I decided yesterday to go and see a podiatrist and find out if putting
orthotics in my shoes could help to correct the imbalance in my hips. He
said my hips were so fucked up it was amazing my feet were in such good
condition but that it would need to be the other way round: correct the hips
and the relatively small problems with my feet will resolve. After that I
found myself in Central London with nothing to do and so I telephoned a
cranial osteopath called Andy Cotton that my friend Ben has been
recommending I see.

He had a slot free at 4.15 when he could see me so I set off to walk the
eight miles to his practice. I can’t walk fast or far without stopping but
have come to the conclusion that walking is one of the best things I can do
for my body to heal. It took me four hours to walk, not counting the hour I stopped
for lunch in Hyde Park and the frequent coffee stops.

He is, it turns out both Buddhist (nichiren) and something of a magician.
Ben had warned me not to be put off by the state of the guy’s body which was
shocking. Back bent over like a man of one hundred, his spine having been
fused that way many years ago. He had to look through his eyebrows to make
eye contact he can lift his head so little.

After taking some history he was initially skeptical but perhaps because of the
personal connection prepared to believe me. He set to work on my body, first
slowly fiddling with my feet a little bit, before resting his hands on my
thighs for about ten minutes. then he started feeling my neck. There is
something very strange going on here he said, but I’m not going to push into
it today. “Don’t be shy”, I said. “I’m not”, he replied, “but I have another
client in a few minutes and this needs more than that”.

At the end of the session he said, “you have a very unstable core”.
“physically or psychologically?”, I asked. “Both”, he replied, “but it won’t
take long to sort out. You’ve done most of the work already. Although you
look a total mess, there is not any resistance left to what needs to be
done. I would like to see you every two weeks. You’ll need the time between
to adjust. I can set you free from this so you ca go on to do what you need
to do in the world.”

So much more refreshing and hopeful than two weeks being poked, prodded and
poked fun at by western medicine. He picked up on the psychology, the
physiology and the purpose of the whole thing in one hour. And added to my
growing recognition that all the hard work is heading to some kind of
fruition. I just hope I can dance again before Nina gets in touch!