My Discovery of Hellerwork by Katherine Pearce CHP
In 1999, about nine years into my career as a Sign Language Interpreter for the Deaf, I was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. This painful and debilitating condition causes the major artery that supplies blood to the arm, to be clamped and compressed. I was at the point of not being able to lift my arm up at all, let alone use it without extreme pain. A single mother at the time, I was overloaded, grieving my failed marriage, and wondering how I was going to provide for my 5 year-old, if I couldn’t even show her how to tie her own shoes. My vascular surgeon told me that without the surgical removal of my first rib to give the artery more space, I would most likely lose the use of my right arm indefinitely.
After much angst and dedicated research of learning that post surgery many people couldn’t work again and ended up having the surgery on the opposite side afterwards, I declined the surgery and sought out help. I tried many different types of therapies, all to no avail. Then, a friend referred me to an “alternative” bodyworker, and on a whim, I gave her a call.... She was a Hellerwork Practitioner, and after reviewing my MRI scans and X-rays and thoroughly assessing me, said she could help me, but she also relayed to me upfront that it was going to take some time, and some work to get to the bottom of it.
In the 8 months of treatments that followed, I learned how to “re-posture" myself, so my alignment could better support me in gravity. Correcting my hyper-extended leg stance from years of competitive gymnastics was an eye-opener! At first the minuscule changes I was trying to make in how I stood were frustrating to try on my own. As my first career had focussed in Modern Dance Performance, I was under the impression I had great proprioception and body awareness. And I did, in movement, but this was a whole different ball of wax! It took a lot of focus and daily practice on my part, to revisit where my Hellerwork Practitioner had guided me into this new standing posture, so that eventually my body would “get it” by itself.
I started noticing how differently I held my head, when my leg alignment was more connected. Making these connections were astounding to me, and I realized how spatially connected in tension our body parts all are. She explained to me how fascia is the connective tissue matrix our body “swims” in; it provides us with a tensional shape that is individual to us, and that many things influence it in our lives. Those “knots” in my shoulders from worrying about everything were actually adhesions in the fascia tissue! My slouched posture over the years had created them, and now I discovered there was a way to let go of them. On her table, I also unpacked quite a bit of “baggage" from the past that was all caught up in how I stood and lived in my body. The fascial release work she did, helped unravel the layers of dysfunctional strain that were preventing my optimal alignment. This lightened my load, and opened me up to the possibilities of greater ease in my everyday movements. I had more energy and I started to have hope again. People would stop me in the hall of my workplace and ask me if I was doing something
different, commenting on how much taller I looked and how happy I was. My arm stopped screaming in pain, and slowly I was able to start some strengthening exercises to restore it, and eventually I returned to my job.
Hellerwork changed my life so dramatically that 4 years later I found myself on a plane bound for Australia at age 40, embarking on a new career! I have been practicing in Greater Victoria for the past 17 years and I can honestly say I haven’t had one day where I dread going to work. It is such an honour to work with people and help them reclaim the balance within their body so they can live more freely with ease.
The biggest thing I became aware of through my recovery, was that the cause wasn’t just physical. Yes, I had a physically demanding job that had repetitive strain elements to it, but it wasn’t just the physical piece that needed realigning. We are not just a physical body, but a conglomeration of parts all wrapped into one person that includes our emotional, psychological, spiritual, and biological being. Everything that we have experienced in our lives has had an impact on us. Sometimes we are still carrying around parts or pieces from the past that need a little help to let go and, when we are in pain, it helps to seek out support. After all, healing happens through connection. Sometimes even just having a witness to our process is all we need so we can let go. Joseph Heller created Hellerwork and named it so, because it is indeed “work”. It does require participation and focus of the client, but in my mind, the best work we can do for ourselves is to invest in ourselves. “Shift Happens!”
I am thrilled to be practicing at Circle Integrative Wellness Clinic on Thursdays, with appointments throughout the day. Questions or inquiries? Feel free to contact me at (250) 595-0043 ~
Looking forward to connecting with you wherever you are at, be it an overall transformation of your alignment or just a tune up!