stress or emotional tension was in my body and it completely vanishes until I move in a tense way again. The teachings of Universal Medicine have completely changed and expanded my understanding of physical and mental health.
‘Essentially, the connective tissue is like a bridge between the body’s physical nature and its energetic nature. In its ideal fluid state, the connective tissue allows the body to move in a rhythmical and pain free, balanced way.’ How beautiful to have a modality that does this and allows us to feel the truth of what’s happening in our bodies and what they are asking for. The heightened awareness in the body that can come with a Connective Tissue Therapy session can show us a different way to be with ourselves, often freeing us from long-held unhealthy ways and bringing a harmony that had not been felt before.
It’s common sense to me that the body knows how to heal itself given the true support it needs, so trying to fix issues where the practitioner comes from the mind and tries to control the client’s body feels very imposing, interfering with the body’s natural healing. I am getting to know that the body’s intelligence is super amazing. My body knows, and developing an awareness where I feel connected to my body is essential in getting to know my body; the messages and signs which are constantly being communicated with me.
“The false intelligence is what the head pushes the body to do – ignoring how the body is feeling.”
Wow, such simple words that share a powerful wisdom for any one who chooses to stop and consider that this may be how they run the body that carries them every day.
We have possibly misunderstood the true role and place of the mind by isolating it from the rest of the body. By allowing it to take lead and valuing its type of intelligence we can make decisions that are in complete disregard to the rest of the body. This in itself doesn’t make sense because if the body is harmed or dies from these decisions so does the brain. To me the mind is supposed to be the servant of the heart, making it the leader is simply not working. If we understand the brain and mind in relation to the whole we can begin to understand that it’s part of a whole system but not necessarily “it”, nor necessarily meant to lead. There is a great blog that examines this more and how the heart is our true lead and intelligence at https://medicineandsergebenhayon.com/2012/08/23/the-body-is-intelligent/
Any time we are pushing or shoving or forcing our way of thinking or ideas on the human body, we are not respecting its natural grand intelligence and its ability to heal.
I was particularly struck about the part where Kate explained that her own awareness and gentleness in treating her own body allowed her to more deeply understand the state of her clients and how best to support them. I can feel the truth in this, which makes the role of a practitioner fully about their living quality. I therefore would always look to be treated by a practitioner who was gentle and loving with themselves, first and foremost, and this to me would now be more important than any qualification that person held. Of course with Kate Greenaway you get the best of both worlds, someone who is vastly experienced and qualified, and also most gentle and tender in how she lives and brings this to the treatment table.
Kate, this is really interesting to read, ‘I found in many clients’ bodies (as well as my own) that the connective tissue hardens with sudden harsh or forceful movements. When we are stressed emotionally or physically it hardens’, this really makes me realise how some sports can be damaging to the body and why it always feels so awful if I push my body and move in a hard way and why my body seems to love moving gently, I have also noticed that if I am stressed that this affects my body, with my body often feeling tense and achy.
Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy is the most amazing modality. You can feel the ripples expanding throughout your body in this most gentle of treatments, yet producing spectacular results.
“my body had its own sensor system to any sensation that was not gentle.” When we sense that the practitioner is gentle in their own body we are more willing and able to let go of the holding and feel the gentle flow and natural rhythm of our own body.
I received Craniosacral Therapy before I came across Universal Medicine but something about it didn’t feel right so I stopped having sessions. When I began to receive Connective Tissue it felt non imposing and very gentle on my body. On a physical level there didn’t seem to be much happening but boy the sessions were powerful reconfiguring my body and supporting it to connect to my body more deeply.
This blogs shows us that there is an intelligence in our body that knows how to live a harmonious life in accordance to our being. It is only our disconnected mind that interferes with this intelligence and imposes its ill way of living that is void of the interconnectedness the body is from.
I love your philosophy here Kate and it is one I share with you – not to do anything with a client that we would not feel comfortable having done on our own bodies. I too have experimented a lot with my own body and it has really supported me to continue to develop and deepen my relationship with my body and my treatment techniques.
I love what Kate has shared here, how deepening her connection to her own body has allowed her deeper understanding of others. Here lies the foundation of a true health professional. Understanding others through the wisdom of understanding self.
This is beautiful Kate. What you are describing here is whole body intelligence – every part of the body working in tune with each other to help correct any parts that are not in harmony with this. It is also our whole body working in harmony with its environment and not against it. There is so much we can learn from this approach if we get our head out of the way, stop focussing on an isolated part and listen to what the entire body is communicating to us.
“Connective Tissue Therapy is unlike any other therapy I have experienced.” And the same goes for me too. I have experienced the most amazing results from this therapy, with long term pain that I had expected to live with for the rest of my life now all but healed. I love the gentleness of the treatment as well as the gentleness of the exercises I do, gentleness that ripples through every part of my body; after all everything is connected by this wonderful tissue.
My understanding of the connective tissue in our bodies after reading this blog and having experienced many Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy sessions, is that our body has its own natural rhythm and flow that is supported by the connective tissue. But when we impose too much force on this system then essential connective tissue pathways will harden and with that the body will lose its rhythm and flow that we in fact already can call an illness to the body while we actually are not experiencing it as such yet. And then when I look to the current state of being of the people in our society, I must acknowledge that we all must have blockages in our connective tissues as many are living suffering illness and pain in the body on a regular if not constant basis.
I used to attend Cranio-sacral therapy and I found it one of the most gentle therapies I have experienced, and then Connective Tissue more recently which I found to be even less imposing or invasive and yet extremely powerful. There is a lot to be said for the non pushing approach where instead we gently move the body and let it heal itself. This is seen in myofascial release where the body moves in the patterns it wants, with Connective Tissue therapy, this in my opinion takes this to a whole other level.
It is curious how much technological advances have been made at the expense of human evolution. A particular news media website has recently updated its site and made it more appealing to the eye and senses, seamless to navigate, accessible, and easy to buy into a myriad of programme choices. Mental Intelligence in action seduces us to believe we are developing as a human race, yet all is focussed on things outside of ourselves. In contrast when I look at how much energy is devoted to transforming the nation’s understanding and awareness of their own health, there are huge gaps. The level and quality of information provided is often loaded with half-truths, if not lies, fragmented and contradictory.
Universal Medicine is exceptional in that it has a true love of humanity and brings truth to health. It has raised awareness of the body’s intelligence and supported each individual to understand what it means to build a true relationship with our bodies, generate health, live vital and full lives. This is true evolution.
“The false intelligence is what the head pushes the body to do – ignoring how the body is feeling” and in that tries to be smarter than the body but in fact is controlling the body to keep it under its regime. By doing so the mind withholds the body from connecting on that deeper level to the nature it belongs to and in which we can find a way of living that leads to a healthy body.
It is gorgeous to reconnect to the wisdom in our body. And the proof that supporting it brings a healing to all parts of life.
Yes Benkt, this reconnection not only frees our body of any pain, stiffness, or illness but sure also has a positive effect on how we are with other people and with life in general.
It’s great to see the detail and origins of what you are saying Kate. While reading your article I could also feel it go to work on my body, it was like I could feel or my body could feel what you are saying. Some may dismiss what you are saying and others like me would say it’s almost common sense. I know that if we all start choosing to make the choices you are talking about then this will support us all. The body is amazing and more and more we are seeing how great it is the more we listen or the deeper we listen to it. This is another part of that listening Kate, when you can read an article and actually feel what is being said, thank you.
I’ve consulted a practitioner I’ve known for over twenty years, he uses the title ‘osteopath’ but works in non-traditional ways. His touch is gentle, has a deep understanding of the body’s intelligence and never ever moves the body in a way that imposes or forces. His way is to find the source of the dysfunction and often traces back to the physical root of the injury and works from there rather than say for example where the pain or ache is felt.
I really get that feeling of being ‘corrected’ when a body presents some hardness/disharmony and somehow it is not honoured for what it has to say and how my body goes into protection. I have experienced some ‘gentle’ approaches in the past before encountering Universal Medicine therapies, and there’s something very different when the technique is applied from the place of seeing the body as something that has issues therefore needs fixing, or from the absolute knowing of us being perfect in our imperfection.
Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy is an amazing modality, both to give and to receive, ‘It supports the body to deeply relax and let go of any tension and holding with a gentle rhythmical motion’.
The results of the study you mention Kate sound to good to be true, but I have since heard you present on the follow-up findings and from my understanding, a large proportion of the study participants who reported significant reductions in pain for 6 months, continued to experience this. This is unheard of in modern medicine, so the question that comes to my mind is why your colleagues in the world of physiotherapy are not beating a path to your door? Could it be there is such an investment in received wisdom and personal status for some medical professionals that they are blinded by choices to an offering of true healing for themselves and their clients?
To fully understand and accept the fact that the body always seeks to heal and harmonize and never ceases doing so exposes how much many modalities ignore this fact and consider it necessary to tell the body what and how to do the healing. That doesn´t mean the body at times doesn´t need support but that is not because the body has stopped its activity of healing; much more it is often us who interfere with the natural process and this interference needs to be undone. Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy is very much supporting the process of surrendering and allowing space for the body to do its natural self-regulating work.
“the body speaks louder than words” – it sure does, but for most of us growing up we are not taught how to listen to its very wise messages, that is until something goes wrong and we are brought to a grinding, and often painful halt. To be introduced to the preciousness of the body from an early age, and the way to truly care for it, would certainly ensure that as we grow we don’t end up with the many illnesses, disease and injuries that so many of us now do. These days I definitely choose the intelligence of my body over the so called intelligence of my mind.
This is great to read, and I can feel my body is the proof of what you write, it speaks quite loudly when I don’t live in the way that is more natural to it. It is a choice to connect deeper and listen, feel what is needed.
” I learned that if any technique was done in a pushing, forceful way, my body tightened in protection. It seemed like my body had its own sensor system to any sensation that was not gentle”.
We seem to have made this protection, tightness, and hardened feeling so normal and sought after in our bodies, however to really feel a person who’s body displays this “look” feels quite disturbing. They actually feel stressed and exhausted underneath the “buff” facade.
“Through being more harmonious in my body, I was able to support my clients to a much greater degree,” I also find that when I offer an Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy session with someone that the tender flow of energy in my own body deepens.
Kate I have been exactly the same as a Physiotherapist and have never felt comfortable practicing any modality or treatment on any of my clients unless I was prepared to do it on myself or receive it myself. I actually trained in Chinese medicine based acupuncture but during the training I did not enjoy receiving it at all as it seemed a bit aggressive to me and unpleasant. So I never actually practiced it. So when I was introduced to esoteric chakra-puncture and felt the gentleness and supportiveness in both the technique and also the effects in my own body I knew I would be happy practicing this on my clients, and I still do.
Reading this Kate has given me a deeper understanding as to why it is so important to be gentle and loving with our bodies and also that any movements that are harsh or done with a push are counterproductive to our health and wellbeing.
To address the body at the deep layer of the connective tissue makes so much sense. If the connective tissue is tense and we treat a layer that comes after the connective tissue then surely sooner or later we will be back with the same problem or issue we had. But going to the connective tissue layer allows for a much deeper release of tension. I loved reading this and it has made me want to book in for a session 🙂
‘Connective Tissue Therapy is unlike any other therapy I have experienced. It supports the body to deeply relax and let go of any tension and holding with a gentle rhythmical motion.’ Yes I agree Kate, I have felt some amazing adjustments occur in my body during these sessions and have felt much freer and lighter in my body as a result.
How gorgeous to know and feel that our connective tissue is a great internal river system through which our source energy (divinity) pulses if left unencumbered by the opposing energy we call on to resist such truth.
I love that our bodies are a part of a greater intelligence that knows how to restore harmony without us having to think about it. This is because we come from God/the Universe and as such our bodies are designed to respond to a divine order and intelligence they can’t help but be a part of. Where things ‘go wrong’, is that we have given voice to the very busy mind at the expense of the body in which it/we are enhoused. A mind not working with the body will create tension that is felt deep to the core of our being because it goes against all the signals we are constantly receiving to ‘pull back’ to this divinity and thus our physical forms will bear the brunt of this ill choice.
“I realised more and more, the responsibility that we hold as practitioners. Through being more harmonious in my body, I was able to support my clients to a much greater degree, and observe the gentle connection of our bodies with Connective Tissue Therapy”. I find this to be true too Kate, I am realising more and more the responsibility I have as a practitioner, and all round human being, a responsibility to live in such a way that truly leaves a light impression everywhere, Starting with myself. It is always a wondrous thing to me to feel that harmony and where there is an absence of it in a body and feel it come to its own level of harmony using the Connective Tissue Therapy. An awesome modality.
It’s a blessing coming into contact with Universal Medicine, who have grounded healing modalities such as Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy, which help us all connect back to our essence.
Being more gentle and kind with ourselves and in all that we do allows the body to expand and settle into a rhythm that is natural to it and makes us feel good. Having connective tissue therapy sessions has supported me big time in this regard and recently when I had “pulled’ some muscles in my back and neck it was connective tissue therapy that was the real catalyst for healing. Of course having an injury makes us slow down and take more care because it hurts so much if we don’t and in some ways I am grateful for this time to be reminded constantly about taking greater care of my self.
Kate what you have shared in your amazing blog is gold: “Through being more harmonious in my body, I was able to support my clients to a much greater degree, and observe the gentle connection of our bodies with Connective Tissue Therapy.” It is important for me to understanding that I as practitioner can offer my clients a greater support if I take more care of myself – for me that is true responsibility.
There is so much wisdom in your writing Kate. I suffered from chronic back pain for many years and did not receive and long term relief from any modalities or physiotherapists until I came to Universal Medicine. I was not trying to heal this back problem at all because I had just come to accept it. What I realised is that with the deeper understanding of what I was carrying in my body and with the treatments with esoteric connective tissue therapy and esoteric massage therapy, I no longer have the back issues I had. There is so much wisdom in listening to the body and not forcing things back into place, but supporting the body to gently heal. The esoteric connective tissue modality is a powerful and effective tool.
The body does indeed speak louder than words. I have received many treatments from Kate, and now see her as part of my maintenance program to enable smooth fluid movements into my elder years. On rare occasions a point of pain (or more accurately, intensity) will reveal itself and be present for an hour or so after the treatment as a result of the effects of a long and deeply held way of being is released from body. The treatments feel deeply nourishing and gentle, with absolutely no force applied.
This blog speaks of the wisdom of the body, something we all feel. I have felt this on many occasions when making a decision that I know feels true but cannot quite back it up with a mental or thought out construct. I can just feel it as true. When I trust these feelings I make decisions that are truly supportive for me and my body, when I don’t I end up thinking things over and over, getting complicated and stepping outside the wisdom I know.
The body is a miracle if you stop and think for a moment about what it has to do it is almost impossible to fathom.
Esoteric Connective tissue therapy is really on to something, I am experiencing more and more the benefits of a gentle approach to exercise and movement and how this positively changes my connective tissue. I can feel even in my breathing how being aware allows my body to intuitively realign itself, lengthen my posture and correct bad habits. This awareness is heightened greatly by doing connective tissue exercises which are non imposing and profoundly supportive.
‘Treating a body part in isolation to the whole body and person was only giving temporary relief.’ That is a huge revelation, that clearly only comes about once you have enough experience (both in terms of years and number of patients) and would leave you feeling unprepared for a life time commitment to healing. Getting support from others, like Universal Medicine, to fill in the gaps makes so much sense.
I love this sense of the Connective Tissue being the bridge between the physical body and its energetic counterpart. The essence of the word ‘connective’ here is more than it appears on the surface – not just connecting the physical parts of the body but connecting the physical and non-physical or energetic aspects too. Groundbreaking stuff.
On the subject of the media, I feel it is necessary for us all to be aware that selling newspapers is a business first and foremost. What is written is written to sell newspapers rather than inform those seeking truth. We have seen this recently in the run up to the EU Referendum in the UK – all too often the agenda has been self-serving rather than to serve the public at large and we have paid a very high price for this in the decision to leave the EU. It’s time to see the newspaper industry for what it is – a business and not what it was originally intended to be – a source of truth.
Having experienced Connective Tissue Therapy a few times now, I can confirm how incredibly gentle the movements are and yet how very powerful the treatments feel. I can completely relate to the fact that this treatment helps to restore balance to the body. It is hard to believe that such a gentle treatment can have such a powerful effect.
I have very little respect for how most of the Press have handled the reporting on stories that are Universal Medicine related, it seems that one of the most beneficial complementary medicines around is being falsely represented.I have had the absolute benefits and pain relief from the modalities mentioned above and am very grateful that they are on offer.
” our body is our own unit of science ” we have so much to learn outside of Conventional Medicine about another way of healing, and that learning is in connecting to the intelligence from the body, which is there to support its own livingness . There is so much more our bodies can offer if we connect and trust the healing that comes from our own wisdom.
Doesn’t this highlight how any impact on the body is damaging to our health and functionality. I was surprised to hear anything that isn’t gentle has a poor effect on the body. Imagine if you were doing this all day every day, which to my observation is normal for many people (including myself) slamming doors, rushing and working beyond your physical means.
There is true progression if we choose to respect the way of the connective tissue 😛
How lovely to read about Connective Tissue Therapy… And the image that it is the bridge between the physical and the energetic within the body, and how, even more amazing, is that we can actually work with it and bring a greater flow to our life and to our physical well-being and consequently our energetic well-being… book me in! ☺
This presents so much Kate. – Thank you. I remember one time I exercised hard, over worked and strained my body- it became sooo tight and rigid I could hardly move my arms or legs- and with every stretch it hurt. So bad so I had to go home and sleep for the day. It was a clear sign for me that anything that was not gentle was not beneficial. even if it comes under the banner of ‘exercise’. Now I understand about connective tissue it makes a tonne of sense.
Dear Kate,
This sentence is standing out to me tonight. ‘It seemed like my body had its own sensor system to any sensation that was not gentle.’ How is it that we have bodies that are this sensitive, yet we live our lives pushing and driving our bodies, holding ourselves in constant states of protection and hardness? Every time my head is allowed to run off with whatever it wants, with out consideration for my body first, hardness is what I can feel, along with protection and no matter if I am resting or working there is a very pushy drive forcing the next button. After doing this, you can do this and this and this. So in this mode, there is no real rest period for my body, because if my mind is off into what is next, my body is still in action. Connective tissue therapy is a very significant therapy for todays bodies, as it naturally brings us to a stop, a moment to be in our bodies and understand how it is we are being with them. Understanding is like putting a key into a lock on a door that has been shut for 100 years. The lock opens and through the door is a whole different way of being that was not ever considered before the understanding was there.
What I am finding also these days is that my body wants to move gently all the time and whenever I forget this and make a sudden move, it will tell me in no uncertain way that this is no longer the way to move. Connective tissue therapy has helped me be more aware of the harmony I hold in my body and the spaciousness I feel after a session is beautiful.
I remember once having a deep tissue massage which not only was excruciating, but my body was fully tensed up bracing for the next round of pain.. it didn’t seem to make sense to me either that it required so much force to ‘heal’ the body. Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy I have experienced as allowing the body to completely surrender and let go of tension as there is nothing to brace for. Getting up off the table it feels like a true restoration has occured and I can walk and move more freely and naturally true to me, free of the energies I have taken on over the days and weeks…
The simple reminder to observe what abrupt movements do to the body has been such a precious revelation in my life that I feel thankful every single day. First I noticed how much I moved my body abruptly. Then by being consciously present I slowly changed the habits in time. And – really – it is just a habit. Gentler movements do support me so much more, so that my body doesn’t develop headaches or other pains anymore.
Great insight Felix, reckless abrupt movements can easily become a habit, a pattern that feeds itself – and those movements then inform the quality of thoughts we have, which influence again how we move – so it can be a spiral down into entrenched patterns and movements that then create ill- conditions in the body.
Choosing to stay present and aware with movements and choosing the quality of gentleness and even tenderness, I find changes the quality of thought, of perception, of how I live my day. In this way the body no longer feels under attack and can open up and expand into into its natural lightness of being.
Kate, this is so brilliant. To work with the body in its natural rhythms and flowing movement seems so sensible. Over my life I have witnessed and had many chiropractic treatments, and my body had to be tricked and surprised with the manipulation otherwise it would definitely seize up. After the treatments, which did relieve the immediate symptoms more than anything else I had found at that stage, my body would seize up and I would have to be very careful. Soon after resuming moving normally again, things would soon click out of place. It was very disappointing. And back again for treatment. Since giving those away for the more gentle treatments of connective tissue therapy, those long held tensions are melting away. I no longer have the same locked in problems and the freedom of movement is amazing. As I unravel the emotional states held in my body, I unravel the tensions held in the muscles, tissues and bones.
Agreed Nicole, when I have an Esoteric Connective Tissue session, I too always feel like I have come home and always curious just what I did to leave my home. Another beauty of Esoteric Connective Tissue, it supports you to understand where you leave yourself so that you are able to make different choices. This modality has it all.
The depth of understanding and richness in this blog by Kate Greenaway are worth dissecting. Of note, is the relationship between how she lives and what that enables her to perceive and detect as a medical practitioner for the healing benefit of the client, and the great respect and understanding Kate Greenaway has of the connective tissue itself.
Kate Greenaway explains a form of medicine that supports the body to access its innate intelligence and is not imposing, unlike some of our current medical approaches; that she has been able to explore, experiment and refine this in her treatments should be of great interest in the field of physiotherapy and main stream medicine. Perhaps modern medical intervention as it currently stands is a smaller slice of the medicine pie than we realise. This is in no way intended to diminish modern medicine, as it is not only a key part, it has a critical part to play, rather this is to suggest that there is a much more expanded and comprehensive form of medicine available and needed.
“Our body is always truthful if we listen to it, and it is our own unit of science.”
Thank you Kate for this informative and very wise blog, also for the inspiration to truly listen and respond to our body’s calling.
The body does speak louder than words and having a healing modality such as connective tissue gives an opportunity to connect to the bodies inner knowing.
Connective Tissue is such an important part of our make up that it is unrealistic to think that we can maintain a well balanced and healthy lifestyle without taking particular care and interest in the very stuff we are made up of.
Thank you for your in depth sharing Kate, making it clearer how connective tissue healing works. I feel a connective tissue treatment always brings me back into my body and a deeper appreciation of how my body responds to this modality, and therefore its healing process.
Having a connective tissue session always feels like I am coming home, bring my body back to where it truly should be. Working from the inside out.
The first time I listened to you sharing about Connective tissue therapy Kate I was inspired and to experience a session was amazing and really inspired me to make big changes in my life – firstly to respect my body and to not ignore the clear messages it constantly shares. Your words really rang out clear today “False intelligence is what the head pushed the body to do – ignoring how the body is feeling”. So very true.
I always love hearing you talk about Connective Tissue Therapy Kate. You are an inspiration!
It is great to re-read this Kate and appreciate how you knew what direction you wanted to go and how this drew you to therapies but prevented you from settling for anything until your discovered what truly supports our bodies. I for one am very glad you stuck with your soul impulse.
Thank you Kate, I enjoyed reading your blog again, I just love CTT and after reading your blog, I feel a session with you coming soon.
Yes it is pure joy to re-read this blog again and fall in love all over again for connective tissue therapy.
Kate I have benefited from Connective Tissue Therapy hugely, and am forever amazed how deeply the body responds to the gentle approach to body work.
I have felt the same hartanne60. The body responds so willingly to this incredible modality.
Agreed nb, the body does respond incredibly well to Esoteric Connective Tissue, a completely unimposing and supportive therapy that reconnects us to our bodies. A true blessing to humanity this modality is.
“Connective Tissue Therapy is unlike any other therapy I have experienced.” This is
the same for me Kate. Connective Tissue Therapy is the gentlest of treatments I have ever come across, yet what it can do to supprot the body to heal itself is astonishing. As you say it can be felt throughout the body, from head to toe and from inside out, by using the smallest of rhythmical movements it can assist to free up a frozen shoulder as it was in my case. I never imagined I would have the flexibility back in my shoulder, but after a few sessions of Connective Tissue, my shoulder was released to its full movement. Simply amazing.
That “our body is always truthful if we listen to it, and it is our own unit of science” is a truth that we are not taught at school or anywhere else while growing up. In fact more than often we are encouraged to exert our bodies beyond what may feel comfortable – win that race, win the football game, swim more laps, try harder!! As you say Kate, “the false intelligence is what the head pushes the body to do – ignoring how the body is feeling”. Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy is a modality that supports us to re-connect with our body and start to take notice of what it is telling us.
‘the body speaks louder than words’ As you say Kate there is much truth in this saying; we have much to learn when we listen to and act on messages from our bodies.
I really appreciate the work you have done in developing the Connective Tissue modality and your consistent and loving support for the students of Universal Medicine.
As you say Kate, our body is such a great teacher, we just have to listen. In the past I was also pushing my body from the head, regardless of how I was feeling in that moment. To work together as a team with the body, like if the body is our best friend, makes so much more sense. Thanks for sharing all your experiences about connective tissue.
To work together as a team – I love this. That is how we are meant to work – in our bodies and with each other.
Agreed Sarah, when you study the body it is amazing to see and feel how well each part works with the other – each knowing it has a roll to play for the all to be well. Imagine if as human beings we saw each other as a part of a bigger whole – maybe then we would live greater responsibility knowing that we each have a part to play to make the whole well rather than ask it to be something for us that we are not prepared to be in return.
Kate I had one such treatment yesterday. The gentleness and caring of the practitioner alone is a treatment in itself but when she applied her hands on my body I could feel myself melting away. Thank you for having developed this great modality.
Thank you for this great sharing Kate on the effects that Connective Tissue Therapy can have on our physical bodies. I love the fact that you see our bodies as a “unit of science” as they are forever lovingly communicating with us and when we listen there is much we can heal. Surrendering is key with any type of healing and the Connective Tissue Therapy certainly allows our body to do this quite profoundly.
“Our body is always truthful if we listen to it, and it is our own unit of science.”- so true Kate. It naturally knows how to rebalance itself when we are gentle with our body, in how we exercise, move and walk.
Yes indeed the body really does show us so much if we take a moment to listen to it. I love how Kate was willing to have open eyes for this process, and also experimented on her own body to assess impacts of treatments first hand, this shows enormous commitment and love for herself and for the people she treats. Thank you Kate, for your loving example of what it means to be a dedicated practitioner.
This being the case, it naturally makes sense to me to work ‘with’ and ‘from’ the body rather than imposing upon it, and to do this, we don’t need any specialist equipment…. All we need is to simply start listening!
Yes Angela no specialist equipment necessary and no specialist knowledge or information from outside of us needed either! Of course sometimes we need professional help with our health but it is very easy to over-rely on information given from outside rather than just connecting with and listening to the wisdom of our body.
The body is our natural marker of our true state of health and well-being, and is the key to true medicine.
Thanks Kate Connective Tissue Therapy is a pretty powerful healing modality along with the connective tissue exercises. I find when I start the day with the exercises my day has a tranquil flow to it
I remember when I had my first one or two Esoteric Connective Tissue sessions with Kate that she pointed our how contracted my body was. For me at that time it was news because it was my normal and I thought I felt okay. After having my session I could feel how different it was in my body and so much more light, spacious and expanded. I love how this modality ever so gently coaxes the body to let go, nothing to do, no trying needed, it’s all already there and just needs the gentle rhythmic touch of the practitioner. A subtle and remarkable modality with far-reaching effects.
I know that too Josephine, being surprised about the contraction that I found in my body during Esoteric Connective Tissue sessions. The beauty of the ECTT is that to me the body is presented its original intelligence it is part of and that by allowing this in, the body returns to its natural state of functioning, the natural state of being in all its spaciousness compared to the contraction state I had made it.
Great to revisit this article and feel how relevant it truly is. Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy is a healing therapy, in the true sense of healing. It brings you to trust the body’s natural way to revitalise and harmonise by becoming more sensitive to the feeling of connective tissue and how it responds to how we live in our bodies. We choose a quality from our bodies that then allows healing to extend way beyond good health. I greatly appreciate the foundational work Kate Greenaway has done to building on this wonderful modality that Serge Benhayon has offered the world.
Thank you Kate and I agree with how this modality feels.”Connective Tissue Therapy is unlike any other therapy I have experienced. It supports the body to deeply relax and let go of any tension and holding with a gentle rhythmical motion” It is like all of my body can surrender and there is no fight between the systems, just a steady flow and rhythm throughout my whole body, which supports how my body is and what it knows.
Thank you Kate for such a great article, knowing you and having sessions with you, I could feel the loveliness of your body, and as I read I could feel the effects on my own body as it softened with every word. So beautiful.
Brilliant blog Kate and it is fascinating to feel how by you choosing to connect more to your own body, that you have developed such a deep awareness of the way our bodies communicate. True science in action, and beautiful to read how the systems of our body work so well together when treated with such gentleness. This is definitely a blog to revisit!
I love that our body is “is our own unit of science.” This is so wonderful in many ways Kate. I know, that because I have my body to listen to. I’ll always have a way to learn and evolve, its own intelligence can show me what needs healing and how to go about that. Connective Tissue Therapy is a beautiful way to support that intelligence… “to restore the body’s natural balance and harmony.”
I love this article Kate and will come back to it again as what you share here is gold. As a practitioner you inspire me to even more responsibility in the way I live and am with my own body, as yes this affects the quality and understanding I bring to my sessions with clients.
This is such a great sharing on the background and development of Connective Tissue Therapy. On top of being a deeply healing treatment, it is truly lovely to receive. It is like you can feel the areas where you hold the stress and tension in your body let go and be brought back into the harmonious state you mention, as the body restores it’s natural balance. It is a profoundly powerful and a truly divine modality that I thank you for sharing.
Kate, I love how you’ve presented what deep down we all know, our body does know if we allow ourselves to listen to it, and Connective Tissue Therapy is something which really supports a deeper connection to the body and how it truly feels. In my experience as a client it allow me to feel more spacious in my body, and introduces that space and grace in my life.
When I played a lot of sports I remember many times where my body would break down and I would need physiotherapy, what was common in the treatments I received over many years was how there was a fix it up approach, which I was fully complicit in, to get me mended and back on the field as quickly as possible. I remember having a session with you Kate and how much more gentle and powerful the connective tissue session was than anything I had received before from a physio, to me I will always now want to look at the underlying cause of the issue rather than go for the quick fix which I now recognise often just shifts the problem from one part of the body to another. Esoteric Connective tissue therapy is to me a fascinating modality and one that the field of physiotherapy would benefit greatly from understanding.
It is harming the body to just fix the symptoms and ignore the messages or even warning signals it is giving. Of course athletes want to get back in the field asap but if they were educated about the way the body truly works I am sure that, like you Stephen, they would think twice about it. So yes I agree ‘the field of physiotherapy’ and everyone else ‘would benefit greatly from understanding’.
I love esoteric connective tissue therapy for precisely the reason you describe so beautifully here, Kate:”It works deeply to assist and support the body’s own true intelligence to restore the body’s natural balance and harmony.” I have experienced it as a modality that is deeply honouring of the physical body and allows the most beautiful feelings of self nurturing to unfold from within. This modality, through the way it cherishes the body and its intelligence, cannot help but expose all that which disregards or abuses the body in any way. From that point, it offers a genuine choice about how to live.
This is my experience too, Coleen, that connective tissue therapy ‘allows the most beautiful feelings of self nurturing to unfold from within’. And that does feel divinely exquisite and gives a taste or a reference point of what is truly possible for the body and reveals just how rough and tough we may have been living. As you say, once aware of this possibility, the choice is then ours.
As a physiotherapist it is beautiful to read your blog and also to be practising Connective Tissue Therapy, the most gentle, healing, non-imposing technique I have ever used.
It is a fascinating question raised in this blog, of how to offer the body a treatment which allows it to come back to harmony and initiate self healing. There is so much still unknown about body function and what creates harmony in the body and why many injuries and illnesses do not heal. It feels to me that the bridge between energetic and physical healing that Kate mentions in this blog seems key to this understanding. Therefore the openness and sensitivity of the practitioner to explore what this means seems important. From my experience, Connective Tissue Therapy is one way to develop that sensitivity as well as explore where it can take healing to.
IN 2007 I was diagnosed with heal spurs, and could not run anymore without pain. At the same time I started seeing Kate Greenway once a month for Connective Tissue Therapy. Within 12 months I no longer had any sense of heal spurs in my feet. I am sure there were other reasons for my recovery as well – such as the fact that I removed hard impact sports from my life soon after – but there is no doubt Connective Tissue Therapy played a huge part in my recovery, if not only to bring to my awareness how truly supple the body really is, and how responsive it is to gentle movement.
I used to love having massages until it came to a point where I had to stop because, after the temporary relief I would feel worse, my back might go out or my joints would ache. It wasn’t until I tried the Esoteric Modalities that I could have treatments again and I realized it was because these modalities imposed nothing on my body, and the practitioner had no need to diagnose, fix or produce a result. This allowed my body to deeply surrender and then it would let go of any tensions which were preventing it from realigning or coming into balance.
From working with clients and observing my own body I have seen that, as you say Kate, the body does have ‘its own sense of how to restore itself to [that] natural balance. And as a practitioner I have seen that the more I am present with the client and allow them to be themselves, the more the connective tissue releases in both of us. It is beautiful to feel the cranial bones and spinal vertebrae adjust themselves and I am often in awe of the amazing intelligence of the body.
Yes, Sandra, I have that same sense of awe for the intelligence of the physical body, too. We have done so many commendable things in this world technologically speaking, but we are yet to come up with anything that comes anywhere near the levels of unity, harmony and beauty of the physical body. It is truly worthy of this awe.
Thank you Kate for your in depth sharing on what Connective Tissue Therapy does for our bodies. Having those wonderful treatments with you recently and for some time, I can recommend Connective Tissue Therapy and the lovely gentle approach that you have, it has helped me immensely and still is. Thank you again..
Really awesome Kate, thanks for sharing. I really like how you have shared that treating one part of the body with out treating the whole body doesn’t make sense. And that imposing on the body in any way couldn’t be healing it. The true healing is in not imposing on the body, but allowing it to expand to its natural state.
Awesome Kate. I have been yielding the benefits of Connective Tissue Therapy, dealing with extreme anxiety. It has been incredibly supportive and I really appreciated gaining deeper insight into the medical workings of this incredible modality. Thank you for all you have brought us.
Your mastery and insight into the Human Body’s flow, rhythm and connective tissue framework is eye-opening. Connective Tissue Therapy is an amazing modality and will bring a depth of understanding to mainstream medicine that is missing and needed.
Thank you for being a pioneer of Connective Tissue Therapy and for your inspiring research and work.
Hear! Hear! Deborah. There is no doubt that Connective Tissue Therapy will “bring a depth of understanding to mainstream medicine that is missing and needed”. As a therapy that is not only very supportive but which honours the whole body, it will truly complement conventional medicine in the not too distant future.
The amazing lovely work of Kate Greenaway and the modality of Connective Tissue Therapy. It is an incredible thing to read just how delicate our body is and just how much, if supported correctly, our body can re-adjust and heal itself. It would have been very different working with other practitioners that had a more full on approach to the way you work Kate but seeing you learn more and more gentler techniques over time and experiencing much more vitality in my body I can vouch for the incredible work of Connective Tissue Therapy and the depth of knowledge you have for the body.
I can attest to what Kate has written here and when I have experienced Connective Tissue I have been astounded and how such gentle movement can have such a profound effect on the body. It is deeply relaxing and I feel it supports the body to reconfigure to its own natural rhythm.
My sentiments exactly Sarahflenley, a connective tissue session is deeply relaxing and Always shows me what I need to look at or release on that moment and I fully agree, connective tissue supports the body to reconfigure in a gentle, non-imposing and natural way.
I find it amazing how responsive the body is and how the opportunity is there to become a master of allowing the body to release and be free of tension. I have learnt how deeply I can let go of tension in a muscle by practicing a conscious release of the tight area, yet this is not something I practice as often as I should. It is great to read of Kate’s understanding, appreciation and application of this esoteric connective tissue therapy, a modality that is definitely going to provide a great service to a great many people.
Kate what you bring with your understanding of the body and connective tissue therapy is nothing short of magic. Having experienced it for myself, I know what an awesome modality it is and how my connective tissue feels before and after. I love what you have spoken about here with relation to being a practitioner and how when you feel lighter it is naturally more easy to feel what is needed and to support your client – but not necessarily to ‘fix’. You’re a wonder woman Kate, so thank you for being you!
First class article Kate, I agree the body does speak louder than words but unfortunately we haven’t been taking the time to listen to it. I have also found connective tissue treatments work wonders on my body and has helped with conditions I have lived with for 20 years and it continues to help me as I deepen my relationship with my body.
Awesome article Kate, it’s amazing to feel your dedication to bringing a depth of understanding of what truly works to heal our bodies, with deep gratitude thank you.
I can personally state that Connective Tissue Therapy was instrumental in helping me out of chronic back pain. I experienced back issues including herniated discs and many periods of excruciating pain for weeks at a time for 16 years. It was not until I came across Universal Medicine, changed some aspects of my lifestyle and had treatments with Kate Greenaway that the back issues stopped completely. To me it was a miracle.
This is beautiful Kate. It makes so much sense what you are writing here. Our connective tissue system is in our whole body and as it says, connects every muscle, vein, organ etc with each other. The quality the connective tissue is cannot but have a huge impact on how the whole body is.
I could feel it in my body, while reading your blog, it totally relaxes when I move gently and am aware of my body and how I am sitting. This is truly an amazing modality.
Thank you Kate, this article had me remembering sessions I had with you years ago where I began to appreciate my own sensitivity and trust my “true intelligence” in a way that I had not done before. I so appreciate your work and have since begun training in Connective Tissue myself and absolutely love it.
Thanks Kate Connective Tissue Therapy truly is a wonderful gift to mankind, I walked or should I say bounced away from a Connective Tissue Therapy session recently laughing out loud with joy as I couldn’t ever remember my body feeling that good or free.
“Craniosacral Therapy … still came from a basis of telling the body what to do and how the bones, connective tissue and muscles should be in relation to each other.” This description, which comes from your own lived experience, makes clear that soft as this technique may appears to be, in truth it is really imposing on a body. Thank you Kate!
The body never lies and we can impose on the body by doing different therapies, but in the end, they won’t work. The body cannot be imposed upon, it will only respond when truth and love is being presented. Then true healing takes place. For me this is only the case with the healing techniques like esoteric connective tissue taught by Universal Medicine.
Yes it is interesting that it is not the amount of pressure applied in the technique physically that is important but the intention of the practitioner behind the technique.
So true Andrew, and the intention the practitioner brings to the technique and indeed the table, is how caring and loving they are with themselves in their daily lives which as Kate shares above, the more caring and loving towards herself, the better she was equiped to support her clients.
Agreed Andrew, it is not the pressure that is important with this technique. In fact I have had Connective Tissue therapy and have hardly even felt the practitioners hands on me and these have been the most deeply relaxing and supportive sessions. It really does come down to the the intention of the practitioner.
Kate, thanks for your informative blog on the difference it makes to work collaboratively with the body rather than using harsh, forceful movements. Having experienced many forms of body work for treatment of various ailments over the years, I can definitely say that by far the gentlest and most beneficial has been Connective Tissue Therapy.
Helen, I have also experienced many forms of body work over the years and can also attest to the fact “that by far the gentlest and most beneficial has been Connective Tissue Therapy”. It never ceases to amaze me that such gentle movements can have such a profound effect on the body.
I have experienced Connective Tissue Therapy, and some other type of bodyworks that employ a subtle manipulation and gentle approach. They look quite similar in the way they are practiced, yet feel different, and I have been wondering why. Reading your blog, could it be to do with the commitment to living a life of integrity as a practitioner both inside and outside of the clinic room, I wonder.
From the first paragraph I could feel your deep appreciation for the incredible capacity that our bodies have to reflect the truth to us and heal. Your commitment to honoring the feeling that there was more to understand, more truth to be discovered is inspiring. And that this commitment included taking responsibility in how you were living – ‘that being gentle and more self-loving in the way we move and in everything that we do enhances our bodies’ natural vitality, and it is that which we bring to our family, friends, colleagues and clients.’ Imagine if more of our health practitioners chose this responsibility? Thank you Kate for what you offer and for this insightful article as I now have a deeper understanding of this powerful healing modality.
Your blog has been deeply insightful Kate and equally as healing. I find the Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy to be very supportive and healing and I have come to understand how loving and responsible it is to naturally live in a tender, delicate and gentle way with ourselves and with others.
I had never heard of or had Connective Tissue Therapy treatments before Universal Medicine. I know from my own experience how truly beneficial these sessions have been. When Connective Tissue Therapy given by a practitioner who works in such a beautiful gentle way with total integrity, my whole body surrenders and I can feel my body respond by releasing the tension I have been holding onto, which doesn’t stop after the session but has a lasting effect.
I know this surrendering too Dierdre. I have had Connective Tissue Therapy treatments, and the wonderfully gentle and very subtle movements that are offered to the body simply encourage it to surrender and let go of any tension that is held within. I had quite a severe problem with a frozen shoulder and after a series of Connective Tissue treatments have now got full movement back. And as you say, the treatment continues to support the body long after the session.
I have had Connective Tissue Therapy a number of times, it is extremely relaxing. I couldn’t believe it at first, with such gentle and subtle movements it allowed my body to completely relax and realign. I could immediately feel how much tension I was holding in my body at the beginning of the treatment and then getting off the massage table with fluidity, lightness, gentleness and feeling connected to my body. Connective Tissue Therapy is extremely powerful and healing.
Awesome blog Kate. This part where you quoted ‘the body speaks louder than words’, it is so true. When I choose to listen, my body is constantly communicating everything to me, all my choices, it sends me warning signs, it reflects all my feelings and thoughts and so much more. It is absolutely incredible and definitely highly intelligent.
I have also found the body to speak very loudly once I began to listen…
This is the key Joel – I too am finding that one has to learn or rather, remember to listen – respectfully, lovingly and with deep appreciation.
“Our body is always truthful if we listen to it, and it is our own unit of science.”
I love this, awesome blog Kate, thank you.
I enjoyed this same section of the blog too Tim. I am my own science experiment and I have a lot to learn from me when I listen and take heed of what my body shares. I am my own practitioner.
Absolutely Marcia. I find that this science, learning and awareness of what my body is showing me is always deepening and expanding in detail. I am constantly learning more.
That’s the thing isn’t it Marcia. We are actually our own practitioner designed to work alongside all the other professional and medical support we receive to observe, test, support, heal and resolve our own challenges… and to realise we are each uniquely our own science to be explored and understood as part of our personal development and evolution as people.
Thank you Kate for the reminder that the body does know how to naturally restore itself if allowed to. Over time as I have started to feel my body more rather than just staying in my head what is often felt is how hard and tense the body has been under the lead of the mind. Feeling this is not a pleasant experience but by choosing to go back upstairs into my mind to avoid that feeling is not releasing the body from said tension and hardness. It’s one step to be willing to feel the body, but the next I feel is to accept that it isn’t a pretty picture facing the tension and to let the body just be.
‘I realised, more and more, that if I completely supported the joints, muscles and connective tissue, the body had its own sense of how to restore itself to that natural balance.’ These words are gold Kate and should be taught to all health practitioners before they start to study any modality.
I have received connective tissue treatment and it is amazing, not only is it unimposing it gave me a true appreciation of the flow and flexibility in my body, it awakened flexibility and space so to speak. I really understand what you say here “Treating a body part in isolation to the whole body and person was only giving temporary relief.” It is necessary to look at the whole body otherwise we only ever scratch the surface of what is occurring.
Thank you Kate Greenaway for offering the tender and loving therapy that will serve the human body in restoring its true nature, the true connection with all that is universally known and of which we are part.
This connection will assist the body in its healing processes, to undo all the ill patterns that are held in it, because of living disconnected from the true origin of life.
I agree, the body has its own natural intelligence and it responds well when we treat it tenderly and with respect
Very gorgeous Carmel and totally agree, the body and like anything when treated with love and respect will respond well.
Inspired by you Kate, and Universal Medicine, one of the things I have been loving to do is look at, and work with, my own body as “a unit of science”. The wealth of truly useful and supportive information gleaned from my scientific research of me is actually becoming more powerful than what I can read ‘out there’ to get the answers. My body, because it is listened to far more deeply now, supports me back in ways I could never have imagined before embarking on this particular Masters Degree. 🙂 Thank you.
Your connective tissue treatments are nothing short of remarkable Kate.
Looking forward to more research from yourself Kate Greenway, and of course Danielle Pirera into the Esoteric Modalities and their tangible effects on the body. I have had treatments for several years now, and the physical effect they have had on my body has been nothing short of outstanding.
Agreed Adam I am looking forward to more research on Esoteric Connective Tissue coming out – I feel it is a shame though that our truth has been reduced to proving it by “evidence-based” science – jumping through a collective set of criteria that can be altered and manipulated to get any result desired, when the simplicity of the truth, our own bodies is really all that we need.
“Our body is always truthful if we listen to it, and it is our own unit of science”. Everything we do and how we do it can be read in the body. Thank you to Universal Medicine for inspiring truly committed practitioners like Kate.
What an amazing discovery Kate that actually the quality of how you move in every moment throughout the day even when you are not in the clinic affects the quality of your treatments in the clinic also. This is an unprecedented commitment to a level of responsibility and integrity as a practitioner that is very inspirational.
What a beautiful therapy connective tissue therapy is. So gentle, un-imposing and supportive, allowing my body the opportunity to surrender deeply to its own healing!
Thank you Kate. I can feel the deep love, respect and appreciation you hold for the body. Something that is to truly marvel at and how you could always feel that there was more to learn as you applied your skills to the body. Something you mentioned too Kate, which I feel is not talked about enough as health care practitioners is the quality in which we live our own lives and how this not only affects how we care for others, but also how we can best support our patient’s. As you shared there is a deep sense of self-responsibility here, for what this brings is true service and a way of working that actually invigorates rather than burns us out and offers our patients a choice in how they are with themselves.
Jennifer I can but agree with you that the ‘the quality in which we live our own lives and how this not only affects how we care for others, but also how we can best support our patients’ is a concept that is not given the wide attention it deserves. When a practitioner is treating a client they bring all of themselves and this includes any ill-energy they may have from the way they live their personal life, e.g. if they take drugs or indulge in pornography. A practitioner cannot park their personal lives at the door when they enter their treatment room. Hence, a client always has a responsibility to discern for themselves what energy their practitioner is bringing through before they allow the practitioner to lay their hands on them. Thus, there is a level of responsibility and integrity required on both sides – client and practitioner.
Yes Jennifer… This is the aspect that I notice most when teaching in the healthcare industry… In that there is a marked lack of awareness of self care… And that even when old paradigms are challenged, that is ways of communicating and listening, that the incorporation of self-care will be one of the last aspects of one’s life to be studied and changed.
I love it Kate how you have always been concerned for your clients health and well being and willing to not only explore but embrace new techniques. A lot of practitioners, tradesmen, professionals are set in their way of going about their profession and not open to the possibility of another way. You’re integrity and care is deeply touching.
In appreciation of all that you are and bring Kate. I had my first connective tissue session a few years ago and was astounded by the way I felt and how it worked on my body. When I first lay down I felt like I had two bricks sitting on my ovaries and as the session went on I could feel that there were no bricks, I could actually feel the warm blood flowing through my ovaries. Thank you Kate
What a true marvel of intelligence Connective Tissue Therapy is. From being gentle with our bodies it can bring us back into alignment with harmonyand vitality. Thank you Kate.
We often talk about intelligence as something that only comes from the mind but as you say Kate our body is innately intelligent and sending us messages all the time. Universal Medicine helped me reconnect with my body and bring much more awareness to what I feel, which has been very enriching.
By just reading this article I can feel my body relax and ease some of the tension I was holding. The response to a gentle approach seems far greater in its long term effect than when we try and force a result for the body by manipulating the tissue from one holding position to another. The idea of the connective tissue being supported to realign itself makes perfect sense to me, trusting as it does in the body’s intuitive intelligence.
I have had connective tissue therapy treatments and it is exactly as Kate Greenaway describes it. It allows you to feel on a deep level exactly what is going on in the body, which is so empowering and supportive. From there you have the opportunity to make different choices that will support the body and the being..
Thank you Kate, it’s really fascinating to discover that the body has its own natural intelligence and that the mind just interferes!
Lovely to read and feel Kate, I am inspired by your words of wisdom
Thank you for the gentle reminder to be aware, tender and honouring of our bodies.
Our body truly is our own science – and I feel there has been a huge lack of acknowledgement of that from me and how I have lived. Kate – your experience with the body and how it has reacted over the years is yet another clue of the intelligence our bodies hold – well before we think we know what to do.
I love reading your experience here- as I am starting to let my body speak to me too.
Loved to read this today Kate and gain a deeper understanding of this amazing modality: connective tissue therapy. I have received many connective tissue sessions, which always leave me amazed at the subtle yet gentle healing that takes place within my body.
It is very beautiful to read about the amazingness of how the body works and how everything supports each other.
Thank you very much Kate for writing this. Having had connective tissue sessions with you and other esoteric practitioners, I can concur with the depth that connective tissue therapy allows one to feel in our bodies. I have experienced a fluidity and grace flowing from inside of me after sessions. I don’t feel that same level of depth now, but I know that is to do with how I’ve chosen to brace myself and be less than tender with myself in my daily life. What you say about our bodies’ natural vitality responding to how gentle and self-loving we are is definitely true.
Understanding and feeling the connective tissue in my body has really changed my relationship with how I am with myself. Having felt the connective tissue, first of all via Connective Tissue Therapy and later through Connective Tissue Exercises, I have come to an understanding of the importance of honouring my body, being gentle, tender and loving, being aware of all of my body in my movements, as I feel how I am with myself has a direct impact on my connective tissue and generally in how I feel in my body day to day.
Brilliant Kate, I totally understand and thank you for sharing about the awareness of our own body, whether it is feeling hard/strained or feeling gentle and more self loving. This totally gets communicated in the way we go about our work, and is felt through the interactions we have with a patient or our colleagues, just like the ripple effect of a water drop into water. The quality of that drop into the water emanates outwards for all to see and feel, and, we too get the reflection of what we have ‘put out’ or expressed, when it bounces back from another (just like how the ripple in water bounces off a fixed wall and returns to where it cam from). We too get also to see and feel it. This confirms that “expression is everything” (SB).
Thank you Kate, I have also received Connective Tissue Therapy treatments and can testify to the benefit; of it supporting the body to let go, and then allowing the body to expand into its fullness – I Love them!
Kate, the research you have carried out feels very important. I work in an environment where many people experience chronic pain, and often the only solution offered to them by their doctors is heavy medication, which is understandable. But if there is another way, something else we can offer each other and ourselves, this is incredible.
Connective Tissue, is such a gentle and non-invasive way of working with the body it sure taps into the true wisdom from our whole being so there is no discomfort or pain when receiving it but a deep connection and stillness. I love working with this amazing modality for its simplicity and how it supports the body not just on the physical but on the emotional and energetic levels.
Beautifully expressed, Francisco., I love what you’ve shared here. It is most definitely a very powerful, yet gentle way to assist our body to heal on so many levels.
It’s amazing when you choose to be aware of your body and commit to always move in a rhythmical movement. It is such a difference to how hard and totally unaware all my movements used be. I was only aware if I was sick – quick jarred movements were deeply felt during this time.
Choosing how I move has changed my life miraculously. By changing all my movements by feeling and choosing each step when I walk that lovely flow I feel in my body expands all the time. It’s a natural confidence I feel that is contagious to the natural flow that it is.
As I read this this morning I can feel my body letting go and becoming more gentle. The very understanding that the body needs gentleness in order to heal is a gorgeous invitation for the body to let go. Connective Tissue Therapy is such a wonderful modality in which our bodies can truly trust.
“….the human body had its own natural intelligence. It was sensitive and responded clearly to any internal or external strain.” Why do we ignore what our body is trying to tell us? I for one was taught to ‘push through’ – this was thought to be laudable. It has taken – and is taking – a while for me to truly listen and make new choices in accordance with what my body is telling me. Gorgeous blog Kate.
As you said Sue, a gorgeous blog by Kate. I also came from being taught to ‘push through’ and toughen up! I was a sensitive child and it never worked for me and certainly didn’t feel right. As Kate says, There is a lot of truth to the old saying, ‘the body speaks louder than words’.
‘The false intelligence is what the head pushes the body to do -ignoring how the body is feeling’. I can relate to that Kate, even in a therapy session! Sometimes at the start of a session I used to feel that my head was trying to retain control, and resisting the level of relaxation the body wanted to reach. As soon as I recognised what was going on, and called it out, my mind let go and allowed that deep relaxation to happen.
So beautiful Kate. I enjoyed reading about your innate knowing that the body needed to be treated gently – I can feel how connected you are with this.
What I have loved about sessions I have had with Kate in the past is that they have allowed me to access a deeper level of honesty in my body so that ways of doing certain things just did not feel true any more. I remember one session when I realised the shoes I was wearing were not supporting me to stay connected to my body as I was walking , and in fact when I went for a walk that afternoon I went through three pairs of shoes before I came to a pair that felt just right. That inspired me to go shopping and I found a new brand that felt amazing. I have tended to be a lot more caring about my footwear since then.
Kate Greenaway and Serge Benhayon …. What an amazing team. Having hammered my body with martial arts for a couple of decades, and once I actually used to say proudly that there were only a couple of joints that hadn’t been dislocated in my body, if it was not for both of these wonderful dedicated practitioners I would certainly not be walking around, and connective tissue therapy has been a profound part of that healing.
Kate, you yourself are a testament to what you share about connective tissue therapy. As soon as your hand touches me, I can feel my body start to soften and light up with love and self-awareness. The way we are meant to be all the time!
This is such a great blog Kate. I have experienced Connective Tissue Therapy and totally concur with you that “It works deeply to assist and support the body’s own true intelligence to restore the body’s natural balance and harmony.” I am deeply grateful to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine for this deeply supportive healing modality.
Wunderbare Kate, thank you so much to expose that the old saying “the body speaks louder than words” are not only words but a deeply truthful knowing which lays deep in each of us. My own experience is the same – if I allow myself to feel my body and what is happening there, then there is hardly any resistance in me to feel that my body is speaking louder than words, because I felt it and so I can not ignore or deny it anymore.
You are right Kate, my body also senses things that are not gentle and tenses up. In this tension there is very restricted movement and it does not take much for fatigue to set in. Connective tissue treatment on the other hand helps my body feel free, open, and expansive. Muscles and joints feel free to move and increase in range. So I understand the old saying ‘The body speaks louder than words’.
I have had many wonderful sessions with Kate, working with her was an integral part of my healing when I first started attending Universal Medicine. I have found Connective Tissue Therapy to be a very deep and healing modality, I experienced the exquisite flow of energy throughout my body deeply relaxing me, releasing tensions and blocks, and restoring my body’s natural balance and harmony. I deeply appreciate Kate in collaboration with Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine developing such a gentle and supportive therapy.
The body speaks more loudly than words, I love that. If it speaks so loud, I wonder, how come we don’t listen to it…?
Absolutely Ariana, we’ve created a life around us that is designed to keep us from feeling or listening to what our body is telling us. Mostly we are not wanting to feel the pain or discomforts of unhealthy or unsupportive choices we are making, but sadly we are also missing out on feeling the joy, celebration and empowerment of feeling every part of our body in great detail in every movement.
Kate I could feel a lovely warm fluidity through my body while reading this very interesting blog. Thank you.
…It seemed like my body had its own sensor system to any sensation that was not gentle… I am learning this more and more and more and it is a delight to realise how much intelligence the body holds. The more I connect to my body, the more it shares with me and lets me know when I am not being gentle, or unloving and it presents it in such a factual way and non-judgemental way – if that makes sense. It just says, when you do X, I have to do Y to cope with it. And I then have the choice to go, OK, which one do I want to do.
I agree Sarah and I really like the way you have expressed it here – “when you do X, I have to do Y to cope with it.” It is absolute common sense, yet it is not widely understood, let alone presented in our education systems.
Thank you Kate for a very interesting article. I have not had a connective tissue session yet but I have experienced the care, dedication and integrity of Universal Medicine practitioners and it is a feeling to behold.
Kate, this is s beautiful reminder for those of us who work with other people’s bodies. We need to be fully aware of we are bringing to our clients in terms of what we are carrying energetically in our own bodies and the energy we are in when we touch our clients in providing personal cares. A timely reminder for me.
I have put this to the test too with massage therapy. I have found that the more gentle I am with a client’s body, the deeper they can relax and let go of tension in their bodies. If I do a deep tissue massage their body actually tenses up more. Connective tissue therapy takes this to a whole new level. I look forward to training in this modality knowing the enormous benefits I have experienced with it in my own body.
Hi Kate I have also experienced this with massage therapy it is amazing how many people are wanting a very firm/ hard touch initially but after a short explanation they can feel how deeply supportive it is to connect and be worked on in more gentle way, and how relaxing and stilling the technique is.
Having had many sessions of other therapies in the past – quite heavy, pressing, pushing techniques I always felt a bit battered and bruised afterwards – I was already feeling tender,fragile and in pain prior to that session – so why would I do that? Not any more the amazing Esoteric healing modalities on offer has shown me there is another way to support my body. Connective Tissue Therapy is definitely one of those.
I agree Marion, Connective Tissue Therapy is awesome, gentle, un-invasive, but very powerful, and truly supports the body in its healing. It proves that you don’t have to have all that prodding, poking and manipulation that comes with many therapies. The body has an innate ability to heal itself, and with the support of these esoteric modalities and a true esoteric practitioner amazing healings can take place.
I was so inspired with the very first treatment I had of Connective Tissue Therapy with you Kate – I had never experienced such gentleness before and afterwards this feeling of awareness over body parts that I had taken for granted started to reawaken. Thank you.
Awesome Kate, I really enjoyed reading this and hearing how you went about learning more about the body and it’s connective tissue. It seems you have such a passion for your work and you were looking for what is going to best support your clients. That’s an amazing quality to have as a practitioner and I have felt that all esoteric practitioners at Universal Medicine have that same dedication to their modality that they practice.
This is a beautiful description Kate of how you came to do the work you now do – and so simple. I love feeling how connected you are to the human body and the way it flows. This really highlighted the importance to me of having the right ‘flow’ within my own body, not just for me but for everyone I work with. It makes complete sense, so thank you.
The body as our own unit of science. It is the most interesting subject I have ever come across and studying my body, learning to feel what it needs, what it is asking for and what it communicates, has helped me enormously in greatly improving my health and well being. It is amazing how the body can feel if we learn to let go and come back to a natural state of being. What used to be normal turns out to be not normal at all, and I have found a very deep relaxation, tenderness and flow within my body that I could not have imagined.
Kate, reading this excellent article has deepened my understanding and appreciation of our connective tissue and connective tissue therapy. The part I found particularly insightful is that it is the connective tissue that is the bridge between our energetic body and our physical body. I had an ‘ah-ha!’ moment as to how emotions affect us physically. Thank you.
Thank you Kate, your article is a great description and explanation about Connective Tissue Therapy. An awesome introduction and foundation to the origins of how this remarkable modality was developed. The results of the study on CTT you and Danielle Loveless performed speak for themselves!
Kate I feel from you an energy of great respect and I am always inspired by what you have to express. This blog about connective tissue massage is confirming for me as I have received CTT massages and am amazed how you can feel your whole body as you say from one end to the other, it is beautiful to feel.
I am inspired to have more connective tissue therapy. A beautiful explanation of a profoundly powerful modality.
I have had only one connective tissue session. I recall the subtle nature of this work. I am inspired by your article to have more sessions some time. Beautiful how your work with the connective tissue evolved with your own connection to your body. Always great to be reminded of the importance and amazing benefits of being gentle in our movements. I get quite a shock these days when I move myself sharply. It’s so noticeable since becoming more and more gentle.
Everything that is said here feels so true, Kate. What I am realising is that there is a depth to my inner knowing and workings of my body that I haven’t even touched the sides of. I am aware that there is a resistance to going deeper and that brings up questions – what is going on that I can possibly consider staying with old ways of moving, old patterns of thinking and holding on to the old beliefs that do not support me and shut down the natural, nurturing and tender me?. The body’s wisdom is off the richer scale and listening literally brings miracles. Everyday I bring attention to my breath, where I am in my movements of my body and practice more self-loving in my life. My vitality and joy are growing as a result of this way of being. Thank you for your sharing and thank you to Serge Benhayon for deepening the understanding and intelligence of our bodies.
I really feel there is something quite amazing to explore and go deeper with about this notion that connective tissue is the bridge between the physical and the energetic aspects of ourselves. When I move in a very slow and gentle way and focus on this or that joint moving, I can feel the physical structure of the joint moving, including the soft tissue of which connective tissue is part, plus I can detect something like tingling in other more distant parts of the body. It seems only limited by my sensitivity but I have got to a point where I have felt how every part of the body actually is connected and even movement in legs can be felt in the skull or neck or fingers. So it seems true that we can become aware of a rhythm in the body which is as much about energy moving around as it is about physical mechanics.
Understanding first of all that there is a connective tissue system that runs in the body and then allowing myself to feel it through deepening my connection with my body has completely changed my relationship with my body in exercise and movement. In the past, I would have easily pushed my body without thinking about it. I now only exercise in a way that is honouring of the connective tissue, knowing that the CT responds to a gentleness and tenderness. Connective Tissue Therapy sessions have helped me to feel myself as a tender woman. I have had experiences in sessions where it has felt like I would imagine a baby in the womb, so free of tension in my innate loveliness. This provides a great marker for me to know that that is my natural state of being and as I honour myself and my body, I am able to feel that more and more.
Dear Kate,
The simplicity of how you talk about our connective tissue and how when we are in tension, whether that be physical or emotional, that this is like an assault in the body. The connective tissue then hardens from this is oh so true. Something that I now feel very clearly for myself. The wisdom my body holds is remarkable. Letting go to feel this wisdom is now my way of being. What I am learning from my body each and every day is so real, my body does not try to gloss over something or to ignore it. These are things that my mind will do. My body simply presents the truth of how I am being in every moment. The learning that I am gaining from this is far greater than anything I have before experienced. Having connective tissue treatments and also doing regular connective tissue exercises has supported me in my connection to my body, and the wisdom it holds.
Dear Kate – I remember my first session with you and whilst not realising what was happening I knew it was amazing and something quite different. Now I am gaining more understanding and realise that Connective Tissue Therapy is something that allows the body to work towards a point of harmony.
It’s true Kate, we are our own ‘unit of science’ and with open enquiry, careful observation and awareness we can learn so much about how we work. Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy helps to deepen the awareness of what is happening in my body, what hardness and tensions are arising, and this allows me to mark it, see how it developed and release rather that deepening a condition into the body and the progression into pain, or limitations of movement. I am learning to never discount the messages the body is constantly giving to me.
Deeply letting go of tension in my body is one of many benefits I have felt during a healing Connective Tissue Therapy session. They are remarkable sessions and certainly confirm that the body speaks louder than words. Thank you Kate for your continued commitment in this modality.
It’s beautiful Kate how your own return to gentleness and connection is mirrored in your research. You just keep going deeper with the body – literally. Connective Tissue Therapy is like nothing I have ever experienced – sublime and so simple. It makes great sense to me that our body is naturally equipped to restore harmony, if we support it and let it be.
I love the deep stilling the Connective tissue therapy brings me to. It is such a profound modality and the practitioners are highly skilled and in tune through their gentle and harmonious ways. I love what you say Kate about being a unit of science. I have begun to treat myself as my own science experiment for, who knows me better than me and, the more I listen to my body the clearer the information I get back from it about what truly supports it and what does not. I feel that my body thanks me for that very simple scientific enquiry every day… The Connective Tissue Therapy and exercises have helped me connect to that fact most certainly.
The body knows it all, it has its own by nature intelligence. The Connective Tissue therapy honours deeply this fact. That’s why I love it.
Loved your blog Kate- your journey as a physiotherapist and your treatment choices.
I have had many esoteric connective tissue sessions with various practitioners including yourself, and have found this modality to be very gentle, yet very powerful, and profound in its results. Amazing how intelligent our body naturally is when we are connected deeply to ourself and no imposition placed on us, by the practitioner.
I have a similar experience in that I used to practise very soft bodywork techniques such as Cranio Sacral Therapy, Bowen Technique and Myofascial Release and years later could feel in my own body that Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy is much gentler and doesn’t impose the slightest hint of imposition or preconceived treatment model on to a client’s body. The results of these sessions have been nothing short of miraculous for me.
I too have experienced the difference between techniques which no matter how gentle do impose a movement onto the body in order to provide relief from symptoms and the Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy which seems to support the body making its own natural correction.
The body definitely speaks louder than words and to experience the release of pain as well as being offered a true understanding of the body in a connective tissue treatment, is a gift to humanity. Thank you Kate and Universal Medicine.
Thank you Kate, I was fortunate to be one of the subjects in the research and Wow was this treatment powerful. At the time I was having problems with my hips and found it painful to walk also my energy levels were at an all time low as I was taking life and other people far too personally and this was emotionally draining me. During the course of the research each treatment made an enormous difference and by the end I no longer felt that this was going to be my life from hereon in. I was pain free and more vital than had ever previously been. That was at least 10 years or more ago. I have continued to have regular Connective Tissue sessions since then and at 59 feel fabulously pain free even though I had been in a near fatal car accident in my 20’s and was told that I would suffer from osteoarthritis as I aged.
Thank you Kate for your dedication to Connective Tissue Therapy.
I am always amazed after a Connective Tissue session how such a gentle and non imposing therapy can be so powerful.
I feel such a deep stillness and am able to totally surrender to it…
Time and time again I am absolutely amazed by our bodies and what we continue to discover about them. Thank you Kate for listening to what you felt within you as a practitioner and looking for greater depth and also listening to our bodies and sharing what you have learnt from them and bringing us the tools as to how to listen and feel more deeply too.
It is quite something the way the head thinks it should run the body. As a patient of many forms of medical and alternate therapies I would over-ride what my body was feeling. I would think that the practitioner knew better and what I was doing should help the problem. Not till I met the first esoteric practitioner did I start to be supported to listen to my body and not just try and fix the problem.
All I can say is THANK YOU Kate for persevering to know that there is another way. I have experienced a few Connective Tissue sessions and have been completely blown away about how simple it can appear and how deeply profound and relaxing the treatment is. And I loved your comment – “It seemed like my body had its own sensor system to any sensation that was not gentle”. The body is super cool heh!
Connective Tissue Therapy is mind blowing. Such a subtle movement can have such profound healing effects on the body and bring vitality and wellness in all areas. Thank you Kate Greenaway and Serge Benhayon, connective tissue therapy has been incredibly transformational and supportive for me, and many others that I know.
Hi Kate thank you for clearly sharing your years of experience and expertise with us. I can vouch for the way you work to be so supportive, non invasive and healing on the body. What stood out for me was “I looked at what I was bringing to my clients if my body was hard from physical or emotional strain. I started living more of what Universal Medicine was presenting – that being gentle and more self-loving in the way we move and in everything that we do enhances our bodies’ natural vitality, and it is that which we bring to our family, friends, colleagues and clients.” – this is true.
The connective tissue sessions I have had with you Kate, and other practitioners, have really supported me to make a deeper connection to my body, so that I am much more aware of how my body is feeling and when I need to be more gentle with whatever I am doing. The deep stillness that I experience in sessions feels so healing and restorative, and I now understand how intelligent the body is, and not to override it, but respect and nurture it. Thank you for your dedication to your profession and to true healing.
Wonderful to read your story from starting with physio and gradually allowing the body and its intelligence more and more within your practice. I have followed the Connective Tissue courses as you described and have experienced that indeed the gentler the movement, the more the body can release and restore itself/its natural rhythm.
The biggest realisation I had with that was that if I am hard within myself then that is part of my movements, so it affects the client. So yes, my livingness on a daily basis is very important. This is not taught in school/universities. We should listen more to our bodies, then it would automatically become part of the curriculum.
Thank you Kate for all that you share with Connective Tissue Therapy. As one amongst many who experience and practise CCT, the benefits are so supportive to total well-being beyond any doubt. The body certainly knows how to respond with the gentleness of how CTT is done.
Kate I am glad that you have dedicated your career to finding a more holistic and natural way for the body to heal. “Allowing the intelligence of the body to restore balance and harmony” – It’s the paradigm shift that has been missing in bodywork. I’m glad you found it. It works for me. And by the look of the studies conducted it is working great for others as well.
Bernard, may I attest to the truth of what you say here, “allowing the intelligence of the body to restore balance and harmony” is “the paradigm shift that has been missing in bodywork”. It can be somewhat surprising that a modality that is so gentle, almost imperceptable at times, can have such a profound effect on the body. Thank you Kate for your dedication to this modality which has supported so many.
Hey Kate, if the connective tissue is a bit like a mouth piece which says to the body ‘hey guys this is what is going on out here and it’s coming your way (inwards)’ is it also a mouthpiece the other way, e.g.’hey Universe everything is mighty swell in here and it’s coming your way (outwards)?.
A wonderful reminder for us ”… being more gentle and more self-loving in the way we move and in everything we do enhances our bodies natural vitality, and it is that which we bring to our family, friends, colleagues and clients.” – Beautiful.
Thank you Kate for writing this article. I can really appreciate how powerful the Connective Tissue Therapy is in its non imposing and very gentle approach to healing the body.
“The false intelligence is what the head pushes the body to do – ignoring how the body is feeling.” – wow I love how you phrased that big truth Kate. Awesome blog
I have benefited from many sessions of Connective Tissue Therapy with Kate and others, and attended classes on exercises or movements that can support us to connect with the body intelligence. They are now part of my routine. Thank you Kate.
Thank you Kate for sharing your journey as it greatly supports the understanding of the body’s intelligence that you outline so clearly in a way that makes it understandable for the lay person.
Thank you Kate for sharing this. Bringing responsibility to the practitioner for the quality they bring to a session is very powerful. This is a higher level of quality and regard than what is required in most medical practices. Listening to the body as the marker of truth is equally powerful.
I love what you say, Kate, about: “It is also when the practitioner’s head directs the client’s treatment to “fix the problem”, rather than feeling from the client’s body what is needed”. What a beautiful & empowering way for clients to be met – the practitioner is not there to ‘fix’ them, but rather to facilitate healing what needs to be healed – to heal what their body needs.
It’s so good to receive a treatment that is so unimposing. Where my own body is allowed to present it’s own needs for healing.
Thanks Kate for your article , but truly thankyou for your commitment to connective tissue work, this modality is absolutely heavenly sent and passed on through Serge Benhayon in service to humanity and wow what Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy offers.
A great article Kate, thank you. I liked hearing how your understanding of the body grew and with that how your technique and approach developed.
‘Our body is always truthful if we listen to it, and it is our own unit of science.’ Inspiring sharing Kate and now I’m off to work with my own science unit. This awareness has made my day already!
Awesome Kate. How you cared for your body and took notice of what it needed and was sharing with you, is so inspiring and something that would so support practitioners of any modality while in training. Not only for themselves but how that then helps them better support clients.
I have experienced Connective Tissue Therapy and love how gentle it is and so powerful, with not only physical conditions but how clearly I can feel the effects that my emotions and holding on to issues have on my body.
Great article Kate, so interesting to hear your history and how your connection to your own body was already leading you to the truth that Serge Benhayon was able to help you deepen. I have had connective tissue therapy from a number of different practitioners and have always been fascinated how the almost imperceptible rhythmic movements promote such a deep letting go.
Connective Tissue treatment has been wonderfully effective to healing my leg, tendons and muscles after experiencing a severe twist fracture. Having received several types of physiotherapy or modalities, I have to say Connective Tissue was the most supportive and lasting.
I have had many connective tissue treatments from a number of different practitioners and they are an awesome healing modality
Thank you Kate for your article, I absolutely love Connective Tissue sessions . I have a beautiful feeling of gentle harmony when doing them each morning .
I loved reading your blog Kate. I have had many connective tissue sessions with other practitioners but I feel it is time to have one with you.
Just reading your blog Kate, my body started to move and adjust the way it wanted to sit. I could feel how controlling I had been over my body and then gentler and more allowing with my body as I kept reading and it kept gently moving.
This has been a most intriguing read and very confirming of what you write about your sessions becoming increasingly effective as you increase your own gentleness. I have been benefiting from your Connective Tissue (CT) sessions for many years Kate, but the effect your gentle CT has on my CT through your writing is a whole other level of cellular interaction. It makes me wonder if we are, as they say – all one. That we are somehow energetically connected through our connective tissue.
I have had many connective tissue sessions with Kate in recent times that have really supported me in so many ways, especially the exercises that are gentle but effective. Thank you Kate, I receive so much from my sessions with you.
I was one of those people who sought out quite physical therapies as a way to help my body heal – returning home feeling battered and bruised and quite disorientated often resorting to going to bed several hours afterwards. In some cases I arrived for a treatment and I could feel that the therapist themselves was in a worse state than me!!!! Since attending healing sessions with the esoteric practitioners – From day one of my first session my body was picking up a stillness and this was just waiting my turn for the practitioner to call me in. I could just be still to be with me – the gentleness of my session, the attention to fine detail, warmth, no pushing, no pressing hard on my body an allowing – and so much more. Thank you Kate for this beautiful article – your presentation you gave in the UK as an introduction to the work you were doing with Connective Tissue really inspired me and I sure many others.
Connective tissue therapy is such a different way to work with the body, respecting and working with it’s natural intelligence and ability to heal. There is no imposition from the practitioner or the technique and the client is able to feel the magic of their own body as it releases tension and becomes more fluid again.
Beautiful, Kate. I have enjoyed reading how you have sought to understand the body in such a way that you always felt was possible, and from understanding more about how your own body works and feels. Our body is indeed incredibly intelligent and able to tell us so much.
Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy is the most powerful modality I have ever received. There is nothing more exquisite than being with a practitioner who is tender with your body, and who doesn’t come at you with that “I know best, this is how you should be” feeling. In a Connective Tissue session, I melt, and I come away knowing myself more deeply, and with a greater appreciation that I am made of very delicate stuff.
Having had scoliosis and being diagnosed a few years ago with osteoarthritis in my neck and spine, I’ve tried different modalities to ease the pain – deep tissue and lots of other forms of massage, chiropractic, Bowen therapy and others that I can’t spell!
Getting hooked on pain killers at 49 didn’t appeal to me and thanks to Connective Tissue therapy, exercises prescribed by Practitioners of Universal Medicine therapies and the teachings of Universal Medicine, I haven’t had to.
Connective Tissue is my favourite hands on healing modality and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Kate this is a wonderfully beautiful way in describing all the different modalities you studied/practised and arriving at Connective Tissue therapy, which is a technique I absolutely love for its simple profoundness in healing. “The body speaks louder than words.” Indeed, it speaks truth, as you write it, Kate.
“It is also when the practitioner’s head directs the client’s treatment to “fix the problem”, rather than feeling from the client’s body what is needed.” What a great new perspective to have!
It’s interesting to hear your story of investigations and trials of various techniques. I have experienced the connective tissue therapy that you practice now to be very powerful through its gentle, subtle movements. It allows my body to readjust at a cellular level to release old patterns and become more free and flowing in my movement, thus becoming less rigid in my body and my way of being.
Just in reading your great blog Kate, I can feel the tenderness and delicateness of your natural being. I too feel as though I have just had a connective tissue session. Thank you for the wonderful article on connective tissue which I have experienced and now understand.
I have the same feeling Rachel: By receiving an Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy Session I feel surrendering into my innocent body again. Wonderful.
There is something in what Kate writes above, about how we can treat the body without imposing on it and allow the power of healing to occur from within, which strikes me as the key to true healing. The simple very gentle movements one witnesses in Connective Tissue Therapy, can easily draw comment -“how can that have any affect on the body and on healing”? Yet that is the point, it is so subtle that it does just enough to get the body to become more sensitive to any disharmony or blockage held within it, and begin to initiate its own healing. This healing comes from re-establishing a rhythm of pulse within itself to return to harmony and that kind of healing lasts way longer than an outside influence making a more course physical adjustment to the body. I have understood that our bodies when given the chance will initiate self healing and Connective Tissue Therapy is one of several Esoteric therapies presented by Universal Medicine that provide that chance.
Thanks Kate your summary of connective tissue and how it bridges us is one I now understand – I have felt it, but now I can better understand it. Your study based on pain management is a highlight. The drugs used to manage pain have such deleterious side effects – when human touch can deliver so much to more to deeply assist and arrest the pain. Thanks again
It is already healing to feel in your words the deep respect and love you have for the body and for people. Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy truly allows the person, the body to be and then to become even more of itself – in presence, in quality, in lightness and fluidity. For sure it is one of the most tender healing modalities that at the same time effortlessly touches the body and being to its deepest layers.
Great article, thank you Kate. I love connective tissue therapy and have experienced first hand the depth of connection and flow this modality supports my body to drop into. To feel how naturally fluid and harmonious our bodies are is an absolute gift and I am deeply appreciative of this modality and the esoteric practitioners who provide this true support.
I have never wanted to have treatments that force, manipulate or push the body. I have had many Esoteric Connective Tissue sessions and connected deeply to the inner pulse of my body via the flow of the connective tissue. Kate Greenaway understands the inner working of the body and is an exceptional physiotherapist. I highly recommend her.
Thanks Kate for your article and your explanation of how connective tissue works, this makes a lot of sense. I have also had first hand experience of its ability to release tension and patterns of holding hardness in the body.
You are always the true professional and hold a massive amount of knowledge, practice, love and care in your choosing fields of healing modalities.
Keep up the great work
I love your level of responsibility in practising techniques on yourself before applying them to patients and how you feel what each body needs, rather than following a set treatment for all individuals.
It makes perfect sense that a practitioner can bring more healing to a session by being deeply caring for themselves. Not enough credence is given to our body’s innate intelligence and ability to heal itself through touch. It would therefore also make sense that a gentle touch would initiate a greater healing in a body than that from a practitioner who was not as aware of their own body, and thus not as gentle. Connective tissue therapy is a great example of the effectiveness of the less (pressure) is more approach to treating the body, as I have experienced first hand, a deeply profound modality.
Great you bringing attention to the importance of what the practitioner brings to the session. One that holds awareness of their own body and honours its intelligence in their daily life, is much more able to feel what the body they are working with needs and offer exactly that.
I love what you have said with: “Our body is always truthful if we listen to it, and it is our own unit of science”…the gentleness of the techniques of Connective Tissue Therapy are palpable in the way that you talk about them – thank you Kate for another amazing article.
Awesome article Kate, Connective Tissue Therapy is quite simply divine and supports the human body and being as a whole. My entire body absolutely loves the deep sense of stillness and harmony I feel during and after each session. It is truly an amazing modality and can bring much to humanity.
Connective Tissue is such a gentle and supportive therapy and having worked with Kate and other Universal Medicine practioners with this therapy I can say that it has been truly life changing.
Excellent explanation of what connective tissue is.
“a bridge between the body’s physical nature and its energetic nature.”
Very insightful thank you.
Kate I can feel the deep level of care and how much that cherishes those you treat.
What is really fascinating Kate is how very gentle this therapy is. I have both received and practised this therapy and the power is incredible. At times you can barely feel the practitioner moving their hands, yet the body just deeply relaxes and you can feel the flow of energy through the body. Clients often expect ‘more’ the first time, but by the end of the treatment have realised that they have experienced something quite magical.
I so agree Matthew – it really does feel magical to feel the body so expanded, free, light and still after a Connective Tissue Therapy session. I love all the Universal Medicine therapy modalities, however this modality is especially effective for me as the antedote for hardness & tightness in the body. Once re-connected with the flow of my love, all is well.
so true Kate, the more I treat my body in a gentle and loving way the easier it is to feel the areas of tension and disharmony in clients and as for the connective tissue healing modality nothing short of pure liquid love….
The changes in my body after working with Kate Greenaway are amazing. I had tried, Kinesiology, Acupuncture, osteopath and the list goes on, to try and get some relief from my shoulders and migraines. Through working with Kate and attending the workshops of Universal Medicine, I have now been able to implement the changes my body requires. This has made such a difference, I am no longer getting regular head aches and migraines and I feel the tension in my shoulders finally has lifted. My sleep is more restful and I am not as quick to flick into moods as a result of I living in pain.
Thanks Kate, I have personally benefited from Connective Tissue Therapy. For years I was a dedicated hockey player. Periodically I would experience lower back problems. I used to see a physician regularly who had a great reputation for getting athletes back up and running, and his knowledge of what was going on in the body was amazing. However, always he used considerable force to “fix” my body, and it did yield amazing short term results. My body, however, would always soon revert back to its injured state, and I could feel my body’s resistance to the changes he was trying to enforce upon it.
Then, one day I had a session with Serge Benhayon and told him on the side that my lower back was very sore and I felt like one leg was almost longer than the other. He said he could tell I was not right by the way I was walking. As I lay on the table, he ever so gently placed one hand on either hip, and moved his hands gently anti-clockwise for no more than a minute. I could feel in the session my hips realign just from this gentle “massage”, for at best that is all that is was. We talked about how I was pushing my body more than it liked, and how I was pushing it whilst I was exhausted. I walked out of there with absolutely no pain and did not have lower back pain for some months afterwards – true healing.
An inspiring story Adam – from sports hardness to a tender man through your ‘felt’ choices.
Having experienced Connective Tissue Therapy sessions with Kate and other Universal Medicine practitioners over the last few years, I can say without any doubt, that this healing modality is truly amazing, and for me definitely life-changing. Previous to experiencing this very gentle therapy I had spent nearly 40 years suffering from the debilitating effects of sciatica and had tried every modality available to “fix it”; and fixed it would be, for a while and then it would return. These days I experience only a very few episodes of the pain, and when I do I take the time to look at how I have been living and treating my body over the previous few days – and there is always a reason why the pain has returned. I do very simple exercises that Kate has given me, every night and morning, and I can feel the gentle effects in my body immediately. I now honour my body’s true intelligence and in turn it honours me back.
That’s awesome Kate! I find it so fascinating. I especially love reading posts by medical professionals who are combining their study knowledge with their own known knowledge that comes from within. It’s bringing it down to basics and reminding us that if we just connect to our body and not treat it like it’s something we put on a clothes hanger at night, then we may just know what to do with it when it’s crying for help.
Fascinating to read about the way in which you discovered the true healing potential of connective tissue therapy and the stages of unfolding from your original training that got you there. Your integrity around the quality you bring to your clients and the responsibility you take for your own self-care which in turn benefits them is truly inspiring and sets a new standard for healthcare provision.
Thank you Kate. As a physiotherapist I too work with Connective Tissue Therapy. It is a wonderful truly healing modality and as a physiotherapist it is amazing to have a modality I can practice that does not impose on the body.
Kate, this so resonates with me both personally and professionally. I work with older people in the community and probably about two thirds of the clients I see have chronic pain issues. It would be beautiful to be able to offer them true healing which supports the body, such as Connective Tissue Therapy rather than the many drugs they are taking. In the medical profession we are so intent on fixing the problem which often we do not achieve, rather than working with the client to understand what their body may be truly telling them. I am not a trained Connective Tissue practitioner but have had several sessions and feel very committed to ensuring that I am as connected and harmonious as possible when visiting them. Your article has inspired me to do the next Connective Tissue training course.
I absolutely love receiving a Connective Tissue treatment. It always supports me to return to my natural gentleness showing me how hard I have been driving myself.
“Our body is always truthful if we listen to it, and it is our own unit of science”. This is so very true and I find that moments of stillness are conducive to my feeling and listening, in contrast when I rush around, and override my body, I notice my body has hardened and it is more difficult to feel and listen (other than ouch you are hurting me!). Connective tissue therapy is so beautifully supportive with this. Thank you Kate for your part in us having this awesome modality.
“The body is always truthful if we listen to it”, and the Connective Tissue Research Programme has confirmed what we know to be true. Connective Tissue Therapy is transforming the future of physiotherapy.
Having just read this article, I feel as though I have had a Connective Tissue Therapy session. In complete contrast to when I would visit the chiropractor and my body jarred in all sorts of positions to get a manipulation, ouch!
I love your clear and beautiful sharing, Kate. Great how you share the importance of taking care of ourselves first before we can take care of another. Yes you/we have to walk the talk. And you do.
I love how you describe connective tissue as: ‘Essentially, the connective tissue is like a bridge between the body’s physical nature and its energetic nature.’
I am a big fan of connective tissue myself. Two years ago I did a connective tissue therapy course. I started with a frozen shoulder and at the end of the course it was gone. The tender deep surrendering in myself is so deeply healing and so great to feel the spaciousness in my body.
Great!
Kate you have an amazing understanding and passion for understanding the human body. I have had a connective tissue session with you and the sensitivity and understanding that you communicated to me supported me to let go, come out of my head and connect to my body. I felt so confident and open after that session and subsequently when I have had esoteric connective tissue sessions with other esoteric healing practitioners the sessions have supported me to feel how tender and sensitive I am and that because I have not treated myself and my body in honour of this tension mounts up in my body in the form of stiffness, aches and pains, headaches and menstrual problems.
Kate how great that with Connective Tissue Therapy we have been introduced to ‘being gentle and more self-loving in the way we move and in everything that we do enhances our bodies’ natural vitality, and it is that which we bring to our family, friends, colleagues’
It’s not just that we benefit (that in itself is brilliant) it’s that those around us do too.
I certainly find my body contains so much wisdom, it just requires that I allow it to show this to me. That is the challenging part, not overriding all the wonderful tells that it offers.
Yes Stephen, what you have said very much echoes my own experience, more listening to the body than the mind required for me!
Totally agree Kate. I also practice Connective Tissue Therapy as a Physiotherapist and can say that it is indeed an amazing modality that heals on such a deep level without putting stress or strain on the body of the patient or the practitioner. What if healing was about tenderness and openness and surrender rather than pushing and forcing and dictating to the body?
So true Andrew. I have recently been referred for Physiotherapy at my local hospital. The practitioner is gentle and supportive but how much more could be offered to the general public if Connective Tissue Therapy became part of what the NHS could offer. To have the awareness of this amazing modality could literally change people’s lives.
Connective Tissue is indeed an incredible modality, it is so gentle, yet profound in its beneficial effects on our body.
I love how Kate observes what works and does not, this is science.
I thoroughly recommend Kate from personal experience as an awesome practitioner and the modality Connective Tissue, a true gift from heaven.
I agree, Connective Tissue is so gentle and supportive, yet deeply profound, and I have found it helps me to gain a deeper connection in my own body, to hear more clearly what it is asking of me.
I have just returned from a course with Universal Medicine on connective tissue, and Wow! Wow! Wow! I came away with a new body. From the very first technique it blew me away. I highly recommend this treatment to everyone especially if you experience pain in your body.
I have really enjoyed re-reading this article this morning Kate. Your understanding of the body, through working with yourself first and then living in a way as led by your body, brings a deep quality of care and nurturing to your patients.
Absolutely, wouldn’t it be amazing if all practitioners in conventional medicine actually practiced from their own lived wisdom first rather than the textbook…although the textbook is good at what it does. As Kate expresses here there is just so much more understanding to the truth the body tells us when you take the time to understand your own body first as the greatest marker of truth there is.
Exactly Phill, I remember seeing well respected practitioners that talked from the textbook but had no real relationship to the clients body. Everything was mechanical – with Acupuncture for example the practitioner would use tape measures and pens to draw on my body where to needle instead of using feeling and trust. He had spent many many years practicing yet treated every “body” the same – without feeling what the body in front of him was presenting. Completely different to how Kate has shared she works, something I’ve felt in sessions with her.
I agree Stephanie, What a deeply healing quality Kate brings to her clients. It is very inspiring how Kate listened to and learnt so much from her body.
This article is like a walk through your discovery of what you already knew but only found when you could see it again. If that makes sense, it’s like you always knew there was another way to help support and heal the body and it was once you saw and felt it from Serge Benhayon that you knew this was it. This is how the body works and heals itself. It is a remarkable yet totally normal experience!
It makes so much sense to me that our body has its own true intelligence that is always ready to restore harmony. And what a gift to have the esoteric connective tissue modality to support this so deeply.
“Our body is always truthful if we listen to it, and it is our own unit of science.” So very true Kate too many modalities impose on the body what it should do rather than allowing the client to truly listen to what the body needs. Thank you Kate your integrity and love for humanity stands out.
It’s great, Kate, how sensitive you have always been, which shows you have always felt the connection to yourself with an awareness not to harm your clients. The connective tissue techniques I have had so far are so gentle, but powerfully strong in the body. I love how quickly the stillness s returns in my body with this modality. There’s no more to say, I just love it!
Kate – what really stuck out here for me was how you discovered the responsibility you have as a practitioner. And how becoming more harmonious in your body supported your clients. That is a new way of what one can offer their clients, no matter what the line of work!
I enjoyed reading your blog again, Kate. You finish with, “There is a lot of truth to the old saying, ‘the body speaks louder than words’.” It really does doesn’t it? If we learn how to listen. Its quite incredible how the body does speak so loudly and yet I used to ignore what it was saying. Connective Tissue Therapy is such a supportive modality that allows me to come back to stillness and feel the harmony in my body. Any choice I make thereafter which doesn’t align to this feeling screams out at me!
Kate, your integrity as a practitioner of true healing is astounding, and the commitment to being open and learning what is the most gentle approach to this by feeling and trusting what your body and your client’s bodies are telling you is the way forward in the truest sense of what Science really is and will be based on in the future. I have personally had amazing sessions with you and been able to feel my body more than any other time in my life, especially after abusing and numbing it with competitive sports. Thank you for sharing the effectiveness of this unique healing modality.
Dear Kate, thank you for this beautifully simple account of your unfolding as a practitioner and the development of Connective Tissue Therapy with Serge Benhayon. I have always joked with you, Kate, that this treatment is “God’s work”, because (like nothing else) it re-connects us deeply to the stillness and harmony of what is within us and where we come from. And once this flow is re-established, it is magical how the hardness and tension then releases, even if we have abused our bodies for a long time. Your work is deeply inspiring, Kate, and thank you for all your support over the years.
I have started to feel how my body responds to harsh and rough movements by becoming tense and constricted. At the same time I feel that when I choose to move my body more gently it responds by not tensing but opening up and allowing for greater movement. Could this be telling me that the body knows how it wants to move? and by restricting the movement it is telling me it doesn’t want to move roughly?
Thank you Kate for your article… I can’t wait till November in the UK for the Connective tissue Workshop, just to confirm how amazing we all are.
I have felt the benefits of connective tissue therapy. My body is encouraged to get back to its natural gentleness and flow. It makes me more aware of my body and I can now recognize when I start to tense up.
Kate, it is a joy to read your words. I was a bodyworker for many years and also felt that there had to be another way other than the mechanical methods I had been taught. My work got more and more gentle over the years as I could feel how people’s bodies responded to this. Connective Tissue Therapy is the modality I always knew must exist. It makes so much sense and feels so true and it is so honouring of the body…and so gentle. My body absolutely loves it.
Great blog Kate about such an important and prevalent topic. As a Physiotherapist myself I have observed too that many traditional approaches of treating physical problems seem actually more traumatic to the body and provide short term relief only. I have also found like yourself that by approaching my work in a much more subtle and gentle way that actually the level and sensitivity in my assessment of the problem and the depth of healing that I can support have in increased significantly. Connective tissue therapy is definitely something that should be studied more.
I love this blog Kate. I love the fact that you always knew that there had to be another way and that you got to find it through Serge Benhayon. I also love how you clearly explain that most practitioners tell their client’s bodies what they should be doing rather than listening to what those bodies are telling them, and I love how you have shared the power of connective tissue therapy and how so non imposing it is; simply offering the body to restore itself naturally should the client allow him/herself to let go.
I really enjoyed your blog, Kate. I don’t have a science background, or much knowledge of the taught sciences about the body, but I do know how I feel after having regular physiotherapy and connective tissue therapy. Regular physiotherapy hurts and can be quite rough. After connective tissue therapy I feel so supported, my body opens and softens and emotionally I feel calm and still.
Thank you Kate for this fascinating and informative read giving understanding to how connective tissue treatments works. I have found it to be very powerful and supportive.
This is a great article Kate, it is interesting and inspiring to read your experience of different treatments that you tried and the result these had on your body. It feels lovely that it is your body that is the marker of what feels true or not for you, so simple and as you say ‘There is a lot of truth to the old saying, the body speaks louder than words’.
I was first introduced to Kate Greenaway over 10 years ago – I was referred to her as a Physiotherapist to help treat my back pain, one of a number over the years that have tried to help fix an old sports injury.
It quickly became apparent that what was being offered, through the gentle connective tissue therapy that she was developing at the time, as well as bringing my attention back to how I was living, was a very different approach. The effects of the treatment was life changing for me. The healing from the treatments was profound, and I have learned to live in a way that supports my back by gaining a true understanding of my body and learning to listen to it.
Its great to read this article to understand better the roots of her discoveries, and some of the underlying principles of the treatment. Thanks Kate.
HI Kate, thanks for sharing your blog. I too have always found Connective Tissue an amazing therapy and incredibly gentle on the body. I have found them to be a profound reminder of how tender and precious our bodies are and its rhythms.
Thank you Kate I have always found your sessions an amazing support in my healing and the joy of connective tissue therapy is beautiful to feel in my body and something I really relate and respond to enormously.
Thank you for all your sharing.
Dear Kate, I loved reading how your work and understanding/connection developed and how with the support of Serge and Universal Medicine you were able to further develop your own connection and feel more fully the truth that the body speaks. I have experienced the connective tissue therapy and it is the most deeply healing experience.
Kate, your article is a joy and a healing to read. Connective Tissue Therapy is a tender deeply healing experience. Not only in receiving a treatment but also as I practice giving a Connective Tissue Therapy session I can feel that I also am healing.
Thank you deeply Kate Greenaway for sharing your truth which is very inspiring.
I recall having a knee problem for over 10 years and in one hour you not only gave me a deep understanding, but you gave me some simple exercises to do and I have to say, I was a bit surprised how quick things changed and today I no longer have a knee problem.
Your connective tissue therapy really does work and is so subtle yet so powerfull.
Thank God we got you Kate G in this world !
Thank you Kate, I like many others have experienced true healing from your treatments and I have found Connective Tissue Therapy to be a profoundly deep healing experience.
I love this, thank you Kate. I have always used the phrase, ‘the body speaks louder than words’. I am amazed with the connective tissue modality, learning it with Kate Greenaway and Serge Benhayon, practising it, and receiving it. As Jonathan says, it’s so powerful and profound.
From my own research, from my own experience … Connective Tissue Therapy is an amazing modality and I feel honoured to have learnt this with Kate Greenaway and Serge Benhayon.
Awesome Kate! I have experienced connective tissue therapy and each time it has supported me to let go physically and emotionally.
Yes that’s true Shevon. Not only does the body let go during connective tissue therapy, but there is also an emotional letting go I have experienced. It is a deeply healing therapy on so many levels.
Thank you Kate for sharing your journey, unfoldment and so clearly outlining the principles of the Connective Tissue Therapy. It is a truly gentle, loving modality yet at the same time powerful and and profound. Having practiced kinesiology and remedial massage for 18 years discovering Serge Benhayon, the teachings of Universal Medicine and Connective Tissue Therapy was, and is a constant unfolding revelation in so many ways.
Thank you Kate for sharing. Having had treatments from you for my knee I know the work you do is amazingly powerful
So beautiful, thank you Kate. I’m in awe of your dedication and commitment to humanity. Connective Tissue Therapy is indeed a remarkable modality.
Thanks Kate for sharing your experience of work as a physiotherapist, and how it has unfolded.
I have to agree with ‘ Connective Tissue Therapy is unlike any other therapy I have experienced. It supports the body to deeply relax and let go of any tension and holding with a gentle rhythmical motion. You can feel this from your feet up through your body, or from your head down through your body,’ it is simply divine.
Thank you Kate, through your writing in this piece I feel inspired and more aware of the connective tissue in my body and of how the connective tissue works in all our bodies.
Absolutely Fantastic. Very clear, informative, easy to read and understand.
I absolutely agree with you Doug – another part of Kate’s awesomeness is her playfulness and infectious laugh.
Reblogged this on My Blog.
I remember some years ago, after much inner resistance between what I felt was true and what I clung to as an identity, I set aside my Yoga practise and hung up my bicycles after nearly 20 years of hardcore daily commuting. My body began to reveal what my supposedly ‘healthy’ exercise had been burying – excruciating lower back pain. I saw Kate initially out of desperation, asking her on a number of occasions ‘When will the pain stop?’ and ‘Will it ever stop?’ She was not perturbed at all by my desperation and with a knowing but deeply humble and understanding response, she supported me to in turn understand that my body was unfolding, unwinding and releasing the years and years of hardening and I can now say ‘abuse’ I subjected my body to, all in name of good health. Those sessions with Kate supported me through a year and a half of pain, her integrity was palpable and as a result I trusted her. She didn’t try to fix me, nor relieve me of the pain to make me feel better in the short term. She stuck with me and I stuck with her and then, in time, the pain diminished and left. There’s been no back pain since and all that I have learned from Kate, Serge and the Universal Medicine team has continued to be a deepening reclaiming of a knowing within me.
This is amazing to read Sara and feel what you and your body has gone through in this time, incredible really and knowing you now you would not think that you are the same person as before. Very inspiring.
Thanks Kate, the evolving nature of your healing and research work is inspiring and I am looking forward to experiencing the Connective Tissue Therapy for myself!
It is true what you say: the more you connect or pay respect to your own body (as opposed the head wanting to push the body), the more you are able to feel the body’s areas of stress or tension and can then make a choice to not repeat that activity consciously/physically releasing or dropping hunched shoulders for instance…(as I am well aware for myself!)
Having a practitioner who is also able to feel the body’s true intelligence as you do, allows for a deepening awareness of the body and therefore action/movement towards natural vitality. How amazing.
Is there anything more that could be asked of a ‘true practitioner’? One who has always been willing to ‘not just do’, but feel and assess the consequences of any action, both for clients/patients and also in her own body?
Your work is deeply inspiring, Kate – as is the path that has led you to develop something so deeply respectful of others, in the knowing of the body’s “true intelligence”. Having experienced your work, and the hardness (& so much more besides..) that it’s assisted me to undo ‘to date'(!), I can only say it’s truly profound. And with this, that it’s my OWN ‘profoundness’ I’ve been able to feel.. from the profound realisations of what I’ve allowed in my life/body that hasn’t truly honoured me, to the profound knowing of myself as being so much more than this body, whilst coming to ever-deepening understandings of the physical at the same time.
Wow.. and Thank-you.
It was really beautiful to read about your unfoldment Kate. It is wonderful to see someone who has traditional education but has taken the knowledge to a new applied way of living and understanding human health and the body, starting with self. This is something the medical (and science) field could use more of 🙂 You have always been very inspiring to me, and you’re one of my role models. Thanks for sharing.
I agree Nykole, I love that Kate has been trained traditionally as a physiotherapist and then explored the possibilities that there is more to unfold, learn and offer patients that complements her existing physio teaching. The comments on this page would suggest that many people have benefited from this openness.
Thank you for expressing the depth of your work so simply. During these very gentle sessions with Kate, my body feels very much more open, vibrant and joy-full. A blessing to have Serge Benhayon inspiring so many to come back to feel, experience and let go through the body. Thank you Kate for your committment to deepening your own experience and sharing this.
Having received treatments from Kate I can attest to the fact that it is the most powerful healing experience from a place of such stillness. She is a inspiring practitioner and what comes across so clearly in her account of her developing practise is the integrity and no nonsense, down to earth practical application of her understanding of the body and her livingness.
simply expressed, that there is far more to our bodies than we realise, and, the deeper we go the more we realise…” the body had its own sense of how to restore itself to that natural balance”. Kate’s treatments so obviously work with each and every one of our bodies in a way that is unique to what we each need. The treatments I have had from Kate over the years have been very gentle and tender, yet profound.
I have had many awesome Connective Tissue Therapy (CTT) sessions with you Kate. I believe my body responds to these sessions in such a positive & instantaneous way because of all the physical demands I put on my body as an acrobat, personal trainer & yoga teacher for over 20 years, not to mention all the physical sports I played at school. The lovely and delicate expansiveness that I feel in my body after a session is such a contrast to the hardness that my body was so conditioned to. The more I actually experience the harmony within, the more it exposes how wrong & out of place the hardness is…and this inspires me to move and be more true to my natural expression. I love how I feel when I am more with my loveliness…and I have noticed that others do too.
So thanks for bringing this expression through & of course heartfelt thanks to Serge Benhayon & Universal Medicine for the inspiration!
Thank you Kate for explaining it so simply and so elegantly. A truly inspiring read especially for lay persons who may not have stopped to consider or to feel the effect that many widely accepted modalities are having on their bodies, much less consider the possibility that their body may have its own inbuilt intelligence. Having also experienced Connective Tissue Therapy I can second Anne Malatt’s comment above. With love, Anne McR.
I’ve had numerous treatments with Kate over the last few years for various aches and pains. A couple of years ago Kate treated me for a frozen shoulder which was expected to take many months to recover. From the gentle movements involved with Connective Tissue Therapy and the gentle rehabilitation exercises she prescribed, my shoulder was healed in six weeks (3 visits). Apart from the effectiveness of Kate’s treatments, the sessions feel wonderful…particularly cranio-sacral therapy. Of course by commenting here, now I run the risk of finding it more difficult to make an appointment with Kate next time the body starts creaking.
Thank you Kate for demonstrating ‘true science’ in your unfolding and development as a physiotherapist and esoteric healer.
A common catalyst in the emergence of ‘new’ disciplines is the use of simple observation. People make observations that are contrary or additional to existing theories, ideals and beliefs. This inquiry, this observation, is the the first beginnings of true science. Once something is observed, it is then open to testing and re-testing. The old ‘refute the hypothesis’ becomes the goal of any experiment. Indeed it is not the purpose of an experiment to prove what you want or know to be true, it is the goal to disprove it! Every attempt must be made to find other possibilities to what you think/feel may be happening (your hypothesis). Once you have made repeated observations which existing theories do not account for or explain, your hypothesis or idea stands… until another hypothesis forms that suggests otherwise (and is supported by repeated observation).
This ‘scientific process’ undertaken by Kate Greenaway allows for change and expansion – which reflects the true nature of the universe as we know it to be.
Kate showed such dedication in following and testing her observations, as well as the utmost responsibility in developing her healing practice. The end result of her scientific research and observation is the development of an amazing form of healing which builds on and expands current knowledge and understanding of energy and the human body.
I have had the personal experience of being the recipient of Kate’s gentle treatment and have found it to be deeply beneficial, both physically and emotionally. Last week Kate treated myself for pain in my lower and upper back and it has naturally realigned with her support, one thing I found really beneficial was how Kate offered myself the opportunity to reflect on what led me to injure my back, this is very self-impowering knowing I have the ability to support my body, thank you Kate
I agree with both Anne and Toni. Your work is fascinating and inspiring, especially how at the beginning as practioner you tried the techniques out on yourself and knew there was something missing. Thank you for your commitment and dedication in finding and developing a technique that truly supports the individual without imposing or forcing anything. It was really lovely to read how you explained connective tissue to be a “continuous river system of tissue that protected and supported the body.” I just wish I lived nearer to you so I could have a program of treatments as I know how supportive would be.
A fascinating and inspiring account of your work, Kate. Having experienced Connective Tissue Therapy, I can say that it is the loveliest form of bodywork, so gentle and yet profoundly healing. With love, Anne.