The key position of the navel in the fascial and autonomic nervous system and its use with the navel reflex

1. pre- and perinatal imprinting of the navel

The fetus in the womb shows independent, self-regulating behavior at a very early stage.
One of its purposes is to explore its body and its environment.
The language of the body, in particular facial expressions and gestures, indicate needs, interests, talents, learning processes and feelings, as well as good and bad dreams.
From the 10th week onwards, all complex movements can be observed, e.g. active turning in the womb, affectionate touching of the abdomen or violent kicking against the abdominal wall in response to unpleasant noises or annoyance caused by ultrasound examinations or even amniocentesis.
Twins have been observed waking each other up or kissing through the egg membrane, which is answered with a corresponding facial expression interpreted as a smile (in D. Chamberlain in: seelisches Erleben vor und nach der Geburt, ed: L. Janus, S. Haibach).
At the same time, the foetus is „virtually connected to the mother’s emotional world via the physiological equivalents of emotions such as hormonal changes in the blood, the quality of the oxygen supply, changes in the heart rate etc.“ as described by the Institute for Personality Development and Psychotherapy. The same applies to the connection with the mother’s metabolism and immune system.

The umbilical cord is the only direct connection between the developing individual and its nurturing and protective, but often also stressful, environment. Fetus and mother eat, drink, smoke, take medicine, experience joy, sadness, anger, excitement and also any stress together.
Through the umbilical cord, there is a physical and emotional unity between the developing child and its mother or life. The child’s umbilicus experiences the mother’s reaction to life via the composition of the umbilical blood, including the oxygen and carbon dioxide content and pH value of the blood, via the rhythm of the heartbeat and the blood pressure. All nutrients, but also stress hormones such as cortisol, are supplied to the child’s organism via the umbilical vessels and all metabolic waste products are disposed of. Maternal stress hormones, as well as therapeutically administered cortisone, not only increase the risk of typical stress-related illnesses in the child, but also cause a disturbance in brain maturation with an increased risk of intelligence and concentration disorders as well as later depression (with Katrin Neubauer). Conversely, children whose mothers were exposed to stress-related adrenal insufficiency with depletion of hormones such as cortisol also suffer from a weakness of the adrenal glands after birth and are more susceptible to stress.
Parallel to the flood of information via the umbilical vessels, the navel experiences the corresponding reaction of the maternal and fetal autonomic nervous and fascial system via the numerous free nerve endings and receptors of the sympathetic nervous system in the umbilical fascia.
The developing fetal fascial system perceives the physiological control ability of the maternal autonomic nervous system between a state of stress and relaxation as well as a fixation of the maternal organism in the sympathetic tone, with the associated reaction of the maternal and fetal fascial system.
The umbilical fascia is also actively involved in the regulation of the information supply.
The connection of thoughts and emotions with the fascial system is shown, for example, by the fact that even the mother’s thoughts about nicotine can lead to a constriction of the umbilical cord. Ultrasound examinations also show that foetuses not only play with their umbilical cord very often, but occasionally also actively compress it.

The umbilicus and fascial system are actively involved in the individual development of stress reactions, pain, fear, sadness, aggressive behavior, but also joy, affection, learning, memory, preferences and active communication with the environment.
The so-called cell memory or the oscillation pattern of the umbilical fascia may, like other scars, store emotions as well as the associated and other experiences of the vegetative and fascial system, i.e. also the handling of stress.
The umbilicus would then store both the traumatic experiences and the essence of the entire fetal individuation process and the delivery process. The formation of the umbilicus after the umbilical cord is cut is thus related to the formation of the independent human being and its separation from the direct connection with the mother or life.
The Basel psychiatrist Peter Schindler, President of the International Study Association for Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Medicine Switzerland, describes birth as perhaps the most formative psychological experience of all. Klaus Käppeli, a body psychotherapist in St. Gallen, explains this partly on the basis of the experience of the transition from a state of maximum stress to a state of relaxation.
In my opinion, it is also the mastering of the transition from unity and security through a stage of the greatest narrowness, fear and despair into a state of independent, viable separateness and relative independence that makes birth one of the fundamental, formative experiences of human development.
An experience which, in the positive case, could support a basic trust in life, both on the emotional and on the muscular, fascial, vegetative, hormonal and central nervous levels. In the negative case, however, a complicated delivery can cause prolonged stress for the baby.
The child’s organism can remain in stress mode for a long time with the corresponding reactions at all levels. Accordingly, pelvic twisting, SI joint and atlas misalignments often occur with the resulting consequences, which in the worst case can accompany us for the rest of our lives.
In the case of a peridural anesthesia or general anesthesia of the mother, the basic trust is additionally shaken by the fact that the fetus experiences its own extreme stress reaction differently from the maternal reaction. In the case of a caesarean section or premature delivery, the readiness of the fetus to start its new life, signaled by the onset of contractions, is often missing. The premature cutting of the still pulsating umbilical cord, experienced as the threat of suffocation, the unfamiliar bright and often stressful environment and the frequent separation from the mother, especially in premature babies, are further, often avoidable stress factors for the newborn’s sensitive organism.
All of these traumas may leave their mark in the navel and may have a lifelong effect from there as a stress-inducing primal trouble spot on the entire body, soul and spirit unit of the new human being.
Thus the severing of the umbilical cord with its vessels, nerves and fasciae becomes the first and most experience-rich scar in the unimaginably complex process of becoming a human being.

However, it has a significant difference to all other scars. Since we cut the umbilical cord at a distance from the navel, it is not the traumatizing cut of a pair of scissors or a knife that forms its boundary to the outside, but the body itself. While all other scars have a cellular architecture and cellular vibration more or less traumatized and more or less harmonizing with the body, the architecture and cellular vibration of the navel arises in relation to the connection with the whole body and to its central position in this community of cells. And its emergence includes all the information that the body has gathered in the course of its development, both within its mother and as the last link in a very long chain of connected lives.

2 The navel as a primal source of disturbance and power

Relieving the tension pattern of this „primal scar“ in the navel reflex can possibly transfer the experience of the navel to tense or „disturbed“ areas of the body again and again when dealing with stress.
As with other interference fields, confirmation of the interference field character of the navel is usually shown by the direct resultion of the pelvic twist while touching it and by longer lasting resolution by laser irradiation, injection of local anestetics or manual relaxation. With the relief of the navel as well as disturbing scars or other interference foci with the navel reflex, there is not only a lasting resolution of the pelvic twisting but also a vegetative and fascial whole-body relief. In the event of renewed stress, clinical experience shows a reactivation of the usual trouble spots or weak points, usually starting with the navel as the primary and superordinate trouble spot.
A de-stressed or relaxed navel can in turn be seen as a primal source of energy and our most important positive resource. The Hara or lower Tan Tien as the local equivalent of the popular, Western knowledge of the power in the belly testifies to this natural and cultivatable primal power in the center of our body. The natural and recommendable tendency to place one or both hands on the abdomen is likewise. The next step is to place the energy coming from there or blocked there on a corresponding area of the body in need of energy via the other hand, as with the navel reflex.
However all these connections and reactions don’t function if our energetic cover or our aura is overloaded with stress or trauma residuals.

4. the navel in relation to the autonomic nervous, fascial and hormonal systems

Integral orthopaedics sees the origin of most complaints of the musculoskeletal system, but also of most so-called civilization diseases, as an acute or chronic, stress-related overload of the adrenal glands and solar plexus with a direct effect on the fascial system, especially the back and abdominal fasciae. Exceeding the individual limits of resilience leads to vegetative regulatory rigidity with a dominant sympathetic tone and thus not only impaired relaxation and regulatory capacity of the musculofascial system, but often also impaired regeneration and self-healing.
The navel lies in direct proximity to one of the body’s most important vegetative regulation centers, the solar plexus. This is responsible for regulating the state of tension, sympathetic tone or yang, and the state of relaxation, parasympathetic tone or yin, particularly in the area of the internal organs.
The state of tension of the entire fascial system and the smooth muscles of the hollow organs as well as the activity of the adrenal glands and all other glands are dependent on the state of the solar plexus.
The adrenal glands, which are also located near the navel, above the 12th rib, produce steroid hormones in their cortex. Cortisol is responsible for regulating the stress and immune response, among other things. It regulates blood sugar levels, has an anti-inflammatory effect, affects the tension of the heart and blood vessels and stimulates the central nervous system. The adrenal medulla is part of the sympathetic nervous system and produces the stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline. In conjunction with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the solar plexus, the adrenal glands therefore not only control the function of the other endocrine glands and organs but also have a decisive influence on the tension of the fascia and therefore also the muscle system and, via the diencephalon, especially the thalamus, also on our feelings and thoughts.
The in case of dysstress usually asymmetrically tense hip flexors and contralateral hip adductors and back extensors both originate in the immediate vicinity of the solar plexus and adrenal glands, at the transition from the thoracic to the lumbar spine. The overloading of the stress organs leads directly or via irritation of the lower two thoracic vertebrae and ribs to unilateral or bilateral, usually asymmetrical tension in the hip flexors and adductors that originate there and their fascia, a pelvic twisting. Integral orthopaedics therefore sees pelvic torsion as the primary reaction of the musculoskeletal system to stress, with its often far-reaching consequences for the entire musculoskeletal system and the psyche.

5. treatment with navel and scar integration

These correlations result in a causal possibility of influencing back, neck and shoulder pain, as well as the associated complex of complaints via the navel. In addition, the application of the navel and scar reflex also reveals the release of an energy that appears to be independent of the fascial system. This can be felt throughout the body under the second treatment hand and induces deep muscle and fascia relaxation as well as relieving other sources of interference.

1. diagnostics:
For diagnostic and didactic reasons as well as to facilitate further treatment, Integral Orthopaedics initially involves the gradual release of stress-inducing interference foci with scar and navel integration. This shows a clear indication of the sensitive interweaving of stress organs, autonomic nervous system, fascia and musculature: the components of pelvic curvature, i.e. hip flexion contracture and reciprocal adductor shortening, relax immediately after treatment of a relevant scar, relief of a stressful jaw, initially through absorbent cotton rolls, then through independent shifting in a comfortable direction or removal of disruptive foreign bodies. As confirmation of the connective tissue connection between the navel and the whole body, a change in the free direction of the navel reflex is often observed.

2nd therapy:
During the navel reflex, a finger of one hand relieves the navel and the other hand lies on an area of pain or tension, primarily the flank to relieve the abdominal and dorsal fasciae and muscles.
For pure interference field treatment, the second hand is placed on a scar or other source of interference to be eliminated, primarily and in the case of and after an infection also at the front of the neck above the tonsil region.
If there is a pathological concentration of the energy field above the navel, it is recommended that the energetic navel reflex be applied first. The therapist approaches the patient’s navel slowly from above from as far away as possible. He then remains at the distance that the patient and therapist perceive as the boundary of the aura. At the same time, the patient can hold the flank or another tension zone. In the case of stress-related energy concentration, something like a cold wind is often released, which is dissipated by holding the hand above the body at an angle. As an indication of a connection between the aura and the autonomic nervous and fascial system, a pelvic twist usually dissolves within a minute. As an indication of an additional connection with the psyche, emotions stored in the aura or the fascial system that were not integrated at the time of the trauma are often released.
With the scar reflex, a scar is also relieved with one hand and the other hand lies on a tension zone, preferably on the one that proves to correspond. Here too, energetic relief is sometimes indicated and the psychological support of emotions that are released is a matter of course.

3. self-treatment:
To support the treatment, follow-up treatment and prevention of renewed decompensation, patients are encouraged to perform the integration reflexes regularly, especially after stress and in the event of complaints.
6. attempt to explain the navel reflex

The umbilical reflex can be classified as a physiological reflex, as it is a foreign reflex that initiates the coordinated reflex movement of a group of muscles as well as vegetative reactions.
Klaus Weber understands the navel reflex as a „fascial reaction transmission under relief, in which the myofascial, dorsal tension conditions can be positively influenced via the navel as the ventral fascial anchor point of the trunk wall.“ He also confirms the key position of the navel in the transmission of information in the connective tissue intercellular substance and recognizes that „pre- and postnatal experiences meet at the navel with the structure and function of a central switching point of the ventral myofascial chain“.
However, this does not yet sufficiently explain the clinically demonstrable effect on the autonomic nervous system, nor the demonstrable fascia and muscle relaxation under the second hand during the umbilical reflex. The relaxation of the sympathetic tone already occurs through the sustained gentle touch or very gentle displacement or rotation of the navel in the most pleasant and least tense direction and is independent of a displacement of the abdominal fascia. The latter causes local fascia relief, but no perceptible energy flow under the second hand, no vegetative switching and no whole-body relaxation.
Obviously, the navel reflex releases previously blocked energies by inhibiting sympathetic receptors in the connective tissue and then transmits them via the body of the patient or a second person.
Modern fascia research offers a decisive clue to understanding the effect of the navel reflex, as well as other gentle manual techniques: the sustained gentle tangential stress of the navel reflex has been proven to reduce sympathetic activity via certain fascial sensory cells, the „Ruffini“ receptors, as well as the free nerve endings, especially of the sympathetic nervous system (Schleip, fascia and nervous system). The Ruffini corpuscle has the shape of a cylinder. Collagen fiber bundles pass through the openings. The ends of nerve fibers are anchored between them.
It is also possible that extremely gentle displacement, as in the umbilical reflex, supports the dissolution of excess collagen by releasing the messenger substance MMP-1. (Zehng et al, J Biomech 45 cited by Patrick Pfeiffer). In the long term, a therapeutic increase in the pain threshold and thus influencing the connective tissue part of the pain memory could also be achieved by converting pain-conducting receptors into pressure- and movement-conducting receptors. ( Stefan Albrecht)
The transmission of autonomic relaxation impulses from the navel, as a central fascial anchor point or scars, as localized anchor points, can thus reach the entire body via the fascial network. The connection with the nearby solar plexus and the adrenal glands explains the central importance of the navel in terms of inhibiting the sympathetic nervous system and thereby stimulating the regulatory capacity of the autonomic nervous system:
In the reference system of TCM or tantric yoga, the hara (Japanese: source of life) or lower tan-tien is located directly near the navel. This is where practitioners of Zen, Qi Gong, Kung Fu or Aikido gather their inner strength and find a balance between dynamism and deep calm. It is considered to be our most important energy reservoir: „In Chinese medicine, the Tan Tien is an ocean of chi that must first overflow to fill the rivers (meridians) and then supply all the organs. By freeing the flow of chi, we can strengthen our organs and our life force and activate our self-healing powers. Our heart is relieved as the circulation, nervous system and glands are activated and all body fluids (blood, lymph) can flow more easily through the body. High chi pressure improves our personal strength and gives us more concentration and balance in our daily lives“ (Rainer Semlin/2004).
In the TCM reference system, the first position of the navel reflex connects the source of Qi in the abdomen with the reservoir of Jing, the hereditary energy in the kidneys. The position of the connecting hand largely corresponds to the course of the Girdle Vessel. This is one of the extraordinary vessels or miracle meridians, which in acupuncture have the function of conducting excess Yin energy. The excess Yin energy from the navel region would therefore be directed to the kidneys via the activation of the Girdle Vessel.
A blockage of the navel leads to a serious energy distribution disorder with a regulation disorder between the yin and yang states. The Yang meridians are primarily activated by needling a point on the Governing Vessel, which runs above the middle of the spine, at navel level, i.e. in the functionally important dorsolumbar transition area on the back.
6. attempt to explain the navel reflex

The umbilical reflex can be classified as a physiological reflex, as it is a foreign reflex that initiates the coordinated reflex movement of a group of muscles as well as vegetative reactions.
Klaus Weber understands the navel reflex as a „fascial reaction transmission under relief, in which the myofascial, dorsal tension conditions can be positively influenced via the navel as the ventral fascial anchor point of the trunk wall.“ He also confirms the key position of the navel in the transmission of information in the connective tissue intercellular substance and recognizes that „pre- and postnatal experiences meet at the navel with the structure and function of a central switching point of the ventral myofascial chain“.
However, this does not yet sufficiently explain the clinically demonstrable effect on the autonomic nervous system, nor the demonstrable fascia and muscle relaxation under the second hand during the umbilical reflex. The relaxation of the sympathetic tone already occurs through the sustained gentle touch or very gentle displacement or rotation of the navel in the most pleasant and least tense direction and is independent of a displacement of the abdominal fascia. The latter causes local fascia relief, but no perceptible energy flow under the second hand, no vegetative switching and no whole-body relaxation.
Obviously, the navel reflex releases previously blocked energies by inhibiting sympathetic receptors in the connective tissue and then transmits them via the body of the patient or a second person.
Modern fascia research offers a decisive clue to understanding the effect of the navel reflex, as well as other gentle manual techniques: the sustained gentle tangential load during the navel reflex has been proven to reduce sympathetic activity via certain fascial sensory cells, the „Ruffini“ receptors, as well as the free nerve endings, especially of the sympathetic nervous system (Schleip, fascia and nervous system). The Ruffini corpuscle has the shape of a cylinder. Collagen fiber bundles pass through the openings. The ends of nerve fibers are anchored between them.
It is also possible that extremely gentle displacement, as in the umbilical reflex, supports the dissolution of excess collagen by releasing the messenger substance MMP-1. (Zehng et al, J Biomech 45 cited by Patrick Pfeiffer). In the long term, a therapeutic increase in the pain threshold and thus influencing the connective tissue part of the pain memory could also be achieved by converting pain-conducting receptors into pressure- and movement-conducting receptors. ( Stefan Albrecht)
The transmission of vegetative relaxation impulses from the navel, as a central fascial anchor point, or scars, as localized anchor points, can thus reach the entire body via the fascial network. The connection with the nearby solar plexus and the adrenal glands explains the central importance of the navel in terms of inhibiting the sympathetic nervous system and thereby stimulating the regulatory capacity of the autonomic nervous system:
In the reference system of TCM or tantric yoga, the hara (Japanese: source of life) or lower tan-tien is located directly near the navel. This is where practitioners of Zen, Qi Gong, Kung Fu or Aikido gather their inner strength and find a balance between dynamism and deep calm. It is considered to be our most important energy reservoir: „In Chinese medicine, the Tan Tien is an ocean of chi that must first overflow to fill the rivers (meridians) and then supply all the organs. By freeing the flow of chi, we can strengthen our organs and our life force and activate our self-healing powers. Our heart is relieved as the circulation, nervous system and glands are activated and all body fluids (blood, lymph) can flow more easily through the body. High chi pressure improves our personal strength and gives us more concentration and balance in our daily lives“ (Rainer Semlin/2004).
In the TCM reference system, the first position of the navel reflex connects the source of Qi in the abdomen with the reservoir of Jing, the hereditary energy in the kidneys. The position of the connecting hand largely corresponds to the course of the Girdle Vessel. This is one of the extraordinary vessels or miracle meridians, which in acupuncture have the function of conducting excess Yin energy. The excess Yin energy from the navel region would therefore be directed to the kidneys via the activation of the Girdle Vessel.
A blockage of the navel leads to a serious energy distribution disorder with a regulation disorder between the yin and yang states. The Yang meridians are primarily activated by needling a point on the Governing Vessel, which runs above the middle of the spine, at navel level, i.e. in the functionally important dorsolumbar transition area on the back.

Literature and further information from the author