What the procedure involved

On the day, I was nervous. I felt like I was going to hospital and was a bit tense.

When I arrived, Constantin's wife welcomed me and asked me to watch a 10-minute DVD about the atlas and the benefits of correcting it. This added nothing new to the brochure or information on th ewebsite and was a bit boring. What I wanted to know was "What is going to happen?!" There was a man in the shop who came and it watched it with me and asked me about why I was getting it done. He understood immediately that I was willing to try anything - it must be that obvious!

Once the DVD was done I was taken to a room to meet Constantin. He is a warm and welcoming guy with a calming energy, if somewhat abrupt manner. He asked me if I had any questions and I told him I was nervous about my neck being manipulated and wanted to know what was involved. He explained that he would massage only the muscles and there is no bone manipulation at all. He reassured me and then explained side effects that could occur, including diarrhoea, flatulence, and a constant runny nose. I felt like saying "I have a constant runny nose already!"

To test whether my atlas was aligned, I lay down on my stomach on a massage table with my head on a rolled up towel. Constantin asked me to turn my head to the left and right, then again with my knees bent. That was it!

Then I sat on a stool and he came and stood very close to me so my head was placed on his stomach. He produced an electric massage machine that had a red light, which I assume was a laser for heat treatment, and worked on the left and right side of my neck. It was slightly painful but not as bad as a deep tissue Chinese-style massage. Then he asked me to turn my head to the left and right and I could! It was really exciting to be able to turn my head so far to the left after about 6 years of stiffness!

Constantin asked me to walk around and see if I felt a difference - no immediate change there. Next I did the tests again and he told me that my atlas was now aligned. He said that I would need regular neck massages over the next month or so and that was it. The whole thing took under 30 minutes.