B.E.S.T – An Overview
The pain that a patient feels in a particular part of the body usually originates elsewhere (unless that pain is caused by an accident or other trauma). Often the cause of this pain is "defense physiology", a term Dr. Morter uses to describe inappropriate body responses to the current situation. An example would be tight and tense muscles in a cat who is lying in the yard, relaxing and resting. Last year that cat was attacked by a dog while lying in that same yard. Because of this, the cat's person built a fence around the yard. Today there is no threat which may require the animal to defend itself or to flee from harm. There is no reason for muscles to be tense. Yet the muscles are tense; they feel hard when touched and the cat flinches if pressure is applied. The tension is there because the nervous system is sending those muscles instructions that are inappropriate for the current relaxed situation. These inappropriate instructions are the result of a past situation (the dog attack) stored in a part of the brain called the sensory cortex. It is as if the nervous system "remembers" the previous attack and always equates lying in the yard with "danger". This is not the same thing as remembering with one's mind. These "memories" are at a much deeper level within the nervous system. Human patients are frequently unaware of the reasons that muscle groups remain tense and tender when they are asked to relax during a B.E.S.T. treatment.
B.E.S.T. procedures allow the nervous system to be programmed with new information so that responses are appropriate to present events. This permits body systems to begin to return to balanced functioning. As the body becomes more balanced, pain and other symptoms diminish and are eliminated. Because the nervous system is the central controller of all the body's processes, inappropriate nervous system functioning can affect any body system, giving rise to a variety of symptoms such as allergies, digestive problems, behavior disorders, etc.
Dogs and cats usually enjoy B.E.S.T. treatments. Improvements are often noted after the first treatment. B.E.S.T. sessions generally last 20 - 30 minutes. At times during the session, the animal will be encouraged to walk around the treatment area to facilitate nervous system reprogramming. After the session the animal is relaxed and frequently sleepy.