The Power of Patience: TTouch with Pumpkin

 

 

Pumpkin is a dear little cat, probably about 2 years old, who I have been working with through Tavi and Friends, Mayor's Alliance and the Picasso Veterinary Fund.  Apparently he had been kept in a basement for a long time, with very little contact.

When he first arrived (photo above is from early on), he was quite shy, and could suddenly get very insecure and hiss or meow very loudly.  I remember the first time I picked him up, he meowed so loudly, it sounded like I was touching him somewhere that hurt him, but it was just that he was terrified. 

I began to do TTouches just a little bit at a time with him.  Fortunately, in the space where he is, he can be let out of the cage so that I can do a few TTouches, let him walk around and come back to me as he likes.  As I do with the other cats in this space, I let him out without any of the other cats, so we can really have a private space, without intervention from any of the others.

Initially, I would literally do a few TTouches on his head or body, then he would walk away from me, then come back to me when he was ready for more. 

Over time, he was more and more responsive to the TTouches, and was right at the front of his cage when I got to the space, putting his paw through the holes in the cage door and meowing to me to let him out.  He would still come to me and go away from me, but would settle for longer and longer periods of time.  I kneeled, crouched or sat on the floor so I would be on his level.  I mostly sat or kneeled up until very recently, because I wanted to be able to stand up or move easily if I started to feel he was getting scared and/or needed more space.

At first it was a bit of a trick getting him to go back in his cage.  Sometimes I would lure him with toys to get him to go back in, because he seemed so frightened of being picked up.  As I continued to do the TTouches with him, I tried to gradually work towards his stomach area.  Just even doing a few TTouches on his side, approaching the stomach area, was good progress. 

Over time, he became more and more at ease in general.  And one day I found I was able to pick him up with no reaction from him at all!  I still would use gloves to pick him up in case he got suddenly frightened, but he has been quite comfortable with me picking him up for some time now. 

And the more he has gotten to know me, the more he has been seeking attention, purring and rubbing his head and body into my hands.  Initially, I would have to be especially mindful of his body language, as he could suddenly get frightened and it was as though a switch flipped back to a very fearful state, meowing loudly and maybe swatting or hissing.  These changes have happened less and less -- actually it is hard to remember when it happened last with me. 

He recognizes the energy of the TTouches and will settle down right next to me.  He especially responds to raccoon and chimp TTouches on his forehead area and to abalone, chimp and clouded leopard TTouches on his body.  I have been more and more able to do TTouches around his mouth area as well, which is a great area to work if you can do so safely, as the mouth area connects with the limbic system, which has to do with the emotions.

 

The past couple of sessions, we have broken through to another level.  As you can see above, Pumpkin is now starting to come and snuggle with me, aww! 
What has been beautiful to see is how the TTouches truly can help to change the way he reacts to contact and the way he reacts to situations that previously would be stressful for him (such as being picked up).  And it is as though a fearful exterior has given way to his true inner self, which is a sweet, affectionate cat who will be delighted to connect with a person once he gets to know them.
He will need a patient person to adopt him, someone who can give him the time and space to become comfortable.  Given time, space, love and understanding, he will be such a loving and sweet companion.
Love you Pumpkin! and thanks to all the other folks involved with him, Tavi, Mayor's Alliance and PVF, for giving so much him and other animals like him.
xo

Demo of TTouch Balance Plus Leash

Hi everyone, I recently posted to a TTouch list about a very good result I had using the Balance Plus leash configuration with a pit bull from the shelter. I had to walk him from the vet. I could tell he was a "pully" dog and when I got him set up in this configuration, like magic, he was walking very politely beside me and stopping when I signaled gently. I was able to have a lighter touch on the leash, which was more comfortable for both of us.

Linda Tellington-Jones (the amazing woman who is the originator and developer of TTouch) asked me to post a clip of this leash setup on youtube. At some point I will do a demo with a live dog but in the meantime, here is a demo of the setup using my little pet beanie baby dog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SZZSw-AB2I

Enjoy!

Marge and Lola

Above you see my friend Marge and her dog Lola. I took this photo when we went through a training in October with Debby Potts. Marge and I have been through four wonderful TTouch trainings together: two with Edie Jane Eaton, one with Debby Potts, and one with Linda Tellington-Jones (I also did a training with Kathy Cascade this summer in Santa Fe, so I have been through five trainings). I haven't driven in many years so Marge was our chauffeur for the two trainings we did in New Jersey (thank you for making those possible, Marge!). Marge is a lovely, kind woman who has a very gentle, natural way with animals.

On the last day of the recent training with Debby, Marge decided to bring her dog Lola. Lola is a gorgeous German Shepherd who is perfectly comfortable with people but can have trouble when she comes in contact with other dogs. First of all, going in the car with Marge driving was a new experience for Lola and I was a new person sitting in the back seat with her. She was a little nervous about all the new stimuli at first, especially when we went under bridges and into tunnels. But I did some TTouch on her and after a while, she settled and you could really feel a calm energy in the car. When we got to the training, everyone was very respectful of Lola's space and we had made a little area enclosed by tables where Lola and Marge could sit. Again, Lola was nervous at first but calmed down after a while and some great directon by Debby and work by Debby, Marge and others in the training, including Mary and Peggy of Tavi and Friends, who were assisting the training and took Lola outside for a while and really calmed her down. We all think Lola did a good job! She was very sweet on the way back in the car, putting her head on my lap at times and putting her paws on top of my hands. AWWWW! She is a very special dog. Marge is doing a really great job with Lola and is using a balance plus leash setup on her which is very helpful for keeping Lola from pulling too much on the leash (more on the balance plus setup at another time).

So a few days ago I had the pleasure of visiting Marge and Lola at their home. Lola was a great hostess, showing me around her beautiful apartment and garden. Marge really has a nice flair and has fixed up her apartment so it is lovely and cheery. The way she has painted it and decorated it, there is something very magical about the atmosphere there. Below you see Lola in her cozy cabana.


Marge, Lola and I had a great visit. Marge had prepared a really nice lunch (of course Lola had lunch with us too). Below you see Lola on her bed with one of her favorite toys, her little raccoon (I think the name is Racky). I got in some zigzag touches on Lola, which she seemed to enjoy.

Marge told me about the interesting happenings in her case studies, and was kind enough to give me a bunch of cat food that a friend had given her, which I was able to bring to Social Tees shelter later. As Marge and I talked with each other, Lola got very sleepy and below you see her settling in for a nap. Thanks Lola and Marge! I look forward to more TTouch adventures with you both.

Big Steps for Little Kittens

Yesterday at Social Tees I worked on the above kitten again. He had started out so scared but is REALLY coming around, it is such a pleasure to see. I am calling him Jimmy (I'll have to check later and make sure he's a HE :) ). You can see in the above picture that his ears are in a normal position, not flattened and tense. Yesterday when I first approached him, he still hissed, but again once I began to do TTouch on him, he relaxed, and yesterday I was able to do more TTouch on his body in order to get his body relaxed, which was wonderful. This time he started purring very shortly after I started touching him and he continued to purr the entire time I worked on him. I know it is going to take him a while to really trust people but he is really coming along, and it is such a pleasure to feel his body, head, ears etc relax as he was so completely rigid when I first began to work on him. Even his little face looks more relaxed and in less of a worried expression here. A big hug to this little being!

And the three formerly very frightened kittens together in one cage are really coming along as well. Yesterday I put a chair right outside their cage so I could take each one out, one at a time, and do TTouch on them while they sat in my lap. This way, they could see their friends and be very close to their cage. Even the most frightened kitten, the little black one, was ok with me doing this after an initial small growl when I took him out. The growl soon faded and he let me do TTouch all over his head and body before going back into his cage.

Thank you so much to Linda Tellington-Jones (and to all my other wonderful teachers of this work) for the gift of this powerful work.

TTouch - Ear Strokes

Hi folks, I was trying to describe to someone how to do the slides or strokes on the ear that we do in TTouch, and decided that a little film clip would be an easier way to explain! This is a little funky, as I was holding the camera as well as stroking the ears of my cat Garbanzo at the same time. I am stroking from the base of the head out to the tip. On a cat you can often do this on both ears simultaneously. On a dog, this touch works best if you put the other hand under the jaw to support the head. Be sure to stroke all the way out to the tip.

Doing TTouch on the ears is a lovely thing to do for your animal (or on yourself), as there are acupressure points on the ear which involve respiration, digestion and circulation. It can also help an animal or person in an emergency situation who is in danger of going into shock.

Also, especially with a cat, start out doing this using a very light pressure and adjusting depending on what the animal responds best to. Garbanzo happens to like a firmer stroke than many cats, but I have been doing this for quite a while on him. Another method which is wonderful which Linda Tellington showed us is to first do a small circle with the thumb and then slide it out to the end of the ear. Doing raccoon touches (small circle and a quarter using the tip of the finger) around the base of the ear is also very soothing to an animal.

Mia, Cuddles and Scooter

Sarah with Esme and Marge with one of Joan's dogs in the labyrinth at Dayton Training w/Linda

Kathy and Mia at Dayton Training

On July 9 I got together with Marge and Kathy, who are both Feldenkrais (http://www.feldenkrais.com/) practitioners and were both in the TTouch training I took in Dayton with Linda Tellington-Jones. Linda was one of Feldenkrais' students, and TTouch has its roots in the Feldenkrais method. Both of these modalities are so subtle, yet so powerful.

Feldenkrais work has helped me a great deal over the years with a number of aches and pains, as well as being able to help me in times of great stress (and Kathy is a wonderful practitioner who has worked on me many times), and Feldenkrais work is what led me to TTouch in the first place. Kathy, Marge and I had some wonderful exchanges during the Dayton training, and above you will see a couple of photos of us there (Marge and I are walking other people's dogs).

So back to the story at hand. We met at Kathy's house, so we could work together on Kathy's animals: her dog Mia and her cats, Cuddles and Scooter. Kathy and Mia recently moved into her mother's house where Cuddles and Scooter were living, so suddenly there was a new dynamic with Mia in the animal mix.

The biggest problem in the household is Scooter's spraying. Kathy believes Scooter's world has been upset because Mia has come to live with him. Mia and Scooter have a "tolerant" relationship with occasional staredowns that end with Mia doing a start-chase (doesn't follow through) and Scooter runs and then sprays some piece of furniture or a door. Mia is very jealous of any being to whom Kathy gives attention--including Scooter and Cuddles. Kathy feels that both Scooter and Mia are insecure. Scooter is the shyest. Mia is very needy and Kathy thinks a lack of self-esteem lies below that. Cuddles is the youngest and the most calm and secure. Kathy believes it is her nature being part Maine Coon. Her still nature seems to annoy Scooter. (she really likes Scooter and Mia). As Kathy was working with Scooter she sensed that his tail and hind quarters were very tight and it was hard for her to get to these areas. She thought I might be able to get through to Scooter, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to work on him for an extended amount of time and to work briefly on Mia and Cuddles as well.

Kathy and Mia

Kathy picked Marge and me up at the train station with Mia in the car. When we got to the house, Cuddles was relaxed and hanging out on the ground floor, and Scooter was in his favorite morning place, the window of her mother's bedroom.

Scooter being shy

I wanted to approach Scooter very slowly and see how much contact he is ready to have with me. I wanted especially to eventually try to get to his lower back, where Kathy said she was having trouble touching him.

Kathy came very quietly with me into the room where Scooter was, and she stayed with me for the first part of our session. This was a great idea so that I wasn't a totally new person all alone with him.

I spoke softly to Scooter, introducing myself, and first started on Scooter's head, doing small, light raccoon touches around the base of his ears. He was very calm, sitting in the sunny window and gave me no resistance to touch from beginning to the end of our session, which probably was approx 15-20 mins.

I worked with very light pressure (1-2 pressure) and was able to go all the way up and down his spine and he continued to become more relaxed. Then I worked my way up to doing baby chimp touches and clouded leopard touches all the way down his spine and down his tail, and later on I finished up with some work around the mouth. All the while, I felt the calmness, the warm sun and the cool breeze gently coming through the window, and felt Scooter's comfort with the touch and with the environment.

Scooter grew more and more relaxed the more I worked on him, and he started to drool, which Kathy says means he is very relaxed and comfortable. As I started to feel I was done with Scooter's session and was winding down my movements and speaking to Kathy, Scooter also felt he was done and leaped gracefully from the window.

Later on, I saw Scooter in a different room and he was lying on his back, like he wanted to play. I did a few touches on him, played a bit with him with one of his toys, and that was it. He seemed very comfortable.

While I worked on Scooter, Marge worked on Mia.

Here's Marge's report on Mia: "Me-Me, Mia, working with her was very subtle indeed. After we first got there. I did some Noah's Marches with back of my hand. I actually did several and connected from her head down her body and to the end of each leg. Did some clouded leopard across her neck, shoulders and along each side. We had a little break and when I worked with her again, it was with the jelly-scrubber. I used the side with the tiny, fine nubbies against her body. I did the T-touch circles all over her body including around her tail and thighs. Inside the scrubber, I was using the abalone touch, but the scrubber really provided a lot of surface and a very soft, supple touch. I also did Noah's Marches with the scrubber."

and Marge with Cuddles: "I didn't really work with Cuddles with my hands, but when we started playing with the wand & corn dog, I made circles while she had the corn dog in her paws, did circles on the floor near her. She's so easy, I didn't really try anything specific with her - just incorporated circles into the play she likes so much."


Kathy and Mia

I had not used the scrubber much, so I tried it on Mia and felt how it could be comforting for certain animals, especially with all those little nubs creating a massaging type of feeling. Mia definitely responded to it well. My cat Garbanzo is not fond of it, he prefers the warmth of my hand. Different strokes for different folks! And I did some TTouch also on Cuddles, who was perched comfortably on the couch at that point. She is comfortable with just about any part of her body being touched, but I did use a rather light touch on her, as most cats prefer that.

Cuddles getting ready to pounce and play

Kathy and her mother were very gracious hostesses and gave us a lovely lunch after our TTouch session. Thank you so much!
Kathy's report the night after our session was very exciting. It seemed to me that Scooter had really turned a corner and was now receptive to Kathy in a way that he had not been before. The report on Mia was remarkable as well, and Cuddles was also very cuddly.

Here is what Kathy said:"Scooter: he just wants more and more attention. It's so cute. I was lying on the floor around 4pm doing a little Feldenkrais movement…-- had my eyes closed as I was moving, Mia was resting at my feet. All of a sudden I opened my eyes and there was Scooter, sitting beside me, waiting to be pet. It was so cute. He was very relaxed, different because it's very rare for him to come to me in the living room with Mia so close. And Mia was resting comfortably. I was able to do a bit of TTouch. I didn't do too much because i knew he had a lot of touch and it was MY time (I never get much time to myself). It was a very sweet surprise to see him sitting next to me. Same thing tonight when we came home. He just wanted to be touched, didn't even want to eat. I wish I could read his mind to know what it is he is looking for in the touch! This evening I was able to work into his hind area. Again, I only did a bit because I knew he had a lot today, but only a bit and he was drooling again. One thing I realized tonight is that I really should show my mother some of the touches because he kept coming around me and he's her cat. But it's good to have gotten an "in" with him. Mia: Mia continued to sit with her left arm straighter. So interesting, it's like she heard me talking about her R forearm and she decided to sit in a way where her arm/paw lie flatter along the ground. She was very relaxed. When we went walking in the field with my sister and her dogs, Mia was running with energy I have not seen her run with for a while. I know part of it is the cooler weather, but I could see also that she was really enjoying moving. I hope to get one of those scrubby brushes (sorry, it's late and I forget what they're called) soon! Cuddles is still her sweet loving self. But she too was very insistent on being touched."

Cuddles looking cute!

And here are Kathy's comments from 7/11, two days later: Tonight Mia allowed Cuddles to be on my lap without whining. I had done some TTouch (a short session) on Mia first and she seemed pretty relaxed. I never know, is she more tired anyway? Since it so rarely happens, I'm going to credit TTouch. It really is wonderful what can happen with this work. Scooter is begging me now to pet him. He has always liked to be pet when i'm on the computer at night, but tonight I was able to do circles all the way around his ears...pretty cool. And let me get to his hind area. He let me work down is tail--it has tension still. I also noticed that he stand with his back legs together closer than I think I usually see. Makes me wonder if we could get him to shift, widen his stance, would he spray less?
When I was working with Mia on Thursday (after Marge) I explored the jelly scrubber (abalone) and also tried using a smaller portion of it a la clouded leopard. Then I worked without the scrubber: abalone around her shoulders, clouded leopard down through her torso, with pauses as I found that this was a way to be able to get all the way down her legs (she's very sensitive around her legs). One very interesting thing was that as I was working through her torso this last time, as I got to the thoracic lumbar junction it seemed like something let go. I had a feeling it was connected in some way to her shoulder and as we were mentioning, her Left shoulder/leg seemed inwardly rotated. I'm thinking that the accumulation of everything that was done with her that morning enabled her to release some pattern and we later saw her sitting much straighter over her R elbow. That has remained and also her foreleg and paw are lying less rotated on the ground, all her pads now are facing the ground and they weren't before. "

So thank you to one and all, this experience was truly a pleasure and a great learning experience as well. And especially Scooter, thank you, it was a very special experience to connect with you on such a deep level. I hope we have a chance to do this again -- and meanwhile, I am sure Kathy, with TTouch and the sensitivity that she has due to her deep knowledge of Feldenkrais work, will continue to make wonderful progress with her animals.

Linda Tellington-Jones and TTouch

It's been a few days since I finished a TTouch training in Dayton, NJ and it is still very surreal! However, as you can see above, I do have proof that it actually happened! Here you can see Linda working on a cat (who is LOVING having her ears touched) and you can also see Linda's hands working magic on a sweet dog named Esme (more on her later). I am so grateful for this experience. By experiencing Linda doing TTouch in person, I could really feel what that special connection is like, almost as though I could feel my hands inside of her hands and have that sensation - hard to describe but so amazing. Anyone interested in TTouch should definitely take a workshop with her if you have the opportunity. Thank you so much Linda and thank you to all the animals and people in the training who were so generous and taught me so much as well.