http://www.polarityeducation.org/

Introduction to Polarity Bodywork

Randolph Stone (1890–1981) was trained in osteopathy, chiropractic, and naturopathy. After years of practice, he noticed that some people improved for a short time but did not stay well. This led him to study healing traditions from India, China, and Europe.

From this work, he developed Polarity Therapy, a system that looks at the body as both physical and energetic. In simple terms, Polarity Therapy teaches that health depends on good movement, good structure, and a balanced flow of life energy. Stone believed that Western medicine focused mainly on the physical body and often did not include this energetic side of health.

A basic idea in Polarity Therapy is that energy moves between three relationships: positive, neutral, and negative. These words do not mean good or bad. They describe how forces relate to each other.

In a simple way, the human skull  is often described as more positive, the middle of the torso as neutral, and the lower body as more negative. Energy is thought to move through these relationships, much like water flows from a higher place to a lower place and similar to electricity moving between two poles through a connecting circuit.

Practitioners use this model of relative relationship to areas of the body to facilitate balanced energetic flow, The goal of a bodywork session is for the person to experience oneness of the human condition.To experiencea life that is whole, integrated, not blocked, or strained.This facilitated healing process encourages reorganization, greater ease of flow, improved movement, greater flexability, harmony and a refined awareness.

Polarity History

Dr. Randolph Stone practiced medicine for over fifty years and because some of his clients did not maintain positive health outcomes after their treatment sessions, Dr Stone traveled throughout India, China and Eastern Europe during the 1930s, researching the Eastern forms of healing that had been practiced for thousands of years and continue to provide health in the non-western world. Dr Stone through studies of the ancient healing modalities identified one specific feature of Eastern medicine that is not taken into consideration as a therapeutic approach in Western medicine. Treating the whole person through the lense of energy theory and therapy is not a concept openly discussed and practiced in the Western health model. Dr Stone believed that the study of energy as a healing modality is key to obtaining and maintaining health in the ancient health models. Dr Stone discovered that "energy" what we call vitality or life force was a concept missing from Western healthcare medicine.

After approximately twelve trips researching Eastern healing methods, Dr Stone wrote seven books about his research which combined Eastern esoteric philosophy and Western medicine science. He decided to call this body of healing work Polarity Therapy. Dr Stones Polarity method is a very comprehensive collection of healing knowledge that looks at the body as an energetic being of light and how we as practitioners can facilitate the flow of light through the human body to promote greater states of health and well-being.

Dr Stone describes the human body as energy waves that present as magnetic fields of neutral, negative and positive potential. These energetic fields are integrated with the flows of energy waves from the world around us. As Doctor Stone would say "As Above So Below" referring once again to the theme that we are a microcosmic part of the macrocosmic universe.

One could say we live our lives through a breathing in and breathing out or a involution and evolutionary process. These natural energy flows of life force are connected to us during our life time and step down from the head through to the lower body via a matrix of energy patterns and waves the ancients called the Staff of Hermes or Caduceus.

The Caduceus is a colume of light that channels energy waves that decrease in frequency to energy centers near the spine which we call chakras. Each chakra represents a reduction of frequency or energy vibration that is appropriate for each organ system. Beginning with the throat (ether), descending to the heart and lungs (air), then digestive organs (fire), further descending to the creative organs (water) and finally to the elimination organs (earth). Each chakra is the neutral field along the Staff of Hermes and represent the core for each elements energy center or is often referred to as chakras.

If we were to look at how the body is integrated with energy fields, each part of the body is in relative relation with each other. What is lower towards the feet is considered negative, what is in the middle around the belly is neutral and what is higher toward the head is considered positive. Just like a tank of water that is held up high, the water in a big tank on the hill with the help of gravity can provide pressure through a pipe system to an end point in your residence. The out put of water through your residence and into your kitchen sink becomes the negative point. This begins a return through nature back to the big tank on the hill. This completes the cycle of an out flow of water by a positive force to a lower point of energy through a neutral ground leading back to the sky and more water for your house. But remember it is all relative.

To offer another analogy electricity flows from a car battery by connecting neutral cables to a positive and negative terminal on the car battery to the car engine. The battery cables supply energy to the car starter so the engine can take you for a ride. The energy from the connection at the poles supplies the car with electricity. The theme to remember here is that energy flows between two poles and through a neutral.

If we can assume that the human body has a  life force providing energy similar to electriicity can we assume there must be a positive, neutral and negative realtionship between two poles that flow though a neutral?  In order to get energy to flow, there must be a force that is greater and one that is lesser in order for there to be motion for without motion there is no life.

So the question I ask is where in our bodies is the positive field for each energetic chakra, where is the neutral for each chakra and where is the negative field?  Lets look at a chart presented by Dr Stone that lays out a desciption for each zone of the body and its relation to Astrology and the human birth process. Later we will look at a chart for each chakra and their associated attributes.

Here we begin to see that each chakra has a core or neutral and associated positive and negative pole that offer us a description that each chakra has a story offering attributes and color to a variety of fields that when open and clear promote greater health and well-being.

Polarity Therapeutic Bodywork

Theory and appplication of the Five Elements

Polarity Elemental Yoga 

Gentle Stretching and Postures

Polarity Counseling

Reflective Listening and Focusing

Polarity Diet and Nutrition

Dr Stones Health Building Diet

Cranial Therapy

Practitioner Skills

Bibligraphy

The Polarity Process by Franklyn Sills

Craniosacral Biodynamics by Franklyn Sills

Dancing with Yin & Yang by John Chitty

Life in Motion by Rollin Becker 

Chi NeiTsang by Master Mantak Chia

www.awakeningsholistic.com/thesis on self care

Focusing by Eugene T. Gendlin PH.D

The data below is from IPEA.org 

Polarity Therapy Standards

International Polarity Education Alliance

Polarity Therapy Open Source Standards[1]

 “For forty years I searched for a principle in the healing arts which would include all forms of therapy and act as a common denominator, an intelligent answer, to all the numerous contradictory theories and claims existing today.”

         Dr. Randolph Stone 

The Polarity Therapy Open Source Standards are guidelines for learning the energy principles of Polarity Therapy. Working with the standards does not give legal permission to diagnose, pre­scribe, treat or engage in a healing practice for any human illness or condition without qualifying in one’s local jurisdiction, obtaining a license or certification, if necessary. Each jurisdiction has widely varying laws concerning health care practices. One should consult one’s local association or attorney before providing health care services.

Foundations

I. The Polarity Therapy Open Source Standards are intended to support the application of Dr. Randolph Stone’s “Energy” principles into all fields of study, including health care, sci­ence, education, arts, martial arts, and sports. In addition, Polarity Therapy Open Source Standards are intended to support clarity and unity in the designing of Polarity Therapy educational curricula.

II. In Polarity Open Source Standards the primary focus is on understanding “Polarity Energy Principles,” and how these principles focus apply in a health care practice of any modality, and/or in the development of personal wellness outside of a professional practice environ­ment. This prioritization supports students, teachers, and practitioners in developing their own particular applications in addition to those already established in the field.

III. The fundamental premises of Polarity Therapy Open Source Standards about students, to guide educators:

   1. All students are curious by nature
   2. The most efficient, long-lasting, and profound learning takes place when started pursued by the learner.
   3. All students are creative if they are allowed to develop their unique talents.   

Introduction

Polarity Therapy, as defined by this document, is the specific application of Polarity Energy Principles to wellness and health care practices. The Energy concept provides a common language for understanding the subtle factors underlying health, wellness, as well as many other phenomena in human experience.

Polarity Therapy has three main components:

1. The first and primary component of Polarity Therapy is Universal Energy. The goal of Polarity Therapy is to increase congruence with natural energy flow patterns through an understanding of Universal Energy as the substrate of all phenomena.

2. The capacity to interact with Universal Energy and its effects through perceptual skills, recognition capacities, therapeutic strategies and wellness practices. The study of Polarity Therapy is a lifelong deepening of these skills, not a fixed destination.

3. The use of specific applications such as touch, nutrition, exercise, counseling, sound, dance, color and other wellness / health care systems, based on energy principles. In keeping with Dr. Stone’s approach, the application of energy principles is considered to be open-ended, not limited to a particular modality or style, and receptive to additional innovations and interpretations. Students and practitioners are encouraged to apply energy principles to diverse fields arising from Dr. Stone’s own material, from subsequent practitioners, from related areas of study and from their own life experiences.

Learning to work with universal energy principles is transformative, extending to all fields of action in life. The possibilities are endless, from supporting one’s own personal philosophy and sense of purpose, to how relationships are conducted, to sports performance, to behavior in vocational environments, to artistic expressions, and to understanding macro-level effects such as economics, politics and history. Students are encouraged to explore how energy principles inform whatever fields of action are of greatest interest to them. Dr. Stone described this universality of study with the phrase, “Old moves with a new emphasis.” In this sense, students can design their own education and apply the energy principles in their own chosen topics, customized for their particular area of excitement.

The Polarity student is encouraged to work with the Polarity Therapy Open Source Standards to discover the Polarity Energy Principles in any skill set they are excited about learning. Open Source means that the standards are interactive and support the ongoing understanding of Polarity Energy Principles through the diversity of sharing experiences, insights, and skills. Students are free to design their own education by their own excitement, and in the process, may choose to study with a teacher, read, research, compare, write, and do whatever motivates them to learn. They can then apply the Polarity Energy Principles to their chosen topic The International Polarity Educational Alliance empowers Open Source sharing in order that the members can make finer and finer distinctions of the Polarity Energy Principles in all aspects of their lives. By choosing to be a part of the International Polarity Educational Alliance and work with the Polarity Therapy Open Source Standards, teachers and students are making a commitment to enter a process that requires constant attention. The Polarity Energy Principles are always being learned through application. They are composed of ideals that are used as guiding lights for increased wellness, healing, growth, and personal development.

The International Polarity Educational Alliance is intended to support open development of Polarity Energy Principles and their applications. By choosing to participate in IPEA, students and teachers enter into this common intention to explore, discover and create increased wellness, growth, and personal development through the expansion and advancement of Dr. Stone’s Energy understanding.

©2010 John Beaulieu, N.D., Ph.D. [2]

[1] *The Polarity Therapy Open Source Standards are guidelines for learning the energy principles of Polarity Therapy. Working with the standards does not give legal permission to diagnose, prescribe, treat or engage in a healing practice for any human illness or condition without qualifying in your local jurisdiction, obtaining a license or certification, if necessary. Each country and jurisdictions within that country have different laws concerning the practice healing and health providing. You should consult your local association or attorney before you provide any services.

[2] The Polarity Therapy Open Source Standards document was written by Dr. John Beaulieu, N.D., Ph.D.. for the International Polarity Education Alliance. Dr. Beaulieu is a Past President of the American Polarity Therapy Association and a principal author of the American Polarity Therapy Association Standards for Practice and Education. He is the recipient of APTA’s Distinguished Service Award, Outstanding Service Award, and Educator of the Year Award for his contributions to the field of Polarity Therapy. He is the author of the Polarity Therapy Workbookand numerous articles on Polarity Therapy theory and practice.