Yorkie Times -

ABALONE TTOUCH

TTouch is a gift we can give our dogs, our families, our friends, and ourselves. Like good nutrition, TTouch supports and improves a wide variety of conditions. Results include stress reduction, pain relief, increased ability to learn, faster, more complete healing, fear reduction, behavior modification, trust building, and much more. TTouch also keeps us aware of our dogs' physical conditions, allowing us to respond quickly to any change.

The foundation of Tellington TTouch is a one-and-a-quarter circle. Visualize a clock face. Beginning at the bottom of the circle...6 o'clock...push the skin once around the clock, past 6, stopping at 9. Take care to push, not rub, the skin. Make your circle as round as possible, and your light pressure consistent all the way round. Breathe slowly and deeply as you work, taking one to 3 seconds to complete a circle. When you reach 9, pause for a moment, then slowly release the pressure and, making a short connecting slide to the next circle, move on.

We do only one circle on a given spot, because more will irritate the one being TTouched, and the value of the work will be lost.

Circles are generally done in a clockwise direction, regardless of which hand you are using. Sometimes an animal or person will actively object to clockwise circles. Or, you may simply have a sense that the clockwise circle is causing discomfort. When this happens, make your circles counterclockwise and notice if the receiver relaxes and becomes more accepting. Trust yourself, trust your intuition.

Nonthreatening, warm, comforting ABALONE TTOUCH is one of the easiest to do. It's excellent for calming nervous animals, relaxing tense muscles, and treating sensitive, sick or injured dogs.

Relax your body, breath slowly and deeply, and place your entire flat hand softly on the dog. Allow you hand to soft, flexible, flowing, like the sea creature for which this TTouch is named. Allow your arm to be part of the circular movement. Use just enough contact with fingers, palm and heel of your flat hand to push the skin in a circle without sliding over the hair. Make your circle as round as possible.... this gets easier with practice!... moving from 6 to 12 to 6 and around to 9, breathing as you go. Pause at 9, then release and slide your warm, relaxed hand a small distance and make another circle.

As you TTouch with one hand, keep your other hand in gentle contact with the animal's body. Having two hands on the receiver supports, relaxes, and generally completes a circle of energy.

If your dog resists TTouch, stop for a moment and check in with yourself. Are you breathing? If I hold my breath, which happens when I'm tense or distracted, my arms and hands get stiff. The animal lets me know right away that my TTouch is unpleasant, even uncomfortable. I've discovered that working while I have significant tension in my own body quickly makes me tired.

Another cause of resistance can be too much pressure.Many beginners say the biggest surprise about this work is the lightness of the touch. Even knowing how light TTouch should be, as a student I would forget and press too hard.The animals quickly let me know! Use only as much pressure as you would use to press comfortably on your eye lid! TTouch is a modality in which less is definitely more!

Tension in our bodies, and in our thoughts, transfers quickly into the dog, sometimes even before we begin to TTouch them. Make an effort to set aside stressful thoughts while sharing the gift of TTouch with your dog! Instead, visualize something calm and beautiful. Notice how your dog responds when you do.

Breathing can unlock tension and allow everything to flow. As you TTouch, breathe in slowly, then imagine your exhaled breath sending light through your hand into the dog's cells. Explore this a few times and notice if anything changes with the dog, and with you.

"TTouch may be done over the entire body, and each circular TTouch is complete within itself. It is not necessary to work the whole body in a single session as with many other modalities of bodywork. You may decide one day to work on your (dog's) head and neck, another day ...on the shoulders and back, and so forth."

Linda Tellington-Jones

Enjoy!!

For books, DVD, equipment, workshops and more, visit TTouch.com

Search Tellington TTouch on YouTube.com for free instructions.

Send me your questions and feedback, please! Star9fish@aol.com

Stay in TTouch!

Penny Case

Certified Tellington TTouch Practitioner