EBHSG - APRIL 1997 MEETING NOTES

TOPIC: SOMATIC HEADACHE RELIEF

Jan Mundo was our featured speaker at the April 8, 1997 meeting of the East Bay Headache Support Group. 29 people attended the meeting which was held in the Ball Auditorium at John Muir Medical Center.

"Soma" is the ancient Greek word meaning body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Jan is a Somatic practitioner/educator and certified massage therapist with a private practice in Berkeley. She told the group that to unravel the mystery of your chronic headaches and migraines, you have to experience being in touch with certain things about yourself.

Twenty-seven years ago she discovered she could "stop" a headache cold by putting her hands on someone. She claimed to be able to locate the headache with her hand; and said she is even able to use this method on her own headaches. Jan said she originally just used this method for fun until she was laid off from her job in 1991. After that she developed instructions for performing the Mundo Method so that people could relieve their headaches themselves. She had no training up to this point, but then she became a massage therapist, and studied with healers to learn ways to move energy in the body. Jan went to a breathing workshop, at which time she had her back released after fifteen years of tightness. She learned that we stop breathing correctly when under stress, and that people hold emotions in their bodies.

Jan recently began studying somatics. She mentioned living creatively beyond relieving pain, and we need to learn how to create an active, creative life without headaches. Jan told us the beliefs she holds about headaches:

· Most people can determine the cause of their headaches.

· Most people can reduce the frequency and severity of their headaches.

· A person's attitude and beliefs can make a difference.

She asked the group to stand up and perform an exercise together--we were told to close our eyes and think "I'm never going to stop have headaches!" Then, "I'll never have these headaches again!" Jan then asked the audience for comments. The conclusion was that when we think something our body responds, either positively or negatively.

Jan said there are three important things about headaches and water. "Water, water, water. Always carry your water bottle with you. If you're thirsty, it's too late--you're already dehydrated." Drinking water is important for flushing out impurities in the body. She said that we must find a water that we really like to drink, and then drink at least a large bottle a day. The temperature of the water doesn't really matter (room temperature or cold).

Jan then mentioned "Wonder Vision," which has open ends; and "Survival Vision," where you may never get out. There is also the Chinese menu or threshold theory of headache triggers. Headaches are the manifestation of your whole life. She said that unless you've had an injury, headaches don't show up on an x-ray.

In defining headache triggers we need to think about the physical domain: injury, posture, sleep; and the emotional domain: how you feel, stress, moods. Jan also mentioned foods, hormones, and environment as possible headache triggers. The Chinese menu theory is that if you add up possible triggers, you're more likely to get a headache. For instance, if you eat chocolate, skip a meal, don't get enough sleep, and are under stress all at the same time, everything adds up and you're more likely to get a headache. She said that we therefore must learn our triggers--keep a headache diary, talk it over, tune into your body awareness, mood, attitude. Willingness to change is the first step. Jan told the audience that we can become experts about our headaches by becoming intimate with our bodies and learning how to take care of ourselves.

She claimed, "I can stop a migraine in five minutes to an hour. I welcome people to come to learn it from me--come to my classes, come to see me professionally." The Mundo Method is working with sensations.

Jan mentioned that our hands are cold during a headache. She said to learn to meditate on your hands to warm them up. She had the people in the audience try to warm their hands by closing their eyes and concentrating on their hands and breathing deeply. She told us to calm the mind and focus our attention and things will happen. These changes will take place over time and with practice.

She said to practice breathing--drop your breath down and take slower, deeper breaths. Practice your breathing so when you're under stress you can go easily to relaxing breathing to relieve the stress. Jan brought out a couple of rocks and a stick she had picked up on her adventures and now keeps in her office. She uses these objects to help her take her mind to a space where she can go to get replenished. They remind her of favorite places she has been. "Think of where you can go to feed your soul, to feel expansive and creative. What pleases you--what feeds you. Feel nurtured. Appreciate your life. Look at all dimensions of you."

Jan said there is a difference in taking medication and doing natural somatic kinds of methods to relieve headaches. It takes some decision-making and self-assertion to decide to do things to find the underlying causes. Having a "can do" attitude is half the battle. She mentioned empowerment versus victimhood. We should look at the things we don't have control over and where we do have some control. Your attitude can bring a shift.

A myriad of factors can affect our headaches. Jan said it is a mystery to her every time she puts her hand on someone's head and it stops their headache. She told us to "discover your life and if you're living life to the fullest."

Jan then asked the audience for questions and one person said, "Tell us more about the Mundo Method." Jan said that it was too complicated to teach it here. She said for us to try to touch the pain with our hands and with our minds. Jan goes into where her patient has the pain and works with it.

She was asked about vitamins. Jan said she personally takes a multi-vitamin, but she has no particular recommendation for either taking vitamins or not taking them.

Donna Johnson asked Jan if she actually feels the patient's headache pain and what it feels like, and Jan answered, "Yes, it feels explosive, pulsing, or jittery feeling, an electrical quality." She said when the headache is releasing it feels different to her. Jan said it helps when the patient has a positive attitude about her healing skills, but claimed she could still stop a headache when her patient doesn't believe her technique will work. She did say, though, that when her patient's relationship to pain is one of fear, she can't stop the headache.

Jan was asked, "Once you've stopped a headache, is it gone completely, or will it come back in an hour or so?" Jan said that usually the headache will not come back once she has broken it. She called it a "relief method," not a preventive; and said "the earlier you try to stop it, the easier."

Someone from the audience asked Jan for the definition of "somatizing." Does it mean emotionally-induced? Jan could only answer that the somatic approach is looking at your whole being (body, mind, emotions, spirit). All can play into your headache. She mentioned that emotions run in your body, they find receptors in your bloodstream. One last comment she made was that she has an aptitude, a talent, for this hands-on healing, but that others can learn to do it also.

At the conclusion of Jan's talk she passed out a flyer advertising her next workshop, which will be April 16, 1997 in San Ramon, and her winter/spring flyer advertising her services.

Jan's flyers are available by calling the EBHSG at (510) 938-5252.

The notes provided above were taken by an EBHSG volunteer and have not been reviewed by the speaker for accuracy. If you have any questions regarding the notes, please contact the EBHSG.

The intention of the East Bay Headache Support Group is to provide information and resources. It does not provide medical advice, which should be obtained directly from a physician.