Interviews with Seth Linn, DOMP (CAN)

"The Anatomy of Fight or Flight"

We all know that with chronic illness we have to look for answers in many places. Structural alignment is critical to getting your organs and body systems working properly so you can succeed over illness. But what happens when not just your vertebrae are out of place, but your organs and fluid flow are blocked or in spasm from being in a chronic state of fight or flight? And what gentle and easy things can we do to start releasing those stuck patterns?

Seth Linn is a Canadian trained DOMP (Osteopath) that has his own story of recovery and now treats those struggling with the slow (but rewarding) path back to health.

This interview is technical at times, but you will want to hear it all. Go slowly and take notes. And, do yourself a favor and find an osteopath that does adjustments like his.

"How to Re-Align, Relieve, and Re-Strengthen"

Seth Linn shows us some gentle movements that can release our body's state of stress and put us into a more relaxed, healing state.

About Seth Linn, DOMP (CAN)

Beyond receiving expert training in the field of Traditional Osteopathy, Seth recovered from a serious injury after being told he would not return to a “normal” life again. Refusing to accept this, he fought his way through years of disabling pain, fatigue, worry, anxiety and depression. Now, Seth shares how to manage the recovery process, rehabilitation and pain management as a patient and as a clinician. "I’ve experienced how time effects muscle tone, posture, metabolism, chemistry, attitude, spirit and ultimately, self-esteem. More importantly, I’ve learned how to reverse the effects of injury and time upon physical health and human spirit."

Testimonials for Seth Linn, DOMP (CAN)

"I just watched the video with Seth Linn - this by far has been my favorite speaker. He speaks in such a clear and easy to understand manner and it just really makes sense to me. I am a very practical (and a bit skeptical) person and often feel Western medicine is too narrow and not considering the whole person but also often find some holistic medicine to be a little to "out there" for me. Dana/Brent (or anyone else with good suggestions) I live in Portland, Maine and would love to find an Osteopath like Seth Linn in my area- what is the best way to go about finding someone? In the mean time I will start incorporating his techniques today. Thank-you so much for this piece!" -- Lesli Chambers

"I was hurting in hips and down my right leg and I need to fix dinner. So I decided to take a few minutes and stretch. I remembered that Seth Linn had a videoed segment on exercises, so decided to use them. OH MY GOODNESS. Thank you a million times. I can now prepare dinner, and will do these again before bedtime. WOW." -- Karen Wolf-Dodge

"WOW!!! The Seth Linn interview was absolutely AMAZING! After many years of research and self-work (especially around the mind-body connection and fight-or-flight) sometimes I think I have “heard it all,” but Seth had so much new information and nuggets for me! I feel like a kid at Christmas, and I apologize for my long post, but I just wanted to share my biggest take-aways and some resources that I have found extremely helpful in this area.

First, Seth’s comments about movement that tense/work muscles being triggering really made me think about the exercise I do that I think is “gentle,” like Yoga. Sometimes I feel myself pushing through it and really gripping or tensing to do so, which is something I want to be more aware of. Heck, I even noticed curling my toes/gripping yesterday while I was preparing food. It is like this “bracing” or “getting through it” mentality. It also makes me want to try something like Tai Chi or Qigong where there are those more fluid movements we need, like Seth mentioned.

The whole part of the interview about “Chicken Head” - bite/TMJ/headaches and blood and cerebral spinal fluid not being able to flush and bathe/nourish our brains really stood out to me, too. That along with the muscles in the base of the mandible, that run behind the ears, pulling on the mastoid and impacting the Vagus nerve is HUGE information! For those of us discussing clenching and banging our teeth in our sleep, it may be our need to scream or bite acting out in our sleep. It is interesting to think about this one behavior driving our anxiety up and our metabolism down, as Seth pointed out.

I TOTALLY wanted to high-five Brent when he posed the idea of "What if it’s just the “fallout” from Lyme we are dealing with?!”…the cellular/structural memory of having Lyme. YES, YES, YES!!! I have recently turned my thinking in this direction, and it makes a HUGE difference! A year ago I started a Neuroplasticity course called “Dynamic Neural Retraining System” or DNRS. In their June newsletter they shared the following, "In his new book ("The Brain’s Way of Healing") Dr. Doidge discusses Dr. Moskowitz' work with chronic pain and the idea that chronic pain itself can be the result of faulty brain wiring. He goes on to say 'When the neurons in our pain maps get damaged, they fire incessant false alarms, making us believe the problem is in our body, when it is mostly in our brain.’" A few paragraphs down they continue with, 'Likewise, in other chronic conditions, even when the initial injury has been treated, like the underlying bacteria in Lyme disease, or a virus associated with chronic fatigue or detoxification measures associated with multiple chemical sensitivity, the brain can get stuck in a disease pattern where ongoing symptoms appear to be coming from the body. But oftentimes the symptoms are due to misfiring in the brain itself. Many conditions may have a variety of contributing factors, however addressing limbic system function is a key component in the recovery process and is often overlooked.’” Isn’t it SO HOPEFUL to think about cleaning up after Lyme, instead of feeling like we are in a never ending battle against it?! That maybe our brains think we are sick long after we have resolved the original illness itself?!

As far as healing trauma I completely LOVE Bessel van der Kolk and his work, and I would HIGHLY recommend his book, “The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.” He beautifully expresses the importance of healing trauma/injury/illness through the body-mind connection (he intentionally puts “body” first, instead of “mind”), and it is because of him (and Peter A. Levine), that I started seeing a Somatic (hands-on) therapist. I had done talk therapy once a week for 4 years, and I learned that I needed to get at things at the cellular/tissue level, where the memories are being stored. I could totally relate to Dana having a memory from infancy while having hands-on work. It is not woo-woo, “out there” stuff. It is very real and a big part of our healing process.

It really resonated with me when Seth said we sometimes think the “scrape” is so much worse than it is, we focus on it, and we keep checking it, which keeps it alive…instead of getting back on our bicycle and moving forward. I am going to keep this imagery alive every time I get stuck in a memory or a symptom. As he beautifully said, “I am willing to let THIS go, so I can have THAT!” AMEN! As Dana keeps mentioning…it’s those grooves in our brains! I am all about changing my grooves and learning how to operate from intuition/connection and living life, instead of stagnation and fear! Life-changing stuff for each one of us, and I LOVE IT!!! Thank you for yet another GIANT gift, Dana & Brent! So full of gratitude! XO!" -- Sharon Leggio Falchuk

"I LOVED THE VIDEO WITH SETH LINN. THANKS." --Patty Mosley

I am feeling so inspired by the talk with Seth Linn! It is like he is describing me! Does anyone know of an excellent osteopath like him in the Seattle area by any chance? --Jennifer Luna

The fight or fight interview with Seth Linn is everything!! The humility piece you mention is so true. I feel more " alive" and in a more aware state of living, consciousness now than ever before. Chronic illness is such a teacher and it has allowed me to take a step back and realize how amazing life is and what's important! I always say, when I heal, I can be the president, I can handle anything!! And Ill forever be in that state of appreciation, which is so special. I'm so fortunate that I've had that "forced spiritual journey" as I like to call it. Some people never experience this. Thanks for being such an amazing community! Xo-- Sarah Hill

About Seth Linn, DOMP (CAN)

Beyond receiving expert training in the field of Traditional Osteopathy, Seth recovered from a serious injury after being told he would not return to a “normal” life again. Refusing to accept this, he fought his way through years of disabling pain, fatigue, worry, anxiety and depression. Now, Seth shares how to manage the recovery process, rehabilitation and pain management as a patient and as a clinician. "I’ve experienced how time effects muscle tone, posture, metabolism, chemistry, attitude, spirit and ultimately, self-esteem. More importantly, I’ve learned how to reverse the effects of injury and time upon physical health and human spirit."