Retracing – “Why Do I Feel Worse?”

Transformative Ch’i (TC) clients most often exhibit feelings of peace and relaxation after a TC session. Our intensive therapies can lead to increased energy and improved sleep. Health can begin to improve after one or two sessions even though the client may be unaware of initial internal improvements.

Sometimes, however, a client may experience discomfort after a session. This usually goes away within the next few sessions.

The discomfort could be due to the body detoxifying after therapy. As poisons exit the system; aches, pain, muscle cramps, diarrhea, constipation, discharges, odors, rashes, headaches, irritability or fatigue may be experienced. Emotional reactions may include feelings of anxiety, depression, fear or anger. This phenomenon is called Retracing.

During the retracing process clients sometimes feel as if they are actually getting worse when they are experiencing a major step of the healing process. Fortunately, the process usually moves through the body rather quickly so the discomfort factor is brief. The retracing phenomenon can be found in other therapies such as massage, chiropractic and osteopathic manipulative techniques (OMT). A parallel to retracing called the catharsis [from katharsismeaning “purification” or “cleansing”], has been recognized in the field of psychotherapy. There is much subject matter about retracing in texts on chiropractic, homeopathy, osteopathy, psychotherapy, et cetera.

Practitioners of Deep Tissue Massage, Rolfing, Shiatsu, Homeopathy and Energetic Medicines understand retracing as a natural part of the healing process. It is the re-experiencing or re-awakening of old pain and/or other manifestations. Retracing can affect memories on the physical, etheric [emotional], psychic [mind] and even spiritual planes. Retracing “reactions” are the body’s way to eliminate toxic substances, heal chronic infections and other metabolic (chemical and physical) changes. They are an essential feature of all true healing methods. In other modalities they are referred to as flare-ups, crises, healing reactions, the reversal process, aggravations or exacerbations.

At times, they are unpleasant and even frightening. The fact is, however, they are signs of healing. By experiencing a retracing reaction one can immediately know a particular therapy was producing healing at deep levels.

Are the reactions from retracing or from a worsening health condition?

Reactions are not always due to healing and may indicate a worsening of a health condition. This can occur when one is not following proper diet, lifestyle and other aspects of a complete healing regimen. They may also occur if one is terminally ill. In the chronically ill, reactions resolve slower as less energy is available for healing. An experienced therapist, trained in the processes of retracing, can help. The body’s innate healing power is great when properly nourished and supported.

Why retracing?

It seems that most of those involved in the allopathic medical field are unfamiliar with the process. Those who understand energetic medicine should know the difference between a worsening condition and the retracing process.

The process retraces or recalls traumatic legacies [memories] which may have lain dormant for months, or even years. Legacies are often genetic memories passed down from your predecessors. It could seem that you are becoming worse; when in fact you are retracing several stages through which your problem has progressed. This is a common condition to which almost all are subject. The trauma must be retraced, step-by-step, in order to reach the point from where it started.

In some conditions pressure on nerve fibers gradually increase over a period of time and cause the tissues to become aberrant. In order to rebuild themselves these tissues must be allowed enough time to return through the various stages they have passed. but remember that all is progressing as it should. It took time for a client’s condition to deviate from health to illness. Fortunately, it usually takes far less time to retrace from illness back to health.

Not only is there a retracing of tissue cell memory there is also a retracing in the client’s manifestations. There are many unanswered questions concerning retracing. The process seems more prominent with chiropractic and OMT [Osteopathic Manipulative Technique].

In an example of massage therapy the steps can be shown with a client who undergoes neck and shoulder pain. Neuromuscular therapy in which the attachment points of involved muscles, such as the levator scapula, is applied. The next day after therapy the client may feel as if those tissues have been bruised, This is due to trapped metabolic wastes that are now being released by the body.

This is the time when the client should continue with neuromuscular care, because the body has been put into a healing mode. The natural inclination of the body to heal itself is being stimulated. During retracing, wastes are being flushed from the body so the tissues may return to homeostasis. Clients should realize the necessity for continuing their neuromuscular sessions, even though they might not immediately see the progress made from day to day, or even if they believe the condition has become worse. It is essential for this period of retracing to be passed through, and the client should not allow any temporary discouragement to preclude the ultimate health which can be achieved if therapy is continued. It is immaterial whether the problem is one of long standing or an acute condition.

Every cell in the body has legacies – including tissue cells. These legacies recall traumas of all types – and include the physical, etheric, psychic and spiritual planes. Because of this broad spectrum, retracing can manifest in a number of different ways. It does not have to be dramatic, but can be as simple as the urge to take deep breaths during and after sessions. Remember that physical, emotional and psychic manifestations derived from retracing will leave as that phase of healing is completed.

A client can change emotionally as well as physically during intense therapeutic massage and other therapies. Those undergoing healing programs should be prepared for these shifts as the chemistry of their bodies improves with the eliminating of toxins which affect the brain and any improvements in the clarity of their thoughts.

Emotional toxins are feelings or beliefs that block healing. Some emotional toxins are linked to physical toxins and impaired body chemistry. An unhealthy body sends negative messages to the brain These include anger, fears, guilt, resentments, worries, feeling incompetent, stupid, ugly, unloved and/or unworthy. These can be every bit as toxic as pesticides or heavy metals.

Toxic metals can directly affect neurotransmitters and parts of the brain associated with anger, fear and other emotions. Iron, for example, is known to settle in the amygdala, an area of the brain associated with anger. As the body begins to purge the physical toxins the client’s emotional states will change. As health improves, the body begins to send positive messages to the brain. An emotional crisis may occur as it becomes more difficult to hold on to negative feelings and beliefs.

Energy is required to feel feelings, even to feel a depression. Once in a while a client might deny the feeling. Well into a healing program, a client may blame the therapist for causing pain, feelings of depression, or other manifestations experienced during the retracing process.

“As energetic, multi-dimensional beings our physical bodies were created so that we might experience this physical scope. It was intent that brought conscious-ness into motion. It is intent sparked by emotion that keeps this dimension changing and expanding.

“The Transformative Ch’i approach focuses on the whole multi-dimensional body by moving beyond the restrictive viewpoint of the human matrix.

“All behavioral and physiological patterns result from data stored, or encoded, as cellular memory. Every experience of this life and those of all our predecessors, are stored in our DNA. Multi-dimensional memories are also stored in DNA. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) transmits these memories (legacies) to our cells.

“Some behavior and physiological patterns can be expressed as key reflections of traumatically encoded cellular information. In conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder information is traumatically encoded at the cellular level…” – Keith Coleman Pierce

John Upledger, D.O., the developer of craniosacral therapy, uses the terms unwinding and somatic emotional release to describe what we call retracing. It is based on his research on body energies and the role of connective body tissue in body structure.

Max Gerson, MD, in A Cancer Therapy – Results of 50 Cases, devoted an entire chapter to the retracing parallel.

William Frederich Koch, MD, mentions the parallel often in his book, The Survival Factor in Neoplastic and Viral Diseases.

Bernard Jensen, DC, ND, wrote about retracing in The Doctor-Patient Handbook.

Keith Coleman Pierce, founder of Transformative Ch’i, may be reached at keith@transchi.com.