Looking back on this, I almost didn’t notice it. There was a miracle that happened to me and I feel fortunate but as it was happening and as it happened, I nearly missed it. I had something big shift in me, but I didn’t notice it for years I think because I just felt normal. The deal was though that I hadn’t felt “normal” for most of my life; As I shifted and did feel “normal” I just felt that was me and almost forgot about all that had changed.
I find this true with a lot of our clients. Many times they will come in with specific things they want to go away, or heal or change. The funny thing is that many times it does change right before our eyes in a session; yet the client won’t notice it. They’ll even say things like “I don’t notice anything different”. Amazing how someone can have what they wanted and then not notice it!
I think it may be because they just feel normal; like themselves. The actually can forget rather quickly how it used to be; even if it’s only an hour earlier! In fact this is what happened to me and it wasn’t till years later that I realized what had changed and how significant it was.
My Story of How Integrative Manual Therapy saved my life:
So, for years since even in junior high and probably before, I always had cavities in my teeth. I was always going to the dentist and having to have work done on my teeth. So much so that I even had a root canal surgery as a junior high kid. When I was in college I had a lot of dental issues and even had to have a molar pulled and later as a 20 something, I had to have the next one pulled. It was awful. I was going to the dentist every 6 months and I asked him why I had so many problems; his response was “some people just have soft teeth”. I was always paying off a big dental bill with him. Disturbing because you know how the teeth are a window into someone’s overall health; and here I was in my 20’s with bad teeth.
Then in February, 2000, I met Sharon Giammatteo, PT, PhD and took her class in Integrative Manual Therapy (IMT) on men’s and women’s health issues. I’m a runner and after the 3 day class I noticed I was running much better; looser, stronger and happier! So I started taking classes from Sharon and the IMT team of therapists. In fact I took over 110 classes over the next 10 years traveling from San Diego to Toronto, to Connecticut to New Mexico, to Seattle to all sorts of places in between. I was feeling better and better myself and my clients were improving beyond anything I had seen prior. There were classes to treat the LIver, and gastro-intestinal tract and brain, and heart and emotional and other stuff. It was a blast to learn and fun to see people changing and improving many times miracles. Along the way I changed my diet and gave up gluten, greatly decreased processed food and sugar and did a lot of the IMT therapy on myself.
It was somewhere around 2005 or later that I noticed I didn’t have a dental bill to pay off and hadn’t had a dental bill in a long time; I also hadn’t had any dental work done except for the teeth cleaning visits. I was healthier and it was showing up in my teeth. And the funny thing was I hadn’t even realized it. I saw my old passport photo and compared it to my new one; I was way healthier! How could I have not noticed? I think maybe because I just felt normal; more like me. It didn’t feel unusual!
So then I found the work of Dr Weston Price who studied indigenous people from all over the world in the 1930’s and found that when western food was introduced the people’s teeth suffered greatly and their health deteriorated and if they were put back on the native foods their health returned; if they ate the western food all sorts of mental and physical conditions occurred. The one thing they didn’t eat on their native diets was grain and the other thing was sugar.
So, one time while having my teeth cleaned I showed my dentist Weston Price’s groundbreaking study and book. Weston Price was a dentist. I expected my dentist to ask me questions, to borrow the book and to see how he could help his patients regain their dental health. He instead gave me a condescending look, patted me on the shoulder and smiled and said, “keep doing what you’re doing Ralph; I’m sure you’ll live a long life”. He didn’t want to know how I did it or how he could help his clients with this information.
I’m not sure why a medical professional would not want to learn more when they see their client no longer suffering from a condition. But I’ve seen it since then with some doctors when they see big changes with clients. Every time I see it, it still amazes me but the important thing is that I have the information for myself, my family and our clients.
I feel fortunate to have found Sharon Giammatteo, PT, PhD and Integrative Manual Therapy and know that she has helped me and my family. We have seen our family’s health improve and serious medical conditions resolve since starting IMT and eating a gluten free and processed diet free diet. I know this has not only added years to our lives but made our present time more health and vibrant.
thank you to Sharon and the IMT team.
Ralph Havens, PT, OCS, IMTC, certified matrix energetics practitioner
Ralph Havens
Bellingham Physical Therapy and worldwide via Phone & Skype
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