Fear-Paralysis Factors

Many people have asked me to give a course on Fear-Paralysis Response. I have not done this yet, because I have so many questions to be answered that I worry about giving wrong or unhelpful information. The Fear-Paralysis is a response rather than a true reflex because its genesis is in the first 3 months before the motor system is truly online. It appears to be a cellular-tissue response.

For years, we have seen this response in clients who had fetal alcohol (or embryo alcohol) effect or even when other toxicity is present. However, there are always times when it appeared when no toxicity was present. I usually have attributed this to extreme stress in the first three months of pregnancy. Now we have found another contributing factor.

It now appears that issues around the attachment of the placenta can be one such factor. From our case load, it appears that these placenta attachment issues for a time affect the embryo's ability to take in oxygen and nutritients. There are many points around this that I will not go into in this blog, but we will be on the lookout for more case examples.

One of the things that appears common is that these issues can right themselves during the pregnancy and therefore, never lead to outer awareness of the issue in the first place. This makes study difficult and we can only go by meager evidence to be found in other ways such as birth history and that of siblings.

We are hoping that others in the field are working on Fear-Paralysis Response and may be of help to our endeavor.

Off to Seattle to give Big 8: Primary Reflexes and Development on May 21, 22, 23. There's a free 2 hour introductory lecture on Friday evening, 6:30 to 8:30. It is at Lake Forest Park Montessori, 19935 19th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA. Tell you friends and relatives about it!

Gravity, Our First Relationship

First there is Gravity, pushing down upon us to the center of the Earth. We are designed to push back in the tone of our cells, tissues and muscles. Gravity and Tone push and yield in the rhythms of our bodies: breath, heart beat, lymph flow, cerebral spinal fuild, and brain waves. And our reflexes with flexion and extention and contraction and expansion reflect the push and pull of the consistent interaction of tone and gravity. After birth, we have been squeezed and pressed and transformed, ending in the press of gravity, hitherto unknown to us. It is somewhat like coming out of water after a long swim. The gravity feels heavy and cloying, but as newborns we have never felt full gravity. We must work hard to push against it or we sleep and allow gravity let us "fall" asleep.

Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex- STNR

Not too long ago I posted a very short clip of one position of STNR on YouTube. Someone commented that it was "wrong". It shows the "Child's Pose" position of STNR. It is true that this pose is not the first pose in the development of STNR, but it is one stage along the way. Some experts don't even acknowledge STNR and instead consider all the phases to be parts of Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex (TLR) or may even call it Tonic Neck Reflex (TNR). This arguement shows how sticky it can be to divide a holistic, developmental movement into parts to begin with. (Applause is heard from Judith Bluestone watching from above and Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen in the East.) However, there can be really good reasons to looks at the developmental pieces of STNR if you remember in the end that it is a developmental sequence.


I divide STNR in my own way. (Those of you who know me are not surprised, I am sure.) Catherine Burns has helped me, as have many others. I label Low STNR when the baby is no longer in flexion when lying on the stomach and therefore can straighten the legs and bend the arms as the head is lifted. So much is accomplished in the position! Yeah for tummy time! The vestibular and visual systems are developed together and the colliculi of the midbrain are activated.

As the baby strengthens and the arms are straightened, the legs bend and the head flexes. This is in the form of "Child's Pose" of Yoga fame. This is a relaxation to the vestibular and organ systems. Many children sleep in this position. As the baby draws the straightened arms toward the core, the baby is pushed onto the haunches in the "Sitting Cat" position. Walking the hands forward, the baby is in the "Table" position or on hands and knees. Next comes the rhythmic rocking on hands and knees, in preparation for crawling.

Throughout as these positions of STNR continue to develop, the cortex is taking control through the motor cortex. As this is mastered, the pattern is purposely broken in the "Cobra" and "Teeter Totter" position, among others.