Body Patterns of Anxiety and the Connective Tissue Matrix

Abstract for AANP conference, submitted by Jake Felice, ND, LMP

Presenter
Jake Felice, ND, LMP

Contact
Jake Felice, ND, LMP
1614 E Mercer St
Seattle, WA 98112

Tel: 206.795.6044
Fax: 206-260-2412
Email: drfelice@mac.com

The abstract is being presented for:

Oral presentation, 90 minutes (60 minutes okay).

Presentation title
Body Patterns of Anxiety and the Connective Tissue Matrix: Treating the Fear Response with Manual
Medicine

Short description
The vestibular system mediates fear-based responses and directly influences the autonomic nervous
system. Fear is accompanied by an inhibition of extensor muscles, and chronic anxiety states create
compensatory patterns of posture that are reflected in fascia and autonomic dysfunction of organ systems.
Manual therapy can help address these problems.

Abstract
The physiology of fear is a complex integration of inborn and unconditioned reflexes that are inherited
and independent of individual experience. When frightened, an animal or human initially either freezes or
runs. The initial reaction to the fear stimulus is a contraction of flexor muscles, a halt in the breath wave,
and then a series of vasomotor disturbances. In humans, conscious volition can improve certain details of
this response; however, when fear states become too severe or too constant, a person’s ability to
consciously control the fear response becomes difficult. This stressed state, when chronic, becomes
reflected in patterns of movement and posture, which over time result in common compensatory patterns
and the creation of fascial lesions. Patterns of fascial bias can be found in most people and are important
factors in chronic pain and disease. Manual therapy, through skilled manipulion of soft tissues, provides
solutions to the cause, maintenance, and resolution of these neruromyofascial-skeletal lesions, and
directly addresses problems associated with anxiety, performance, fear, chronic pain, and disease.

The speaker has no conflicts of interest.

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Learning objectives
Participants will gain an understanding of the following:
• Physiologic mechanisms of fear/startle responses and their correlation with posture via the eighth
cranial nerve.
• Mechanisms of vestibular feedback, fear, and postural control.
• Mechanisms of vestibular feedback and autonomic dysfunction of organ systems.
• Volitional motor psychophysics, the sense of effort, and the experience of pain.
• How to identify common compensatory postural patterns, including common flexor/extensor
imbalances and their relationship to chronic states of anxiety.
• Applications of physical medicine and somatic techniques to chronic fear, pain, and disease states.

Presentation outline

• Moro reflex, labyrinthine reflex, the eighth cranial nerve, and the hardwiring of the fear/startle
response in humans.
• Chronic anxiety’s effects on posture, fascia, and autonomic dysfunction as factors in pain and chronic
disease.
• Motor psychophysics, volition, and the sense of effort and its application to pain, emotion, and human
performance.
• Applications of physical medicine techniques to chronic states of pain, anxiety and disease.

Pharmacy discussion
There will be no discussion of pharmacy in this talk.

Target audience

• Students or practitioners interested in the mind-body interface, fear, anxiety, and their relation to
chronic pain and disease.
• Students or practitioners interested in models of peak human performance.

Biographical sketch
Jake Felice, ND, LMP, is a graduate and adjunct professor at Bastyr University, where he is an instructor
of Advanced Soft-Tissue Manipulation and of Radiographic Laboratory Interpretation. Dr. Felice has
taught graduate-level classes in Western Pathology, Microbiology/AIDS, and Western Clinical Medicine
at the Seattle Institute for Oriental Medicine. Dr. Felice lived in Asia for six years where he studied Zen-
shiatsu and tai chi and taught Aikido. He has performed more than 12,000 hours of manual therapy and
combines this experience with insights from the martial arts to gain a unique perspective on our body’s
sense of fear, pain, and performance.

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