In these 2 days we are going to have a closer look at the level of the cell.

The cell is the unit of life.

Our body contains trillions of cells, over 200 kinds. Never at rest but always active to support the body to function/ maintain itself. All working together in a reciprocal way. Most of the time without our conscious interaction to keep our body, mind and spirit in a healthy state. What is required for this to continue through life? Not easy to be answered, because every person is different and so his/ her cells will respond differently to all kinds of triggers. How robust are your cells? Looking at the anatomy of cells they look quite ‘ similar’, but what about their function?

To look into the continuous activity of a cell we will first look how a cell came into being in the first place. Going back billions of years. Why? In osteopathy past, present and future are all important.

We will discuss the evolution of the cell, from bacteria to the human cell and their symbiosis. The importance of the cell membrane with the numerous receptors and gates to communicate with the environment and its attachment to the cytoskeleton to provide ‘stability’ for the many functions happening in one cell at the same time.

Although a cell can be healthy, it is depending and influenced by the environment directly around it and indirectly. These influences can be very subtle and have started some time ago or are quite forceful and affecting the balance or homoeostasis of the cell/ cells and so the whole person e.g. viral infection.

Osteopathy is treating the whole person, the person with his history, his body- mind and spirit, his environment, his potentials. All have an influence on the health of that person, and need to be part of the treatment. To improve the health on a cellular level/ the person, we need to know when and why this started in the first place. Understanding becomes more and more an issue, not only for us as osteopaths but also for the medical profession.

We are becoming may be more respectful of our body by knowing more of the immense activity our cells perform to keep us healthy and happy. A juggling act we have a big influence on.