A Balanced Tension

The first instrument I learned to play was the cello. I recall that the first lesson was how to tighten the bow. The “horsehair” threads that are drawn across the metal strings need to be not too tight and not too loose. It wasn’t until later that we learned to tune the strings. The seasoned ear and hand of the music teacher helped keep the violins, violas, cellos, and basses in tune. I can attest that the sawing serenades of 5th grade novices inflicted both physical and sonic trauma to those instruments. However, the generous encouragement of parents and teachers taught compassion, patience, and to trust the reward of diligent practice.

All stringed instruments require a balanced tension within and across the body to resonate their sound. It is this state of balanced tension that characterizes how the central nervous system feels when it is adaptive and resilient. In chiropractic, we refer to this as tone. 

We often consider tension a bad thing, relating it to stress. Out of proportion and balance, it is. In proportion, it expresses balance, potential, and creative energy. 

Tone & Tension

The bony framework of the spine and cranium serves as the physical protector of the nervous system, but also as a regulator of tension. Tension placed on tissue will change its shape. Changes in shape can and will alter function. From cell membranes to capillaries (tiny blood vessels), eyeballs, muscles, and stomaches, the tension on all tissues and organs reflects how well they can move energy and information. Too much or too little tension leads to disorder, dysfunction, and dis-ease. This is why we recognize the vital and central role the neuroskeleton plays in health.

The nervous system is the means of communication between all of the denizens of the physical body, our knowledge of the world around us, our relationship to others, and our connection to Source. It sets the tone for how we (be/do/have) life. Chiropractic is founded upon the principle of tone and its practice supports the conscious and ecological expression of life.

Facing Breakdown

Sometimes your internet goes down for 5 days, the washing machine starts to leak, the dryer begins to burn clothes, and your primary electronic device sustains water damage that will take 1-3 weeks to repair. While these examples all reflect non-emergent challenges of modernity, they certainly interrupt the regular pace and flow of what may otherwise be very full days.

What both experience and the second law of thermodynamics tell us is that all (closed/individual) systems break down in the face of reality. Entropy is the tendency for all systems to move toward disorder. The clear exception to this is living systems. For a time, they oppose entropy, intelligently and persistently organizing the way energy is expressed through physical form. The intelligence of life is abundant and the energy available is everywhere. The two things that limit organization (and health) are matter and time.

The aim of chiropractic is to determine whether and where the nervous system is experiencing limitation in its ability to use energy to coordinate normal function in the matter of the body.

Dysfunction, dysregulation, dis-ease all reflect interference to innate coordination. When challenge presents, it’s worth reflecting on what practices, people, and communities we turn to. The extent to which they can contextualize challenge, bridge connection, help alleviate fear, and facilitate right relationship to stress, the better able we are to cultivate trust in our inner adaptive capacity.