IAAP Newsletter:The Unified Field
The Miller Technique
Joseph Antell Teaching the Miller Technique at the IAAP Conference
The Miller Technique: An Interview
Joseph Antell at the recent I.A.A.P. Annual Meeting presented a one-hour workshop on the Miller Technique, developed and implemented by attunement pioneers Eddie and Gladys Miller. Larry Johansen subsequently interviewed Joseph about this technique. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Larry: First, what is the Miller Technique?
Joseph: This is a technique developed and used by Eddie and Gladys Miller. They had practiced as chiropractors and then met Uranda, who started teaching them attunement. The Millers discovered that the nerves emerging from the spinal cord provided vibrational contacts or gateways to the organs, glands and tissues to which they connect. Uranda validated the technique. The Millers subsequently transitioned to a full-time attunement practice, vibrationally facilitating change without using any physical force. This was their primary technique.
L: How long did they use this technique?
J: Well, I would say about 50 years. They graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1949, and met Uranda shortly thereafter. My parents first met Eddie and Gladys at their practice in Berwick, Pennsylvania in 1965.
L: From your experience with the Miller technique, when would you use it?
J: A lot of people come with conditions that would benefit from a calming influence. They need to transition from their stressful lives and hectic days to a place where there is deep relaxation. The Miller Technique affords this type of initial engagement with people, especially during the first 15 or 20 minutes of an attunement session. This technique provides a soothing current to the connected organs and glands, so that when you work directly with these organs and glands, less time is required in balancing their patterns.
L: Would you normally use this technique right after balancing the cervical pattern?
J: That’s right. Eddie and Gladys almost always worked as a team. Both would start at the cervicals, so you would have two pairs of hands at the cervicals. One would continue their technique while the other maintained the cervical pattern.
L: Would you describe what actually happens, by the numbers, so-to-speak.
J: Eddie and Gladys would usually have the client lay on their right side. Eddie would hold the cervical pattern, with one hand on each side. Gladys would put her thumbs and index fingers directly over the vertebrae, starting at C1, also known as the atlas. Her left and right thumbs and index fingers almost touched each other. The middle and other fingers would drape across the sides of the vertebrae and over the muscle and ligaments that run along the spine.
L: So the plane of the two hands would be perpendicular to the spinal column?
J: Right. Gladys would stay on a location until she felt it clear, and then gradually would move down the spinal column. If she felt there wasn’t a particular need, she would continue on. Eddie and Gladys actually laid their hands on the person, using a light contact, but no force.
L: Would they stop at the sacrum or work on into the tailbone?
J: Eddie and Gladys would go right to the tailbone. They would take note where the areas of need were. Later, when the client turned onto their back, Eddie would work the head contact points. Gladys would look for the neurologically corresponding organs, glands, and tissues on the front of the body. This would be the organ, gland or tissue supplied by the nerve emerging at a particular location on the spine.
L: For example, if you perceived a need between the shoulder blades, you might find a corresponding area of imbalance with the gall bladder. Though the gall bladder is lower in the thoracic cavity, the nerves supplying the gall bladder connect to the spine between the shoulder blades.
J: Yes, though they would likely also check the area in front of the shoulder blades as well. This was to be sure they weren’t mistakenly picking up a pattern from the organs or tissues directly opposite the spinal contact points. Gladys told me to get a chart that diagrammed the spinal nerve innervations with related organs and glands, and learn the correlations.
L: How long does it typically take to work this technique with a person?
J: They would typically take between 10 and 20 minutes. Then the client would turn on their back for another 15—20 minutes of attunement work. The total attunement session would last about 30 to 45 minutes.
L: What happened when Eddie and Gladys had the client turn onto their back?
J: One would still be working with the endocrine contact points in the head, and the other would start with two relaxation points in the front. These were just below the clavicles, halfway between the center of the chest and the outside of the arm.
L: Would they use one hand over each?
J: Yes, they would put one hand over the left point and one over the right point. Next Gladys would go into the endocrine contact points in the body, and then work with the organs and glands that correlated to their previous perceptions when they worked with the spine.
L: Thank you for sharing your experience of the Miller Technique with our readers.
Reflections/Observations from the First Annual I.A.A.P. Meeting
by Denise Swentor, Denver, Colorado
On June 2, 2001, I shared in the pleasure of attending the first I.A.A.P. Annual Meeting held in Kansas City. What a great meeting! For me, it was like a homecoming.
Donna Jorgensen opened with a ceremony, one of her dances from the heart–as I refer to them. Donna gives so freely of herself in flowing dances filled with love, grace and beauty from within. Thank you, Donna!! Chris then welcomed everyone to the meeting. Without Chris and Donna's dedication and love, their sharing, their co-teaching and their individual caring of others they so freely share in spreading Love Made Visible, this weekend would not have taken place.
Meeting and listening to the directors individually was extremely enriching. Each director shared their insights, their thoughts on attunement practice, and their vision on what I.A.A.P. means to them. In listening to each one speak, I gained new insight into my own attunement practice and felt the connection, if you will, of my own involvement within the organization and experienced this involvement with my peers.
I was additionally blessed in being able to see and talk with members of my five-month Attunement class. The love and support of my fellow-class members helped make my move to Denver easier. I know I received their love and attunement support via long distance!! It was equally rewarding to see many of my "old" attunement friends and to meet "new" friends from Colorado.
Later in the day we had the opportunity to share in different workshops. I attended one led by Andrew Shier. He suggested that after working with the cervicals and the top 3 or 4 endocrine glands, we begin to sense/perceive the relationships that begin to form in the body that allow "the fire to fall from heaven". He encouraged us to use our intuitive perception to let these relationships become known, without censorship or anticipation. Trust! There are all kinds of relationships in the body through which the power of the Creator is seeking to move in "this moment". Be open to them. Andrew taught that this is not about solving someone’s problems, but of letting the intensified power of love move. It does so through relationship.
Listening to and observing Andrew was like watching a flower unfold and spread its beauty, the beauty from within. Andrew mentioned how he had learned new techniques and noticed a difference in himself over the past several months. I have had the privilege of watching part of this unfold as I have taken classes under Andrew's guidance and have been sharing attunements with him for the past year. The wonderful world of the attunement current of love unfolding in another person is quite beautiful to experience. And this, my friends, is what the essence of sharing radiant attunement work and unconditional love is all about.
I appreciated learning Joseph Antell's method of self-attunement. I often find myself driving down the road in my car and feeling the need for self-attunement. Pulling over on the highway in Denver is something I do not recommend! However, a body's need for self-attunement is ever present. I eagerly listened to Joseph describe the technique for mirror imaging one's self and conducting the attunement process. In discussing this technique with my peers, we shared comments on how wonderful it is to be able to practice on ourselves. This is a personal and special technique. Thank you, Joseph!!
Equally impressive was hearing Larry Johansen speak about nutrition. We all know nutrition is so very important in our lives and often we fail to give our bodies what it deserves most–good nutrition through diet and exercise. This topic holds a very special place in my heart, given the issues in my tissues I deal with on a daily basis.
The tremendous depth, breadth and knowledge these four men bring to this organization is awesome!! What each director offers each of us is almost overwhelming. I feel honored to be a part of an organization created out of love and dedication for attunement work. I also enjoy being a part of an organization created for teaching, learning, and sharing our knowledge through the attunement current of love.
This very meeting is what sharing the wonderful world of the attunement current of unconditional love is all about. I consider myself richly blessed by having allowed the world of the attunement current of love to unfold in my life and in my being able to watch the attunement current unfold in the lives of others. I also know that no matter where I am called to go in life, or where I live, the wonderful world of the attunement current and unconditional love will be continuously with me. All I have to do is open myself up and receive all that is offered.
- DS
