Jake Schultz

I was diagnosed with a herniated disc at L5 – S1. I had sciatic pain down my left leg and in one instance my leg lost it’s strength and I fell. The pain was excruciating. Back surgery was recommended by the doctor. I chose not to do the surgery and checked out of the hospital.

I found a person that did tissue manipulation and went to her for about 4 months. The pain went away and I was elated. I went back to my old habit patterns and after about 1 year the pain came back, just not as severe. I returned to the woman who helped me and worked with her for about 2 months. The pain left again. This time I quit doing all of the things that could possibly cause my back pain. I quit lifting, playing sports and doing anything that could bring back the pain. A lot of my life shut down.

This lasted for about 3 years. Then I found a Hellerwork Practitioner. The practitioner worked with me and my body knew it had felt this work before. It was very much like the woman that worked on me the first time. She was an Osteopath. I later learned that Ida Rolf took a lot of her technique from the osteopathic method of tissue manipulation and that Joseph Heller had been trained by Ida Rolf. In creating Hellerwork, Joseph enhanced Rolf's work by adding movement education and dialogue to the bodywork series.

The beauty of the Hellerwork series was that I was taught ways to live in my body that allowed me to return to the activities that I had quit doing. I learned about my habitual patterns in life. My body began to feel like it did when I was in high school. I returned to playing basketball and running, feeling great. I have not had surgery to this day, almost 20 years later, and I still continue to live my life as I wish, not limiting my activities. I still have no back pain.

I visited a Hellerwork Training where I met Joseph Heller, many teachers, practitioners and students. I was very impressed with the integrity, compassion and knowledge of the entire group. This gave me the desire to become a Hellerwork Practitioner. I wanted to be a member of this professional group and make a difference in people’s lives with this work, as it had done for me.

I completed my Hellerwork training in 1988 and have been practicing full time since then. I was thrilled to discover that the method of teaching in the Hellerwork Training was so far removed from my past experience of learning. It was fun to learn. What a concept! While not only learning a lot about how the human body works, I also learned a lot about myself. I was transformed by the experience, both personally and professionally.

I’d recommend the Hellerwork training and a career as a Practitioner to anyone who enjoys helping people and are interested in seeing miracles occur right before your very eyes. You’ll never regret it.

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