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TELLINGTON TOUCH

An Interview with Tracy Sellard (www.inbalanceindenver.com) See Biography below Tellington Touch was developed by Linda Tellington-Jones. It was first created four decades ago as a system of animal training, healing and communication that allows people to relate to animals in a deeper, more compassionate way. It is a great gift for someone to have because it's quick & easy to learn. It's a great method for parents to use on their children to calm them down. People with animals, it's just a really nice way to work on a pet. And it's truly non-invasive with a very light touch SOE:  Tracy, what exactly is Tellington Touch (TT)? Does it work with the body's energy? For body work, in general, I am a believer that the energetic component can never be taken out. Whether it is traditional massage work, or energy work or Tellington Touch, there is always an energetic component. We are energetic beings. And that absolutely plays into it.

My belief on what TT is, is that it is a system that works with the nervous system. It is much more related to the nervous system than, say, reiki or energy work. I think TT is something that specifically affects the nervous system.  The reason being, the belief behind TT is that it affects all four types of brain waves at the same time, whereas traditional massage might affect one or two of them. It is thought that TT will affect the Alpha, Beta, Delta, Theta waves.

It's a very, very light non-invasive touch and that tactile input or stimulus is sent through the sensory nervous system, the brain processes it and sends out the signals that the body needs. It brings body awareness to that area in particular, but to the body in general, because the sensory motor system has been stimulated in the body. And the body will, ideally, start its own innate healing.  The body has an amazing ability to heal itself. It knows what to do. I do believe there is an energetic component in that it affects the nervous system and it will stimulate the body's healing mechanism. Some people might feel energy where they didn't have energy, or their energy calms down in areas that it was a little too high because it's just an overall balancing of the body.

SOE:  So you don't need to have some issue to use this? It's good to use any time?

Absolutely. It can be used for specific areas where there is pain or numbness or tingling, or it can be used when a person is feeling nervous or anxious or tired. I might use TT on the head of an anxious person. It all depends on them. Knowing where a person prefers to be touched or not touched. But certainly, the head is a wonderful place. Ears are a wonderful place. With babies - and you see mothers do this instinctively - they will rub the back and along the spine. That is a wonderful place. Even on the arm. I teach at a body work school and often I will demonstrate it and do a little on someone's arm and they respond, "Oh, wow, I feel so much better."

TT is really non-invasive and a light modality. It's really good for people. I also use it a lot on my animal clients as well, but people who have so much pain that they have become very sensitive to touch; it's very good for that. It can be very good for people who suffer from osteoarthritis or osteoporosis because they can't take a lot of pressure.  So it's an alternative for someone like that. With humans, it can take care of arthritis, pain in general, numbness, anxiety, depression. I also use it for anger-related issues in humans.

It's wonderful with dogs that have separation anxiety, general nervousness and/or aggressive behaviors.

It's rarely a one-time deal. If someone has lots of anxiety or aggression, it is something that would need to be done periodically. It can be taught to a parent or taught to a loved one or taught to a person and they can work on themselves. It's just a general calmness. If I have a person who comes in who is all amped out, it may be how I start (a session). I use a little bit of TT to calm them down. Or when I work on a dog or a cat, it's the first thing I do. It kind of brings that sense of relief.

SOE:  Tracey, is there a difference between a person performing it on themselves and someone performing it them?

I think there probably is with this one. I think a person can self-treat. Absolutely. But if I am anxious and I'm trying to calm myself down, I'm kind of fighting myself on it. And there is an energetic component. If I am anxious and I am trying to calm myself down, I might be able to calm myself down some, but I still am kind of putting my anxious energy back into myself whereas if a second person comes over who has the intention of "I'm going to help you calm down", I'm a very calm person, it sets a different tone.

SOE:  Can you talk a little bit on how you would use TT on an animal?

I will give you an example of a dog. Think of a long body of this dog. If I am working on a dog, I'll start around the neck and use a small circular motion and then I will work down the spine and then I will move down a little bit, down along the side. And, this is my belief, roughly follow the meridian lines or channels. This is where some people might argue with me, the meridian lines roughly follow the larger nerves of the nervous system.  But with TT you don't have to follow a specific pattern. It can be quite random. It doesn't have to follow a certain pattern. For instance, work on L-4, then do Large Intestine 5. It doesn't have to follow that.

I don't use charts. There are people out there who do. My training outside of TT is diverse enough that I bring knowledge of the meridian lines and reflexology. But with TT, unlike other types of body work, they tend to be small, circular motions. It's about 1.5 times around and then I move on to another spot.  I don't spend a lot of time in one area. If vertebrae hurts, I might often do 1.5 circles there, but work above and below it and all around it.

SOE:  When I was taught TT, they had me barely touch my closed eyelid. They stressed using a very light touch. How do you do it on an animal with fur?

You make certain to go down underneath the fur and make that skin contact. I'm not going to be just rubbing the hair. I am going to make certain that I sink down through the hair and actually making the skin contact. One would need to make certain that he or she were actually contacting the skin. But it is accessing the nervous system. It's not massage in that I am going down and massaging the muscle. I am on top of the muscle. And affecting the tactile sensors that are in the skin.

I have used TT on all types of animals. I have worked on wolves in a sanctuary. I worked on a dolphin in a teaching facility for marine biology in Florida . They have dolphins that have been rescued. It was just one of the older dolphins; she was 50. But what was so interesting was there was also a baby dolphin who presented herself and was like, "Oh, use TT on me, too." The adult liked it on her tummy so she would roll over for me. With animals, if I am going to

do some massage work, I always some TT down the back, along the spine. After that, animals often know where they want it or need it. This dolphin apparently knew that she needed it on her stomach.

SOE:  When using TT on the dolphin, as with other large mammals, does the size of the circle for the TT grow or do you always keep it very small?

There are different motions or circles so often it can be what the animal likes. This is true with humans also. For a large horse I might use the pads of my fingers and the horse might respond well to that; another horse may not like that as much as using the palm and doing it more of a palm circle.

To cover more area, you can do little circles with the pads of the fingers. And it depends on the size of the animal. When my sister got her last dog, when it was a puppy it was all of 3 pounds. And because it was so small, I didn't have much option other than to use one or two fingers when I worked on it. It is the same with a very small infant. If a practitioner has a very large hand, the practitioners is probably not going to do full palm circles, but use the pads of the fingers. You can use the pads of the fingers. You can use more of the entire hand, contacting the palm and the finger. And then there is a technique that does some skin rolling. Not quite like rolfing*.

To perform TT, I go around 1.5 times. I start at 12:00 and go clockwise around to 12:00 and go past that to either 3:00 or 6:00.

SOE:  How do you use TT? Are there certain things, certain situations people come to you for more often than others that you use the TT with?

I primarily use TT as a calming effect and/or if someone comes to me and is having numbness and nothing else seems to have worked.

With my non-human clients, I always use it as an introduction to my touch. And then I have used it for arthritis, difficulty walking, nervous dogs, aggressive dogs, puppies to teach them to get used to having their teeth brushed, having their paws touched so they can have their nails clipped. 

TT is great for calming babies and it's also a good way to help babies become comfortable with touch so they can have their nails trimmed and they can have their teeth brushed.

For babies I would just use a finger probably on their hand. I don't know if I would call it TT if I were doing it on the finger. I would just go up and down the fingers, that wouldn't be specifically TT. But I would incorporate that with the TT.

I don't know that I have any human clients that come to me strictly for TT. I use it in conjunction with traditional massage, reflexology, and cranial sacral work. I do have a cat and a dog right now that I use TT with. The dog, a large dog, has some atrophy going on because the nerves have started to shut off or shrink. TT is used to stimulate that. And the cat is an alley cat that was close to Ferrell and we are trying to desensitize her to touch.

SOE:  Would you recommend people learn TT to use it on themselves?

Absolutely. It's a great gift for someone to have because it's very quick and easy to learn. It's a great method for parents to use on their children to calm them down. People with animals, it's just a really nice way to work on a pet. And because it's truly non-invasive and very light touch, it is very, very safe. No side effects. I'm trying to think of any contra-indications and I can't think of any. TT is a gift and it's a wonderful gift to give someone.

I have taught it to my students in my classes in the A&P classes. I teach them how to do it. And I am more than happy to teach my clients who have dogs that I am working on. I always teach them how to do it so they can do it daily to see if it helps.

If people wanted to learn TT, I would recommend they attend a live class versus getting a video. However, there is a very wonderful instructional video that Linda Tellington does. I would say it depends on what their intentions are. I am a visual person so I learn by watching. Because it is body work, someone can pick up the book and the techniques are described very well. But I think actually seeing someone do it is very good.  I think a person could absolutely learn it via a video. Again, it depends on the intention. The one recommendation I would say is because it is a touch modality, it would be helpful if that person had experienced it or had felt what it is supposed to feel like. If we feel it, feel truly how light the touch is meant to be, then one is less likely to be too heavy handed or too light.

*(click here for Rolfing article)

Biography
A former mathematics teacher, Tracy Sellard is now a nationally certified massage therapist & bodyworker registered with the state of Colorado, a trained yoga instructor and a member of the International Association of Animal Massage and Bodywork (IAMMB)*.  She owns and operates In Balance Massage & Bodywork in the heart of Denver Colorado. Tracy graduated with honors from the Massage Therapy Institute of Colorado where she is currently a course instructor in comparative anatomy & physiology as well as pathology. She has continued her education advancing her studies in Thai Massage, Reflexology, Tellington Touch as well as taking classes at the world renowned Upledger Institute and Colorado State University School of Veterinary Medicine (Medical Massage for Canines). More information can be found at www.inbalanceindenver.com or contacting Tracy directly at 303-377-2048.