Recognizing that spontaneous release by positioning works by exaggeration of the lesion, Pauls theorized that the greater the exaggeration, the longer the release time. While working with someone whose pain prevented him from using the standard Jones techniques, Pauls discovered that subtle exaggeration with slight approximation of the articulate facets reduced the release time to 30 seconds. This became Phase Four of Pauls research. By 1976 Pauls had developed the Phased Reflexed Techniques of Ortho-Bionomy. Phase Two and Three were early attempts that proved impractical and difficult to demonstrate to others.
People release in phases, and at a pace that allows their body to support the structural changes.
While Jones demonstrated that force is not necessary for correction, the Phased Reflex Techniques recognized and further developed the potential for self-correction through increasingly subtle exaggeration and slight approximation. These techniques educate the client through awareness and active involvement to understand how to recognize which positions relieve the pain, and how to find the optimum position to stimulate self-correction of the reflex arc that perpetuates the pain cycle. This is especially important when the client s compensations become incorporated into the body s proprioceptive understanding. The proprioceptors are nerve endings that give information concerning movements and position of the body. They are located primarily in the muscles, tendons and labyrinth of the inner ear.