Everywhere in nature, things happen no matter how much you try to understand or whether you believe. The sun comes up each morning. Rain is always water. They are principles, givens, "constants." They happen.

The Rossiter System is built on four constants.

Communication Food Movement Space

Communication: The First Constant
The body always wants to tell you what's happening. In part, the body is designed as a feedback system to stop you from doing things that are harmful. Part of the body's job is to let you know when it's in pain. When you touch a hot iron, for example, your body jerks your finger back to prevent a burn.

When connective tissue is injured, overworked or traumatized, it shortens. And when connective tissue shortens, the body loses its ability to communicate effectively. Nerves cannot talk optimally to the muscles, and muscles cannot talk to the greater nerve network that includes the brain. Messages going to and coming from the brain are short-circuited, and this message breakdown happens along the entire length of connective tissue, not just where the tissue hurts.

Even though you may sense pain only in one area, or in one area more than others, entire sheaths of connective tissue are actually sensing the tightness and restriction. And the area in pain and feeling trauma is often tighter and more restricted than normal. You can feel this. When muscles are restricted in movement, nerve impulses also are restricted in their ability to send messages. Remember that: These stretches are not site-specific, they change entire areas of connective tissue. For any positive change to occur, a critical mass of connective tissue must be changed. Otherwise, pain will linger and return.

Pain is information. You must understand the signals your body is sending you before you can get rid of the unwanted information, or pain. By using the Rossiter techniques to stretch connective tissue to its full length, you restore the body's ability to tell you how it feels -- and you will have a better sense of when it's pain-free and when it's not. Your mission: Pay attention to what your body is telling you.


Food: The Second Constant
All tissue in the body needs a constant source of food -- nutrients and oxygen. When muscles, nerves, tissues and bones are squeezed into space that's too tight, they cannot get the proper amount of food they need or carry away waste.

The Rossiter stretches allow the body's tissue to receive appropriate amounts of enriching food and oxygen. The key word here is "appropriate," as opposed to "adequate." Adequate means just that --enough to live. Tissue needs an "appropriate" amount of nutrition because it allows the tissue to remain healthy, vibrant, nourished, free of waste and able to repair and perform freely everywhere and without restriction.
The Rossiter System re-establishes the body's food supply and helps the body reach a working accord with its waste- management system.


Movement: The Third Constant
Proper movement is critical for maintaining healthy tissue. If a person cannot move an area of the body the way it is designed to move, the area will deteriorate. Like a dog stuck in a doghouse, it will soon sit down and quit moving. It will weaken and shrink. Muscles are made for moving. If they cannot move, or if they cannot perform tasks, they deteriorate, weaken, shrink and become nonfunctional.

The Rossiter stretches return the body's connective tissue to normal, allowing all tissues, organs and body parts to move and function as they're supposed to.



Space: The Fourth Constant
Space is crucial. Without space, the first three constants don't work. Everything in the body revolves around the practical idea of appropriate space. When the body and its tissues don't have enough space to move and function properly, tissue responds -- it communicates -- through stiffness, numbness, swelling or pain. These symptoms remain until the body's space requirements are satisfied. The anatomical system of space inside your body is the connective tissue system.

The Rossiter stretches elongate connective tissue and return to your body the appropriate amount of space it needs to move fluidly, freely and without pain.

When your body has "appropriate" space, it feels good. It feels free. It is pain-free because nothing is cramped. There are no cold spots or cramped areas. Everything feels as if it has enough space to do everything it wants.

Space also is a critical factor in your immune system's responses. Your body is designed to act quickly and efficiently to battle ill health. Every stress on the body's appropriate space -- every unfed cell, every area cramped in its ability to move -- weakens your ability to ward off disease. The more restricted the body's connective tissue system, the greater the body's risk for disease, infection and illness. Conversely, the more loose and mobile the body is, the better able it is to remain healthy and vibrant.

Pay heed to the Constants!